THE TOUGH ONES (1976, TUBI) FROM CORLEONE TO BROOKLYN (1979, TUBI)
Thomas Milian and Fabio Testi might be the studs of the 'poliziotteschi' genre during its '70's heyday, but for my money Maurizio Merli was the man. He could go back and forth between hero or villain with ease, was a good-looking bastard and his mustache never had a hair out of place even after the most intense fist fight/shootout/car chase. And just like the aforementioned Milian, Merli's best work usually came at the seasoned direction of Junesploitation! royalty Umberto Lenzi ("Cannibal Ferox").
"The Tough Ones" (aka "Rome Armed to the Teeth") is the better of the two flicks, probably because Dardano Sacchetti co-wrote the script. Milian's Vincenzo Moretto is a show-stealing baddie that personifies the genre's ability to create such despicable criminal a-holes (shooting a doctor in a hijacked ambulance to ensure the dying patient can't get medical help! :-O) you can't wait to see them get either their comeuppance or laugh maniacally as they get away. That Milian looks grotesque with his physical deformity adds a layer of monster mayhem to his cruelty, which is thankfully undercut by the film's dark sense of humor (swallowing a bullet he later re-uses). Merli, playing his signature Inspector Lanzi role, easily sells the inner rage of a righteous cop's anti-criminal crusade constantly undermined by the corrupt system he works for. Whether Lanzi's beating the crap out of youthful offenders, running on rooftops or leading a bank robbery strike team, he exudes the suave confidence of a mofo that's almost aware he's made of plot armor Teflon. A clumsy attempt at a "Hill Street Blues"-type social message is made by having Lanzi's girlfriend Anna (Maria Rosaria Omaggio) be a magistrate that releases some of the criminals her boyfriend arrests, to the detriment of their relationship. After her near-death at the hands of some thugs, though, Anna disappears into the background while the boys play their bloody feud amidst startled civilians caught in the street level crossfires of clearly-shot-without-a-permit locales. As good as a non-Fernando Di Leo 'poliziotteschi' from this era could get. 4 AMBULANCE DRIVERS WITH STUNT DRIVING EXPERIENCE (out of 5).
By '79 'poliziotteschi' flicks were on the way out, but Lenzi still makes a decent one by turning the narrative into an international road picture. What "From Corleone to Brooklyn" lacks in over-the-top thrills (except for a parking lot shootout that ends on a spectacular fire it's generic, almost sedate action beats) it compensates for by having a "Midnight Run"-type character study between Merli's Giorgio Berni cop and Biagio Pelligra's criminal Salvatore Scalia. The former (a handsome devil) wants to nail incarcerated-in-New York-jail mafia boss Michele Barresi (Mario Merola) with the testimony of the later (ugly man with acting chops well below Maurizio's thespian skills). Assassins come out of the woodwork trying to stop Berni/Scalia from making their flight and arrive in Gotham in time for a crucial hearing. At first intercutting between Italy and NYC, "FCTB's" final act takes place entirely on location in a late '70's New York City oozing exploitation atmosphere from every street corner, seedy hotel room and acting-deficient extra hired to pay a generic thug. Van Johnson ("The Caine Mutiny") pays the bills playing a NY prosecutor. An average-to-mediocre film elevated by on-location production values that are THE reason Junesploitation! lives and breathes. A rather generous 3.15 EX-WIVES WITH KID THAT ARE ONLY GOOD AS ON-THE-RUN HIDEOUTS (out of five).
And the chase is afoot. See you all month long, you magnificent 'bastardos.' :-P
Great choices! I read Troy Howarth's outstanding Lenzi bio/filmography Make Them Die Slowly: The Kinetic Cinema of of Umberto Lenzi earlier this year and caught up with Corleone, which I enjoyed for Merli's expression of a softer side. Tough Ones is a straight-up classic of the genre.
Looking forward to more of your reviews! Junesploitation is ON!
Indeed, time for another fun June of movies, J.M. The scenes with passers-by looking around confused or surprised is a strong indication that there was no warning about a movie being made. As you stated, it was probably a matter of there being no permits, so the shots were taken and then everyone left as quickly as possible.
Colt 38 Special Squad (1976, dir. Massimo Dallamano)
A French crime boss called "The Marseillaise" and his goons terrorize the Italian city of Turin, so the police form an elite unit, who carry more powerful weapons and occasionally operate on the shadier side of the law, led by Inspector Vanni, who has a personal grudge against The Marseillaise. When the criminals get their hands on a shipment of dynamite and blackmail the city with it, the Colt 38 Special Squad springs into action.
Gunfights, explosions, assassinations, car chases, bike chases, more explosions, cut off fingers, 70's fashion, Grace Jones as a nightclub singer, and Franco Garofalo's unmistakable mug as one of the criminals. What more could you possibly want from an Italian crime movie? It moves at a brisk pace and maintains a sense of breezy fun despite the constant violence, death and police misconduct, but there are a couple of scenes showing the aftermath of an explosion that are actually pretty harrowing. Those and one quite spectacular car stunt (which I won't spoil here) are the things that will primarily stay with me. A great start to the month!
"F This genre fans rejoice, June 1st is here. An so begins a month where we tell normal movies to 'hold our beer.' Junespoitation is a time to watch crazy as flicks. I for one am stoked to see all of your clicks to picks. Today begins and rather than the standard players like Deniro and Pesci, We get to deep dive into the awesome Italian crime genre Poliziotteschi!"
