Blu-ray Review: Years Of Lead: Five Classic Italian Crime Thrillers 1973-1977

June 13, 2021

Written by DanXIII

Daniel XIII; the result of an arcane ritual involving a King Diamond album, a box of Count Chocula, and a copy of Swank magazine, is a screenwriter, director, producer, actor, artist, and reviewer of fright flicks…Who hates ya baby?

Coming from a period of massive social upheaval in 1970’s Italy, the “Years of Lead” as they were called, inspired filmmakers of the time to dip their toes in all-manner brutal crime pictures (the poliziotteschi genre), and our fine fiends at Arrow Video have collected some of them in the aptly named Years of Lead collection, a series of five films on Blu-ray that represent the era to a “T”!
First up comes 1975’s Savage Three which concerns Turin-based computer programmer Ovidio (Joe Dallesandro), and his two pals Peppi (Guido Di Carli) and Giacomo (Gianfranco De Grassi); a trio of bored-ass mother fuckers that aren’t above starting a soccer riot, stealing a car, and riding folks down if they like their wheels better… ya know, just for kicks!
Making matter worse, the men all have shitty home lives, and are in danger of being replaced by machines at work, which in turn fuels larger and larger crime sprees featuring those hoary ol’ chestnuts; rape and murder!
Will Santagà (Enrico Maria Salerno) , a cop that’s way beyond “too old for this shit” be able to stop these lunatics without the approval of his superiors? I wouldn’t bet on it…
Directed by Co-written by Salerno and Ernesto Gastaldi, we get a nastier version of Falling Down if comparisons are your bag. We get three over-worked and under-sexed maniacs that are surprisingly more sympathetic then you would image, thanks to their motivations being made crystal clear and easy to relate to (c’mon, who hasn’t worked a worthless job they hated?) no matter the atrocities they commit.
Another big plus here is the film’s brisk and suspenseful pace, not to mention a few grizzly set-pieces… but viewer beware, there is un-simulated rat on rat violence present here, as well as a pretty stomach-churning rape/murder combo, so if you are sensitive to such business, take note.
But hey, it’s all set to some groovy-ass guitar work (courtesy of composer Franco Campanino’s score), so, win?
Next up on disc one we get 1976’s Like Rabid Dogs which features the adventures of criminal-types Rico (Luis La Torra) and Sylvia (Annarita Grapputo) who are lead by their cruel college chum Tony (Cesare Barro).
This ghoulish gang soon botch a kidnapping during their out of control crime spree, resulting in the death of their captive which goes right along with tony’s newfound hobby of putting the murder on any hooker unfortunate enough to cross his putrid path.
Enter: Paolo Muzi (Jean-Pierre Sabagh), a grizzled cop who gets the hot idea to dress up his girlfriend, Germana (Paola Senatore), as a lady of the evening in an attempt to lure Tony out of hiding. This goes about as well as you’d imagine, and now Muzi has to race the clock to both rescue Germana and put an end to these sinister shenanigans!
Directed by Mario Imperioli, Like Rabid Dogs is trash, but it’s glorious trash! Fast paced, packed with blood and boobs, and featuring just a dab of social commentary, this is exploitation flick fried-gold through and through!
I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention that as crazy as some of the guys are in this flick, Annarita Grapputo as Sylvia has them beat by a creepy country mile! Often nude, totally sadistic, and completely irresistible, she’s the best thing in this picture!
As for bonus material disc one, we get interviews with Salerno and actress Martine Brochard, and Dallesandro, and a look at the picture’s poster for Savage Three, and on the Like Rabid Dog side of things; interviews with cinematographer Romano Albani & film historian Fabio Melelli, and assistant director Claudio Bernabei, the film’s theatrical trailer, a sampling of music from the film’s soundtrack, and a poster gallery.
Disc two begins with Colt .38 Special Squad, a yarn spun about Vanni (Marcel Bozzuffi), a cop who kills the brother of a a real nice guy named the Black Angel (Ivan Rassimov) in the line of duty. Ol’ BA is of course right pissed about this, so he straight up murders Vanni’s wife.
