Italian Crime Films

I’ve only seen Milano Calibre 9 out of the Italian crime films, really want to see the two others from Fernando di leo, I would LOVE if Arrow put them out aswell.

Preordered it two months ago :slight_smile: Still not released though.

BluRay release calendar

https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/BluRay_Release_Calendar

SWDB Forum would seem to be a good place to discuss Italian popular cinema in general. I love Spaghetti Westerns (of course) but my interests extend to Italian horror, Science Fiction, Spy and Puplum movies. Partly this is because a lot of the same performers turns up.

One area I know very little about is the Poliziotteschi genre of crime/action movies which in part superseded the SWs in the 1970s.

Could anyone give me a few recommendations as starting points for getting into these films?

I’d suggest to start with films of Fernando Di Leo and Umberto Lenzi. Milano Calibre 9 is one of the best films ever.

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Oh, poor Frank Wolff’s last film. I’d love to see that.

Milano Calibre 9 is indeed amazing.

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Oh, I have to add Castellari to my recommendations. He made some of the best. And Sollima’s Revolver. Oliver Reed is phenomenal in the lead role and it has one of the Morricone’s best scores.

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I was reading a while back some of the stories about the making of Revolver, which came just at the point when Oliver Reed’s drinking was getting out of control. Apparently Solima gave the crew a false date for Reed’s last scene so the actor could get away safely from vengeful Italian film technicians!

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Would anyone be interested in the pen that looks like a bullet that was included in the Grindhouse Releasing disc of “The Tough Ones”? For reasons I don’t wanna get into, it is stuck at London Heathrow… but if anyone wants this limited collector’s item, please let me know

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That’s right. There’s an interview with Sollima on the Blue Underground disc and he says exactly that. Russell Crowe didn’t have many good things to say about Reed after shooting Gladiator with him.

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I’ve recently ordered The Tough Ones and that will be arriving without the pen so I wouldn’t mind having it if possible.

Yes definitely interested. This is a late reply. I am in the USA. If you still have the bullet pen let me know.

too late I am afraid, sorry… forever lost. I hope someone at Heathrow is a fan :stuck_out_tongue:

I watched The Killers Are Our Guests (1974) with Anthony Steffen. It starts like a typical Euro crime with a robbery. When one of the thieves is injured, the rest of the gang decide to take him to a house where they take a doctor and his wife hostage. The rest of the film is set inside the doctor’s house as he is forced to take care of the wounded criminal at gunpoint. There’s some sexual violence that takes place and the film turned out to be a lot more sleazy than I imagined. Overall, it’s nothing special but I continued watching to see how things would turn out. There’s a good little twist at the end. It’s a shame that the film does drag throughout the middle portion, which is a bit of a let-down.

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Oh a Steffen Poliziotteschi! I am curious to see that! I have not watched a Italo-crime film in ages. I used to be really into them. My interest dropped off when I started watching Spaghetti westerns again.

How is Sergio Martino’s Gambling City? I’m currently building on to my Eurocrime collection and looking into some new titles. I’m also curious about Dallamano’s Colt 38 Special Squad.

So far I have seen around 15 flicks which are among the better ones - Castellari, Lenzi, Di Leo, Blazing Magnum etc. However I don’t plan to dig as deep into the genre as I’ve done with Spags, simply because I do actually enjoy the cheap and mediocre Spags in one way or another. With the Crime flicks I get bored much easier if it ain’t delivers.

Gambling City is a good little film…I wouldn’t rank it anywhere near as high as Revolver or The Tough Ones, or The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh, but it’s definetely worth watching if you’re a fan of the genre.
I tried watching Colt 38…and couldn’t make it all the way through. If I remember rightly the action was good but the characters were way too flat and boring.

Thanks Bill!

I like both a lot, prefer Colt 38 Special Squad the music score and action is stunning… Gambling City starts out with an annoying music score that makes it feel sort of light hearted and comedic but gets better as it goes along.

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