Caliber 9 aka Milano Calibro 9 (1971)
Im really glad to see this genre on the list again as i know so little about this genre. This flick is on several best of lists and i can see why. Its a tight gritty mob storyline focusing on stolen money, rival mobs, and folks playing each other against each other. All working towards an excellent twisty/turny violent finale. Eccellente!
#junesploitation #1 italian crime Obsession. Went in blind but recognized the story and confirmed afterwards that it's 1 of 4 adaptations from James M Cains The Postman Always Rings Twice.
My ★★★★ review of Obsession on Letterboxd https://boxd.it/9S3keh
Ruggero Deodato presents two cocky, roguishly handsome cops dressed in an array of fabulous 70s jackets who stomp, motorbike, shoot, brawl, torture and sleaze their way around Rome with a complete disregard for public safety, by-the-book police work or basic human decency. They do all that with cheeky smiles on their perfectly chiseled faces, though, so no one can stay mad at them too long, including the viewer. And with that, we're off to the races!
THE HEROIN BUSTERS (1977, E.G. Castellari) Rewatch, first-time on Arrow blu, still 8/10. Years before Blue Underground's '06 DVD, I fell in love with Goblin's score for LA VILLA DELLA DROGA. Not that I'm quite ready to compare this film to THIEF, but like Tangerine Dream, Goblin's looped-out rhythms & blistering licks do some heavy lifting. Stuff Is Happening. Buyer/courier fabulous Fabio Testi in hippy drag. Frustrated British cop David Hemmings looks like a smoked cigarette. Sherry Buchanan isn't in this enough. Is Romano Puppo just another stony face? Is short-king Massimo Vanni dressed for the post-apocalypse? Recommended for fans of an endless finale.
A Franco-phile suggests: VENUS IN FURS (1969). This is one of my faves by Uncle Jess. Psyched -out revenge with a potentially incomprehensible plot, a trumpeting James Darren, Klaus Kinski, Maria Rohm & an infectious, brain-killing music cue. While not a "regular" film per se, V.I.F. is from the Harry Alan Towers years when the money was better & some standards of cinema enforced on Franco by producer Towers. Catch it on Tubi!
Wake Up and Kill (1966): Here's one I haven't seen since I got the Arrow blu-ray almost 10 years ago. It's a great true-crime with a great cast and crew (music by Ennio Morricone). It's cited as being the first, or one of the first, poliziotteschi movie, and that's a high bar to set.
Capone (2020): not exactly an italian movie, but the guy was an italian crime boss. Heck, he was THE crime boss from which everybody would try to copy. The movie was not well received, and most likely killed Josh Trank's career for good (I hear he's not an easy guy to work it, but I have no details on the matter). I think it's very good, if flawed, with a great performance by Tom Hardy, and the always lovely Linda Cardellini (who I loved before she was in the MCU). I had to turn on subtitles because Hardy turns the mumbling up to 11 on this one, couldn't understand a word he said.
Rome, Armed to the Teeth (1976) My first Junesploitation where I’m checking out actual exploitation films! This was a fun movie with a hero Italian cop who can’t be bothered to follow the law, because that kills people! Car chases and shoot-outs had a nice, gritty feeling, even if the blood looked a little red painty. Props to Maurizio Merli and his rage-filled mustache!
SQUADARA ANTISCIOPO aka THE COP IN BLUE JEANS 1976 dir. Bruno Corbucci
Came for the scruffy undercover cops on dirt bikes trying to take down big-bad Jack Palance’s purse snatching empire. Stayed for the imitation-Jack Palance English dubbing.
Milano odia: la polizia non può sparare (Milan Hates, The Police Can’t Shoot) is another reminder that Umberto Lenzi is the greatest, regardless of genre. He mastered gialli (Spasmo, So Sweet… So Perverse, Orgasmo, Seven Bloodstained Orchids, Eyeball) as well as war movies (Bridge to Hell, From Hell to Victory), poliziotteschi (Rome Armed to the Teeth, Violent Naples, The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist), peplum (Ironmaster, Samson and the Slave Queen), Eurospy (SuperSeven Calling Cairo, 008: Operation Exterminate), cannibal films (Eaten Alive!, Cannibal Ferox, Man from Deep River) and enjoyable junk (Nightmare City, Ghosthouse, Nightmare Beach, Hitcher In the Dark, Black Demons).
Throw in a script by Ernesto Gastaldi, and you have a war between Giulio Sacchi (Tomas Milian) and Inspector Walter Grandi (Henry Silva). Not everyone in their world will survive. Hell, the two of them might not even make it.
After screwing up a bank robbery and being threatened with castration, Saachi goes absolutely wild and pretty much kills everyone in his path. Tomas Milian must have heard that David Hess was coming to Italy and said, “Let me show you something.” He’s an equal opportunity maniac in this movie, as everyone is in the crosshairs. He might have a gorgeous woman like Iona (Anita Strindberg) in love with him, supporting him, and yet he comes home just to assault her at will. Then, he uses her to take her boss’ daughter, Mary Lou (Laura Belli), and ransom her life, as if life means anything to him.
His partners Carmine (Ray Lovelock) and Vittorio (Gino Santercole) aren’t ready for the drugged-up menace that Saachi is about to bring. Tying people to a chandelier and letting it spin as he plays roulette with his victims? That’s just the start. No one is safe, whether that’s old people, people begging for their lives, cops, children…even a man who Saachi forces to go down on his little Giulio while he keeps a gun at his head. They have second thoughts about being in a gang with him, but who will tell him he’s going off the deep end?
Morricone soundtrack, Silva as a cop, you’re just waiting to go insane, lawyers getting scummy crooks off with no charges, justice in the streets—this has it all. And so much more. And wow, it was so close to being a totally different movie, with Richard Conte playing the cop and Marc Porel playing the criminal, but Lenzi found the actor “unreliable from both a human and professional point of view.”