This incident results in the creation of the eponymous Colt .38 Special Squad, a police sanctioned task force led by Vanni who excel at shooting, get this, Colt .38s and tear-assing around on motorbikes. That’s fucking exciting!
Anyway these dudes have one rule to follow; do not shoot to kill. This of course goes to complete shit, and soon the Special Squad go rogue and do their damnedest to clip the Black Angel’s wings once and for all!
Directed to the hilt by What Have You Done To Solange?’s Massimo Dallamano (who also co-wrote the picture) Colt .38 Special Squad is packed to the brim with tense shootouts, fantastic car (and motorcycle) chases, and plenty of action and really cooks along at great pace!
Adding to the fun here are the actor’s on display, with Rassimov turning in a suitably menacing performance, and Bozzuffi making for a weary, gruff hero that’ easy to love… or at least like enough to follow along with… but c’mon, a movie called Colt .38 Special Squad could star a chimp and be great… wait, that would be awesome!
Following that comes 1977’s Highway Racer which features Maurizio Merli as Marco, a cop fed up with police chases being lost to criminals with souped up cars.
Marco’s gal-pal Francesca (Lilli Carati) just so happens to toil away at a sports car dealership and suggests our hero asks his superiors to up their vehicle game… which is a shit-hot idea, but a nasty mishap results in Marco disobeying orders and attempting to call it a day on the whole policeman career choice, so that fast-as-balls hot rod idea would most likely fall on deaf ears… except his superior, Tagliaferri (Giancarlo Sbragia), who just so happens to be a rather kick-ass driver in his own right suggests he goes undercover and gets awarded a Ferrari to refurbish and driving lessons from Tag himself!
Director Stelvio Massi truly hit it out of the park with Highway Racer! This is like a Hot Wheels addicted child playing demolition derby… but with real cars… and in Rome instead of their bedroom… anyway, you lot get the idea!
The entire film is a fast paced, car chase super-spectacular set to a bouncy-ass score courtesy of Stelvio Cipriani (who must have really loved Iron Butterfly… you’ll see… err, hear… ), with Merli as our incredibly likable hero.
Bottom line, Highway Racer is my favorite of this collection, and is worth the price of admission alone!
As for special features on disc two, we are treated to a discussion of Highway Racer by film historian Roberto Curti, and a poster gallery, while we get an introduction to Colt .38 Special Squad from Cipriani as well as an interview with the same, followed by an interview with editor Antonio Siciliano, the film’s theatrical trailer, and a poster gallery.
Disc three brings us one film, 1973’s No, The Case Is Happily Resolved which features Enzo Cerusico as Fabio Santamaria, a man who witnesses the savage murder of a woman courtesy of Eduardo Ranieri (Riccardo Cucciolla), while trying to get his rest on out in the middle of nowhere.
See ol’ Ed is a respected college professor, and it isn’t long before he frames Fabio for the crime he has committed, and Fabio soon finds himself racing to clock to prove his innocence!
Simply put, director Vittorio Salerno and screenwriter Augusto Finocchi deliver a wonderfully suspenseful Hitchcock pastiche with an Italian flair (the location here are pretty damn stellar). The paranoia experienced by Cerusico is palpable, and Cucciolla is equally on point as the shit heel prof that makes our hero’s life a living hell.
As for special features we get: critic Will Webb providing a visual essay that takes us through the tropes and themes of the poliziotteschi genre, an interview with Salerno, an alternate opening to the film, the film’s theatrical trailer, and a poster gallery.
Also included in this collection are reversible sleeves featuring original artwork, and a booklet featuring new writing by Troy Howarth, Michael Mackenzie, Rachael Nisbet, Kat Ellinger and James Oliver.
The films presented here are absolutely packed with violence, nudity, and some seriously intense car chases… but under all of those drive-in greatest hits, we also get a reflection of the desperate climate Italy found itself in during the ‘70s… consider it exploitation with a purpose, but that purpose never outshines the elements that are guaranteed to put asses in seats!
 

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