Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Pluskylang Great Film overall

TeenzTen An action-packed slog

morrison-dylan-fan With having become very keen on the Italian Giallo films,I felt that it was time that I started to explore the other big genre in Italian cinema at the time:Italian Crime films.For my first dip into these (very bloody) new waters,I decided to try a film by a Giallo director that a friend has been talking to me about for a while called Lucio Fulci.After having seen the film,I feel that whilst it is a bit muddled,it is still a hugely enjoyable crime film,with a great amount of real gritty gore.The plot: When a group of local gangsters go to collect there latest supply of cigarettes (which are said to have a street value of up to two million),they are left in shock when the police suddenly come out,revealing that some one had tip them off about the pick-up.Realiseing that the police are closing in,the smugglers quickly set up a "fake" explosion,which gives them just enough time to get away from the police.Sadly when they arrive back,one of the main gangsters in the smuggling operation (Mickey Di Angelo) gets caught in a police set-up,which leads to the cops shooting him,until he is completely dead.With his heart filled with anger over the killing of his brother,Luca Di Angelo decides to go against some of the wishes from the other members of the gang,and to instead search round to try to find out who set up his brothers slaying.As he searches the underground,Luca discoverers that a new group of gangsters have appeared,who are wanting to destroy all of the main Mafia gangs who, sell "Kiddie" contraband (such as cigarettes) and to instead get the gangs old customers hooked onto their new hard drugs,such as Heroin and Cocaine.Feeling that he desperately needs support in his plan to destroy the new gang,Luca decides to ask a group of semi-retired "old hands" to help him out with his plans.Although Di Angelo does not realise that the new gang has some very sadistic plans,for Luca and his wife..View on the film:During my viewing of the film,I have to say the I felt that the screenplay by Ettore Sanzo and Gianni De Chiara sadly made the films plot slightly muddled by not making most of the members of the two main gangs that distinctive from each other,with most of them acting in a very cocky,confident manner (although the new gang are a lot more aggressive than the old one)Thankfully the film is helped by brilliant directing from Lucio Fulci,who makes the stunning shoot-outs in the film POP,with his terrific ultra-violence.Along with the very violent scenes,Fulci is also able to build a good amount of tension in the film,with each of the assassinations of the mobsters filmed in a very distinctive way.Lucio also turns the parts of the story that are to do with Luca hunting for the people that set his brother up,into a gripping revenge plot,that is matched by very good performances from Fabio Testi and Marcel Bozzufi.

radiobirdma NOPE, capital letters. While Signore Fulci once had some not-too-big ambitions ("Paperino", "Lizard in a Woman's Skin"), this less than mediocre mafia/ poliziotto mix has one okay scene that maybe lasts a bit more than a minute: when the bad ol' boys of the Camorra, all withered pensioner consiglieres with pale moustaches and spectacles, settle the accounts with their tommy guns, including Non-Maestro Fulci in a cameo role. Apart from that, you get a nonsensical script, probably the worst and already then totally outdated disco soundtrack of the early 80s, highly unattractive Italian housewives plus a black transvestite in the females roles, hairy vaginas, a bit of zombie make-up, a bunsen burner held to a lady's face, an anal rape Napoli style ... a bag of guilty pleasure goodies, some might think, but it's all as gritty and shocking as the spaghetti bolognese at Luigi's grimy restaurant next door. Even the (Danish) DVDs extras don't tease afterwards. Here, you won't stay for dessert.

Viva_Chiba When it comes to gore, Lucio Fulci knows how to deliver, even if this is not a horror movie. There are many scenes of brutal gun blasting, it will make gore hounds happy (with really well made special effects), also the soundtrack is amazing. Good performance of Fabio Testi, in the role of "Luca""Contraband" was made after the success of Zombie 2, another Fulci masterpiece.Plot: Luca is a cigarette smuggler, "working" in Naples, Italy. After a boat chase with the police, Luca suspects that someone is trying to frame him. A group of Cocaine Smugglers are trying to "replace" the Cigarette smuggling by killing and threating all the cigarette smugglers that will go against them.....Trivia: Fulci makes a cameo in the final shootout as: a old man with the glasses shooting with a machine gun.

lost-in-limbo Here's another one outside the horror genre for director Lucio Fulci. He crafts a brutally biting, if disjointed Italian crime melodrama that serves to make you squirm in it gratuitous acts of extremely depraved violence and sleaziness. Fulci definitely left his calling card on this one, with many unforgettably unflinching nasty moments (like an uncomfortable face-melting scene). The superfluous gore and mean-spirited nature is great, but a lack of any real tension-building does hurt it. The twisty story is frank and unspectacular even with its shifty chain of bleak events and the script is weakly penned (the unsuitable humour when included falling flat), but being broken up by its impulsively vivid action stunts (nice use of slow-motion too) and gorgeous Naples' backdrop, leaves quite a hypnotic imprint. Sergio Salvati's brashly sharp and tight camera-work, interlocks with Fulci's kinetic visual bursts and rounding it off nicely is composer Fabio Frizzi's ever-changing, saucy music score that doesn't lye down. Performances are workably tailored. There's a humanely chiselled and honest performance by Fabio Testi. Marcel Bozuffi makes for a great smarmy, calculating French Mafia Don trying to take over Testi's character's turf. Ivana Monti, Ferdinand Murolo, Saverio Marconi and Guido Alberti provide able support. Quite an edgy, blunt and vicious crime joint that basically gets it kicks off its effectively rousing, if scandalous violence than anything more.