As it was, Lenzi’s first meeting with Milian didn’t go well. Milian heard that Lenzi was an impulsive director who could go off on his actors, but by the film’s end, they realized they could work together in a love/hate way for seven films. As for how Millian got this performance, in true Method style, he drugged and drank it up before Lenzi said, “Action!”
That’s how you do it.
Over here, Joseph Brenner released several times, first as The Kidnap of Mary Lou, then a year later as The Death Dealer and finally in 1980 as Almost Human. All hail Temple of Schlock for telling me!
CRY OF A PR*STITUTE (1974, Andrea Bianchi) Bianchi’s other directorial efforts include Strip Nude for your Killer (1975), Malabimba (1979), and Burial Ground (1981), which should give an indication of the what is in store here. Surly Henry Silva, bodacious Barbara Bouchet, and a host of swarthy Italian hunks in this sleazy, sadistic take on Yojimbo. Alternate title -- A Fistful of Lire? The CRY OF title is pure promotional exploitation, as Bouchet’s character is only in about 20 minutes of this. But man, what a 20 minutes, as we get into “Roughie, Italian style” territory, and, as a bonus, Barbara moisturizes her bared bre*sts with freshly squeezed milk and blows a banana. Other than that, there’s plenty of the good ol’ ultraviolence that makes these Italian crime films so wildly fun. A wonderful way to kick off Junesploitation 2025! PS: If you’re undecided on a flick for Zombie day tomorrow, Burial Ground would be a great choice!
Henry Silva could play mean like nobody else. With his performance and Andrea Bianchi's no-holds-barred style of exploitation, Cry of a Pr-stitute will always be an uncomfortable watch.
I watched Cry of a Pr*stitute as well. First time viewing. I've been participating in Junesploitation for 11 years and prior to that I did not know who Henry Silva was. Now he's one of my favorite actors. He is AMAZING in this movie as the "hero" playing one of the most reprehensible characters in memory. When he killed some henchmen then drove over their dead bodies with a steam roller I was like I've never seen that before and this movie is not messing around.
I forgot to mention I loved the scene when he walks into the small village seeking revenge and the townsfolk retreat from him and close their doors as he walks by. PURE CINEMA
COLT 38 SPECIAL SQUAD (1976, dir. Massimo Dallamano)
When that Stelvio Cipriani score kicks in, you know you are entering the poliziotteschi genre. Mikko already covered the plot and highlights of the film, so I will just state that this is a solid film all around. Dallamano knows how to get a film moving along, and the cast gets down and dirty as bombs explode, cars crash, and people get shot. Ivan Rassimov is great as the psychopathic criminal mastermind terrorizing Turin. The Arrow blu-ray is lovely to look at.
If anyone is not sure about giallo day, Dallamano's classic What Have You Done to Solange? is an excellent pick.
Just to get this off my chest, I can't say or even think the name "Barbara Bouchet" in anything other than a Waterboy-esque accent. The movie itself feels like a bit of a slow-burn at times, before things go suitably nuts at the end.
STUNTMAN (1968) Crooks hire a movie stuntman to help them on their heist, only to double-cross him. Now he’s on the run and must fight back using the power of stunts. Turns out this is a parody of crime flicks, and a very silly one – a proto Naked Gun. There’s a lot of wacky shtick with Gina Lollobrigida as a posh lady who is so very, very posh. (I like that word: posh.) And yes, the stunts are impressive in that old-school rough n’ tumble way. So, there’s fun to be had, but it’s also messy and all over the place. I’d say this is a little forgettable.
30 days of Georges Melies, day 1: A TRIP TO THE MOON (1902) If I’m doing this, might as well start with the most famous one. The astronauts are apparently also wizards, with their robes and big beards and all. Then there’s the iconic shot of the face in the moon, which is also funny in this context – the moon has had it with those darn Earthmen. The whole movie is very slapstick, including the fights with the aliens that follow. I’m mostly struck with how Melies packs so much visual information onto the screen at once. With all these extras and all these huge sets, there’s a dozen things to look at in any given shot. It’s a classic for a reason!
The Cynic, The Rat and the Fist (1977 Umberto Lenzi)
I don’t think I’m a Merli guy, but I’ve heard he does some great stunts so I’ll probably try a couple more of his. I wish the car scenes were a little more exciting, but this one is overall good. John Saxon on day one bonus!
Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man (1976 Ruggero Deodato)
This one has much more exciting chase sequences (motorcycles!) I was craving. The buddy cop leads turn out to be real psychos. Two guys that have really let being let being elite cops and Italian in the 1970s go to their heads. They also ride together on a motorcycle throughout the movie so it’s intermittently kinda cute.
Naked Violence (1969, dir. Fernando Di Leo) Going to try and do better about actually posting my Junesploitation watches this year. Tried to start the month with something new-to-me and it was a bust. I had seen the other entries in my Di Leo box sets so I went with his first movie, a police procedural about the r--e and murder of a teacher. It's talky and kind of dull and not at all what I wanted today so I watched Contraband again and that hit the spot much better.
I see your "Slaughter Hotel" and I raise you with "Madness," easily Di Leo's worst movie by a country mile IMO. What a downer that one of the founding fathers of the 'poliziotteschi' genre ended his career with such below-par dreck. :'(
I watched Torso (1973), directed by Sergio Martino. One might argue it’s a Giallo, but crimes are committed in Italy so I’m saying it works for today too!
