Italian Crime Films

Read and buy

https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/The_Tough_Ones_-_Grindhouse_Releasing_BluRay_Review

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To be honest, the German release of The Tough Ones was already pretty nice. Same with the The Cynic. I wasnā€™t too impressed with the 88 films Blu-ray when I decided to upgrade and still watch the DVD. Grindhouse tend to do a great job though, so Iā€™m looking forward to this one. I hope Violent Rome and Violent Naples are next in line for this kind of treatment.

it does have a ton of extras

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One area I know very little about is the Poliziotteschi genre of crime/action movies which in part superseded the SWs in the 1970s.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

Iā€™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 Wolffā€™s last film. Iā€™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 Sollimaā€™s Revolver. Oliver Reed is phenomenal in the lead role and it has one of the Morriconeā€™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 Reedā€™s drinking was getting out of control. Apparently Solima gave the crew a false date for Reedā€™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 ā€œThe Tough Onesā€? For reasons I donā€™t wanna get into, it is stuck at London Heathrowā€¦ but if anyone wants this limited collectorā€™s item, please let me know

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Thatā€™s right. Thereā€™s an interview with Sollima on the Blue Underground disc and he says exactly that. Russell Crowe didnā€™t have many good things to say about Reed after shooting Gladiator with him.

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Iā€™ve recently ordered The Tough Ones and that will be arriving without the pen so I wouldnā€™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, sorryā€¦ 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 doctorā€™s house as he is forced to take care of the wounded criminal at gunpoint. Thereā€™s some sexual violence that takes place and the film turned out to be a lot more sleazy than I imagined. Overall, itā€™s nothing special but I continued watching to see how things would turn out. Thereā€™s a good little twist at the end. Itā€™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 Martinoā€™s Gambling City? Iā€™m currently building on to my Eurocrime collection and looking into some new titles. Iā€™m also curious about Dallamanoā€™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 donā€™t plan to dig as deep into the genre as Iā€™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 ainā€™t delivers.