Hot and horny college coeds are getting murdered, and there are a few potential creepy dudes as suspects. A colorful scarf is involved. There’s a disturbing doll. Nudity galore—Erika, you’d love it! 🤭
The kills are creative and there’s some gore; and the Italian settings are spectacular.
There’s a super suspenseful sequence in the final third that I absolutely loved. Add to that a resourceful woman and a seeming commentary on toxic masculinity and you have a pretty great movie.
I didn’t know what to expect and this was an awesome start to the month!
Definitely classified as a giallo, yet Torso does involve crimes and police investigations. It is also one of the main precursors to the slasher genre. The Italian title is quite evocative: The Bodies Show Traces of Carnal Violence.
Yay! Blogger didn't like my salacious, dangerous notes on HIGH CRIME or, more likely, the title of my Jess Franco selection: ER*TIC NIGHT RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN. playing on Plex. I LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUV automated deletions. This whole life thing will be exponentially easier when GAI is running the show.
I've been where you are many, many times. 🥺😢 It's frustrating as hell, but don't let the censoring AI sour your Junesploitation! Pick yourself off the floor, dust off and give it another try tomorrow. ✌️😀
When I watched that Jess Franco film a couple of years ago for Junesploitation, Blogger was definitely not happy when I tried to post about using the full title.
Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man (1976 Ruggero Deodato)
2 undercover cops with 2 licenses to kill and one motorcycle go after the mob that killed their boss in this violent buddy cop movie with a severe mean streak from the director of Cannibal Holocaust. The best parts is the opening chase scene. The worst part was in the same scene when a seeing eye dog getting ran over is played for laughs. This one wasn't for me but some may enjoy it.
Fernando Di Leo’s Milieu Trilogy ⭐️ Caliber | 1972 ⭐️ The Italian Connection | 1972 ⭐️ Il Boss | 1973 Starting the month with greatness x 3! Marinara covered exploitation at it’s finest. Pronto? Bene!
West Coast Crime ⭐️ Bullitt | 1968 | Peter Yates ⭐️ Dirty Harry | 1971 | Don Siegel A little bit of a cheat but we are finishing the night with two American films that greatly inspired the Poliziotteschi genre.
Live Like A Cop, Die Like a Man (1976, Ruggero Deodato)
Batshit crazy buddy cop movie succeeds in blending elements of James Bond, Starsky & Hutch, and Italian giallo. The opening motorcycle chase is amazing and apparently filmed in downtown Rome without permits or permission. One quibble is that all the sexy stuff comes off a little rapey. One bonus is that it features both Adolfo Celi, who played Largo in Thunderball, and Franco Citti, who played Michael’s bodyguard Calo in The Godfather. Stay away from the two leads; people die around them LIKE FLIES.
Shoot First, Die Later (1974, dir. Fernando Di Leo)
This ended up having more strangling than shooting. It's about a cop that is a tiny bit dirty, but then things get out of hand as he gets pulled deeper into the mob world.
Rome, Armed to the Teeth (1974, dir. Umberto Lenzi) a.k.a. The Tough Ones
I watched this after I had just watched Live Like A Cop, Die Like a Man and had the same quibble as JB plus some other issues with that movie... but this one got my June back on a high note!
The protagonist dishes out the smack down all over the place. Seriously: wherever there is crime, he seems to just be there. He's a classic cop-playing-by-his-own-rules, with bonus Italian flair. I wish his psychologist SO (incidentally a knockout) was more involved in the story though.
The pace felt just right, the villain was great, and multiple pretty impressive chase scenes thrilled throughout. The ending let me down a bit as it felt amped down from the rest of the movie, but overall this was a proper good time!
Watched Closed Circuit, The Day of the Owl, and The Violent Four. Enjoyed the first two, but the third started with some faux documentary stuff for twenty minutes and the characters weren't interesting enough to reclaim my attention.
Live Like A Cop, Die Like a Man (1976, Ruggero Deodato)
Super fun and over the top. Motorcycle chases! Quarts of fake blood! Italian with dirty mouths and a strong sense of JUSTICE! Oops I was going to write more but an Italian Special Forces cop barged into my dingy apartment and my blouse accidentally fell off.
Hello. :-) Let's go to work.
ReplyDeleteUMBERTO LENZI/MAURIZIO MERLI DOUBLE FEATURE!
THE TOUGH ONES (1976, TUBI)
FROM CORLEONE TO BROOKLYN (1979, TUBI)
Thomas Milian and Fabio Testi might be the studs of the 'poliziotteschi' genre during its '70's heyday, but for my money Maurizio Merli was the man. He could go back and forth between hero or villain with ease, was a good-looking bastard and his mustache never had a hair out of place even after the most intense fist fight/shootout/car chase. And just like the aforementioned Milian, Merli's best work usually came at the seasoned direction of Junesploitation! royalty Umberto Lenzi ("Cannibal Ferox").
"The Tough Ones" (aka "Rome Armed to the Teeth") is the better of the two flicks, probably because Dardano Sacchetti co-wrote the script. Milian's Vincenzo Moretto is a show-stealing baddie that personifies the genre's ability to create such despicable criminal a-holes (shooting a doctor in a hijacked ambulance to ensure the dying patient can't get medical help! :-O) you can't wait to see them get either their comeuppance or laugh maniacally as they get away. That Milian looks grotesque with his physical deformity adds a layer of monster mayhem to his cruelty, which is thankfully undercut by the film's dark sense of humor (swallowing a bullet he later re-uses). Merli, playing his signature Inspector Lanzi role, easily sells the inner rage of a righteous cop's anti-criminal crusade constantly undermined by the corrupt system he works for. Whether Lanzi's beating the crap out of youthful offenders, running on rooftops or leading a bank robbery strike team, he exudes the suave confidence of a mofo that's almost aware he's made of plot armor Teflon. A clumsy attempt at a "Hill Street Blues"-type social message is made by having Lanzi's girlfriend Anna (Maria Rosaria Omaggio) be a magistrate that releases some of the criminals her boyfriend arrests, to the detriment of their relationship. After her near-death at the hands of some thugs, though, Anna disappears into the background while the boys play their bloody feud amidst startled civilians caught in the street level crossfires of clearly-shot-without-a-permit locales. As good as a non-Fernando Di Leo 'poliziotteschi' from this era could get. 4 AMBULANCE DRIVERS WITH STUNT DRIVING EXPERIENCE (out of 5).
By '79 'poliziotteschi' flicks were on the way out, but Lenzi still makes a decent one by turning the narrative into an international road picture. What "From Corleone to Brooklyn" lacks in over-the-top thrills (except for a parking lot shootout that ends on a spectacular fire it's generic, almost sedate action beats) it compensates for by having a "Midnight Run"-type character study between Merli's Giorgio Berni cop and Biagio Pelligra's criminal Salvatore Scalia. The former (a handsome devil) wants to nail incarcerated-in-New York-jail mafia boss Michele Barresi (Mario Merola) with the testimony of the later (ugly man with acting chops well below Maurizio's thespian skills). Assassins come out of the woodwork trying to stop Berni/Scalia from making their flight and arrive in Gotham in time for a crucial hearing. At first intercutting between Italy and NYC, "FCTB's" final act takes place entirely on location in a late '70's New York City oozing exploitation atmosphere from every street corner, seedy hotel room and acting-deficient extra hired to pay a generic thug. Van Johnson ("The Caine Mutiny") pays the bills playing a NY prosecutor. An average-to-mediocre film elevated by on-location production values that are THE reason Junesploitation! lives and breathes. A rather generous 3.15 EX-WIVES WITH KID THAT ARE ONLY GOOD AS ON-THE-RUN HIDEOUTS (out of five).
And the chase is afoot. See you all month long, you magnificent 'bastardos.' :-P
Great choices! I read Troy Howarth's outstanding Lenzi bio/filmography Make Them Die Slowly: The Kinetic Cinema of of Umberto Lenzi earlier this year and caught up with Corleone, which I enjoyed for Merli's expression of a softer side. Tough Ones is a straight-up classic of the genre.
DeleteLooking forward to more of your reviews! Junesploitation is ON!
Thanks! 😍🥲
DeleteIndeed, time for another fun June of movies, J.M. The scenes with passers-by looking around confused or surprised is a strong indication that there was no warning about a movie being made. As you stated, it was probably a matter of there being no permits, so the shots were taken and then everyone left as quickly as possible.
DeleteAnd so it begins.
ReplyDeleteColt 38 Special Squad (1976, dir. Massimo Dallamano)
A French crime boss called "The Marseillaise" and his goons terrorize the Italian city of Turin, so the police form an elite unit, who carry more powerful weapons and occasionally operate on the shadier side of the law, led by Inspector Vanni, who has a personal grudge against The Marseillaise. When the criminals get their hands on a shipment of dynamite and blackmail the city with it, the Colt 38 Special Squad springs into action.
Gunfights, explosions, assassinations, car chases, bike chases, more explosions, cut off fingers, 70's fashion, Grace Jones as a nightclub singer, and Franco Garofalo's unmistakable mug as one of the criminals. What more could you possibly want from an Italian crime movie? It moves at a brisk pace and maintains a sense of breezy fun despite the constant violence, death and police misconduct, but there are a couple of scenes showing the aftermath of an explosion that are actually pretty harrowing. Those and one quite spectacular car stunt (which I won't spoil here) are the things that will primarily stay with me. A great start to the month!
A Poem:
ReplyDelete"F This genre fans rejoice, June 1st is here.
An so begins a month where we tell normal movies to 'hold our beer.'
Junespoitation is a time to watch crazy as flicks.
I for one am stoked to see all of your clicks to picks.
Today begins and rather than the standard players like Deniro and Pesci,
We get to deep dive into the awesome Italian crime genre Poliziotteschi!"
Caliber 9 aka Milano Calibro 9 (1971)
Im really glad to see this genre on the list again as i know so little about this genre. This flick is on several best of lists and i can see why. Its a tight gritty mob storyline focusing on stolen money, rival mobs, and folks playing each other against each other. All working towards an excellent twisty/turny violent finale. Eccellente!
👏👏👏 to the poem. 😀
DeleteI dare Patrick to read the poem in the next podcast 😁
Delete#junesploitation #1 italian crime Obsession. Went in blind but recognized the story and confirmed afterwards that it's 1 of 4 adaptations from James M Cains The Postman Always Rings Twice.
ReplyDeleteMy ★★★★ review of Obsession on Letterboxd https://boxd.it/9S3keh
Good news, everyone, it's June again!
ReplyDeleteLive Like a Cop, Die Like a Man (1976)
Ruggero Deodato presents two cocky, roguishly handsome cops dressed in an array of fabulous 70s jackets who stomp, motorbike, shoot, brawl, torture and sleaze their way around Rome with a complete disregard for public safety, by-the-book police work or basic human decency. They do all that with cheeky smiles on their perfectly chiseled faces, though, so no one can stay mad at them too long, including the viewer. And with that, we're off to the races!
THE HEROIN BUSTERS (1977, E.G. Castellari)
ReplyDeleteRewatch, first-time on Arrow blu, still 8/10.
Years before Blue Underground's '06 DVD, I fell in love with Goblin's score for LA VILLA DELLA DROGA. Not that I'm quite ready to compare this film to THIEF, but like Tangerine Dream, Goblin's looped-out rhythms & blistering licks do some heavy lifting.
Stuff Is Happening.
Buyer/courier fabulous Fabio Testi in hippy drag. Frustrated British cop David Hemmings looks like a smoked cigarette. Sherry Buchanan isn't in this enough. Is Romano Puppo just another stony face? Is short-king Massimo Vanni dressed for the post-apocalypse?
Recommended for fans of an endless finale.
A Franco-phile suggests:
VENUS IN FURS (1969). This is one of my faves by Uncle Jess. Psyched -out revenge with a potentially incomprehensible plot, a trumpeting James Darren, Klaus Kinski, Maria Rohm & an infectious, brain-killing music cue. While not a "regular" film per se, V.I.F. is from the Harry Alan Towers years when the money was better & some standards of cinema enforced on Franco by producer Towers.
Catch it on Tubi!
*or maybe it was LA VIA DELLA DROGA (ahem)
DeleteWake Up and Kill (1966): Here's one I haven't seen since I got the Arrow blu-ray almost 10 years ago. It's a great true-crime with a great cast and crew (music by Ennio Morricone). It's cited as being the first, or one of the first, poliziotteschi movie, and that's a high bar to set.
ReplyDeleteCapone (2020): not exactly an italian movie, but the guy was an italian crime boss. Heck, he was THE crime boss from which everybody would try to copy. The movie was not well received, and most likely killed Josh Trank's career for good (I hear he's not an easy guy to work it, but I have no details on the matter). I think it's very good, if flawed, with a great performance by Tom Hardy, and the always lovely Linda Cardellini (who I loved before she was in the MCU). I had to turn on subtitles because Hardy turns the mumbling up to 11 on this one, couldn't understand a word he said.
Rome, Armed to the Teeth (1976)
ReplyDeleteMy first Junesploitation where I’m checking out actual exploitation films! This was a fun movie with a hero Italian cop who can’t be bothered to follow the law, because that kills people! Car chases and shoot-outs had a nice, gritty feeling, even if the blood looked a little red painty. Props to Maurizio Merli and his rage-filled mustache!
Merli was amazing. Was thinking he was the Italian Tom Cruise, he did many of his own stunts!
DeleteSQUADARA ANTISCIOPO
ReplyDeleteaka
THE COP IN BLUE JEANS
1976 dir. Bruno Corbucci
Came for the scruffy undercover cops on dirt bikes trying to take down big-bad Jack Palance’s purse snatching empire. Stayed for the imitation-Jack Palance English dubbing.
Almost Human (1974)
ReplyDeleteMilano odia: la polizia non può sparare (Milan Hates, The Police Can’t Shoot) is another reminder that Umberto Lenzi is the greatest, regardless of genre. He mastered gialli (Spasmo, So Sweet… So Perverse, Orgasmo, Seven Bloodstained Orchids, Eyeball) as well as war movies (Bridge to Hell, From Hell to Victory), poliziotteschi (Rome Armed to the Teeth, Violent Naples, The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist), peplum (Ironmaster, Samson and the Slave Queen), Eurospy (SuperSeven Calling Cairo, 008: Operation Exterminate), cannibal films (Eaten Alive!, Cannibal Ferox, Man from Deep River) and enjoyable junk (Nightmare City, Ghosthouse, Nightmare Beach, Hitcher In the Dark, Black Demons).
Throw in a script by Ernesto Gastaldi, and you have a war between Giulio Sacchi (Tomas Milian) and Inspector Walter Grandi (Henry Silva). Not everyone in their world will survive. Hell, the two of them might not even make it.
After screwing up a bank robbery and being threatened with castration, Saachi goes absolutely wild and pretty much kills everyone in his path. Tomas Milian must have heard that David Hess was coming to Italy and said, “Let me show you something.” He’s an equal opportunity maniac in this movie, as everyone is in the crosshairs. He might have a gorgeous woman like Iona (Anita Strindberg) in love with him, supporting him, and yet he comes home just to assault her at will. Then, he uses her to take her boss’ daughter, Mary Lou (Laura Belli), and ransom her life, as if life means anything to him.
His partners Carmine (Ray Lovelock) and Vittorio (Gino Santercole) aren’t ready for the drugged-up menace that Saachi is about to bring. Tying people to a chandelier and letting it spin as he plays roulette with his victims? That’s just the start. No one is safe, whether that’s old people, people begging for their lives, cops, children…even a man who Saachi forces to go down on his little Giulio while he keeps a gun at his head. They have second thoughts about being in a gang with him, but who will tell him he’s going off the deep end?
Morricone soundtrack, Silva as a cop, you’re just waiting to go insane, lawyers getting scummy crooks off with no charges, justice in the streets—this has it all. And so much more. And wow, it was so close to being a totally different movie, with Richard Conte playing the cop and Marc Porel playing the criminal, but Lenzi found the actor “unreliable from both a human and professional point of view.”
As it was, Lenzi’s first meeting with Milian didn’t go well. Milian heard that Lenzi was an impulsive director who could go off on his actors, but by the film’s end, they realized they could work together in a love/hate way for seven films. As for how Millian got this performance, in true Method style, he drugged and drank it up before Lenzi said, “Action!”
That’s how you do it.
Over here, Joseph Brenner released several times, first as The Kidnap of Mary Lou, then a year later as The Death Dealer and finally in 1980 as Almost Human. All hail Temple of Schlock for telling me!
Almost Human is a great one, paired with The Tough Ones you have Lenzi's best work.
DeleteCRY OF A PR*STITUTE (1974, Andrea Bianchi)
ReplyDeleteBianchi’s other directorial efforts include Strip Nude for your Killer (1975), Malabimba (1979), and Burial Ground (1981), which should give an indication of the what is in store here. Surly Henry Silva, bodacious Barbara Bouchet, and a host of swarthy Italian hunks in this sleazy, sadistic take on Yojimbo. Alternate title -- A Fistful of Lire? The CRY OF title is pure promotional exploitation, as Bouchet’s character is only in about 20 minutes of this. But man, what a 20 minutes, as we get into “Roughie, Italian style” territory, and, as a bonus, Barbara moisturizes her bared bre*sts with freshly squeezed milk and blows a banana. Other than that, there’s plenty of the good ol’ ultraviolence that makes these Italian crime films so wildly fun. A wonderful way to kick off Junesploitation 2025!
PS: If you’re undecided on a flick for Zombie day tomorrow, Burial Ground would be a great choice!
Yes! I really like Cry of a Prostitute but it can be hard to watch and nearly impossible to recommend. That Barbara Bouchet scene is rough stuff.
DeleteGreat flick!
DeleteHenry Silva could play mean like nobody else. With his performance and Andrea Bianchi's no-holds-barred style of exploitation, Cry of a Pr-stitute will always be an uncomfortable watch.
DeleteI watched Cry of a Pr*stitute as well. First time viewing. I've been participating in Junesploitation for 11 years and prior to that I did not know who Henry Silva was. Now he's one of my favorite actors. He is AMAZING in this movie as the "hero" playing one of the most reprehensible characters in memory. When he killed some henchmen then drove over their dead bodies with a steam roller I was like I've never seen that before and this movie is not messing around.
DeleteI forgot to mention I loved the scene when he walks into the small village seeking revenge and the townsfolk retreat from him and close their doors as he walks by. PURE CINEMA
DeleteCOLT 38 SPECIAL SQUAD (1976, dir. Massimo Dallamano)
ReplyDeleteWhen that Stelvio Cipriani score kicks in, you know you are entering the poliziotteschi genre. Mikko already covered the plot and highlights of the film, so I will just state that this is a solid film all around. Dallamano knows how to get a film moving along, and the cast gets down and dirty as bombs explode, cars crash, and people get shot. Ivan Rassimov is great as the psychopathic criminal mastermind terrorizing Turin. The Arrow blu-ray is lovely to look at.
If anyone is not sure about giallo day, Dallamano's classic What Have You Done to Solange? is an excellent pick.
SHOOT FIRST, DIE LATER (1974, Dir. Fernando Di Leo):
ReplyDeleteOstensibly about police corruption, but mostly about incredible suits.
Caliber 9 (1972)
ReplyDeleteJust to get this off my chest, I can't say or even think the name "Barbara Bouchet" in anything other than a Waterboy-esque accent. The movie itself feels like a bit of a slow-burn at times, before things go suitably nuts at the end.
STUNTMAN (1968)
ReplyDeleteCrooks hire a movie stuntman to help them on their heist, only to double-cross him. Now he’s on the run and must fight back using the power of stunts. Turns out this is a parody of crime flicks, and a very silly one – a proto Naked Gun. There’s a lot of wacky shtick with Gina Lollobrigida as a posh lady who is so very, very posh. (I like that word: posh.) And yes, the stunts are impressive in that old-school rough n’ tumble way. So, there’s fun to be had, but it’s also messy and all over the place. I’d say this is a little forgettable.
30 days of Georges Melies, day 1: A TRIP TO THE MOON (1902)
If I’m doing this, might as well start with the most famous one. The astronauts are apparently also wizards, with their robes and big beards and all. Then there’s the iconic shot of the face in the moon, which is also funny in this context – the moon has had it with those darn Earthmen. The whole movie is very slapstick, including the fights with the aliens that follow. I’m mostly struck with how Melies packs so much visual information onto the screen at once. With all these extras and all these huge sets, there’s a dozen things to look at in any given shot. It’s a classic for a reason!
You have chosen a secondary theme that at least does not feature long movies, Mac.
DeleteThe Cynic, The Rat and the Fist (1977 Umberto Lenzi)
ReplyDeleteI don’t think I’m a Merli guy, but I’ve heard he does some great stunts so I’ll probably try a couple more of his. I wish the car scenes were a little more exciting, but this one is overall good. John Saxon on day one bonus!
Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man (1976 Ruggero Deodato)
This one has much more exciting chase sequences (motorcycles!) I was craving. The buddy cop leads turn out to be real psychos. Two guys that have really let being let being elite cops and Italian in the 1970s go to their heads. They also ride together on a motorcycle throughout the movie so it’s intermittently kinda cute.
Ruggero Deodato was almost incapable of making a bad movie...almost.
DeleteNaked Violence (1969, dir. Fernando Di Leo)
ReplyDeleteGoing to try and do better about actually posting my Junesploitation watches this year. Tried to start the month with something new-to-me and it was a bust. I had seen the other entries in my Di Leo box sets so I went with his first movie, a police procedural about the r--e and murder of a teacher. It's talky and kind of dull and not at all what I wanted today so I watched Contraband again and that hit the spot much better.
That one was also a low mark for me in that pair of Di Leo sets. I GUESS he's entitled to a dud here & there...
DeleteNew watches do carry the risk of being disappointed, yet that risk is worth it when you do discover something good.
DeleteDi Leo also directed the mediocre Slaughter Hotel. I have not seen Naked Violence, but I suspect it is better than that.
I see your "Slaughter Hotel" and I raise you with "Madness," easily Di Leo's worst movie by a country mile IMO. What a downer that one of the founding fathers of the 'poliziotteschi' genre ended his career with such below-par dreck. :'(
DeleteHappy Junesploitation!
ReplyDeleteI watched Torso (1973), directed by Sergio Martino. One might argue it’s a Giallo, but crimes are committed in Italy so I’m saying it works for today too!
Hot and horny college coeds are getting murdered, and there are a few potential creepy dudes as suspects. A colorful scarf is involved. There’s a disturbing doll. Nudity galore—Erika, you’d love it! 🤭
The kills are creative and there’s some gore; and the Italian settings are spectacular.
There’s a super suspenseful sequence in the final third that I absolutely loved. Add to that a resourceful woman and a seeming commentary on toxic masculinity and you have a pretty great movie.
I didn’t know what to expect and this was an awesome start to the month!
one of my faves!
DeleteDefinitely classified as a giallo, yet Torso does involve crimes and police investigations. It is also one of the main precursors to the slasher genre. The Italian title is quite evocative: The Bodies Show Traces of Carnal Violence.
DeleteIt also has a long sequence where some woman are riding a tractor through the town square!
DeleteYay! Blogger didn't like my salacious, dangerous notes on HIGH CRIME or, more likely, the title of my Jess Franco selection: ER*TIC NIGHT RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN. playing on Plex.
ReplyDeleteI LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUV automated deletions. This whole life thing will be exponentially easier when GAI is running the show.
I've been where you are many, many times. 🥺😢 It's frustrating as hell, but don't let the censoring AI sour your Junesploitation! Pick yourself off the floor, dust off and give it another try tomorrow. ✌️😀
DeleteAppreciate it, JMV.
DeleteBlogger is the worst. Sorry about that.
DeleteI think we have all been the victim of Blogger's censorship. It can seem so arbitrary much of the time.
DeleteWhen I watched that Jess Franco film a couple of years ago for Junesploitation, Blogger was definitely not happy when I tried to post about using the full title.
DeleteHah! perfect.
DeleteSTUNT SQUAD, 1977, Raro Blu-Ray, rewatch, 8/10 up from 7/10.
ReplyDeleteFranco rec: LOVE LETTERS OF A PORTUGUESE NUN. playing nowhere.
Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man (1976 Ruggero Deodato)
ReplyDelete2 undercover cops with 2 licenses to kill and one motorcycle go after the mob that killed their boss in this violent buddy cop movie with a severe mean streak from the director of Cannibal Holocaust. The best parts is the opening chase scene. The worst part was in the same scene when a seeing eye dog getting ran over is played for laughs. This one wasn't for me but some may enjoy it.
Fernando Di Leo’s Milieu Trilogy
ReplyDelete⭐️ Caliber | 1972
⭐️ The Italian Connection | 1972
⭐️ Il Boss | 1973
Starting the month with greatness x 3! Marinara covered exploitation at it’s finest. Pronto? Bene!
West Coast Crime
⭐️ Bullitt | 1968 | Peter Yates
⭐️ Dirty Harry | 1971 | Don Siegel
A little bit of a cheat but we are finishing the night with two American films that greatly inspired the Poliziotteschi genre.
Cool. :-D
DeleteLive Like A Cop, Die Like a Man (1976, Ruggero Deodato)
ReplyDeleteBatshit crazy buddy cop movie succeeds in blending elements of James Bond, Starsky & Hutch, and Italian giallo. The opening motorcycle chase is amazing and apparently filmed in downtown Rome without permits or permission. One quibble is that all the sexy stuff comes off a little rapey. One bonus is that it features both Adolfo Celi, who played Largo in Thunderball, and Franco Citti, who played Michael’s bodyguard Calo in The Godfather. Stay away from the two leads; people die around them LIKE FLIES.
Shoot First, Die Later (1974, dir. Fernando Di Leo)
ReplyDeleteThis ended up having more strangling than shooting. It's about a cop that is a tiny bit dirty, but then things get out of hand as he gets pulled deeper into the mob world.
Rome, Armed to the Teeth (1974, dir. Umberto Lenzi)
ReplyDeletea.k.a. The Tough Ones
I watched this after I had just watched Live Like A Cop, Die Like a Man and had the same quibble as JB plus some other issues with that movie... but this one got my June back on a high note!
The protagonist dishes out the smack down all over the place. Seriously: wherever there is crime, he seems to just be there. He's a classic cop-playing-by-his-own-rules, with bonus Italian flair. I wish his psychologist SO (incidentally a knockout) was more involved in the story though.
The pace felt just right, the villain was great, and multiple pretty impressive chase scenes thrilled throughout. The ending let me down a bit as it felt amped down from the rest of the movie, but overall this was a proper good time!
Watched Closed Circuit, The Day of the Owl, and The Violent Four. Enjoyed the first two, but the third started with some faux documentary stuff for twenty minutes and the characters weren't interesting enough to reclaim my attention.
ReplyDeleteLoaded Guns (1975)
ReplyDeleteWhat if Jackie Brown was written and directed by some 10-year-old Italian boys, and they really lost focus toward the end?
Live Like A Cop, Die Like a Man (1976, Ruggero Deodato)
ReplyDeleteSuper fun and over the top. Motorcycle chases! Quarts of fake blood! Italian with dirty mouths and a strong sense of JUSTICE! Oops I was going to write more but an Italian Special Forces cop barged into my dingy apartment and my blouse accidentally fell off.