HOME |  CULT MOVIES | COMPETITIONS | ADVERTISE |  CONTACT US |  ABOUT US
 
 
 
Newest Reviews
American Fiction
Poor Things
Thunderclap
Zeiram
Legend of the Bat
Party Line
Night Fright
Pacha, Le
Kimi
Assemble Insert
Venus Tear Diamond, The
Promare
Beauty's Evil Roses, The
Free Guy
Huck and Tom's Mississippi Adventure
Rejuvenator, The
Who Fears the Devil?
Guignolo, Le
Batman, The
Land of Many Perfumes
Cat vs. Rat
Tom & Jerry: The Movie
Naked Violence
Joyeuses Pacques
Strangeness, The
How I Became a Superhero
Golden Nun
Incident at Phantom Hill
Winterhawk
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
Maigret Sets a Trap
B.N.A.
Hell's Wind Staff, The
Topo Gigio and the Missile War
Battant, Le
Penguin Highway
Cazadore de Demonios
Snatchers
Imperial Swordsman
Foxtrap
   
 
Newest Articles
3 From Arrow Player: Sweet Sugar, Girls Nite Out and Manhattan Baby
Little Cat Feat: Stephen King's Cat's Eye on 4K UHD
La Violence: Dobermann at 25
Serious Comedy: The Wrong Arm of the Law on Blu-ray
DC Showcase: Constantine - The House of Mystery and More on Blu-ray
Monster Fun: Three Monster Tales of Sci-Fi Terror on Blu-ray
State of the 70s: Play for Today Volume 3 on Blu-ray
The Movie Damned: Cursed Films II on Shudder
The Dead of Night: In Cold Blood on Blu-ray
Suave and Sophisticated: The Persuaders! Take 50 on Blu-ray
Your Rules are Really Beginning to Annoy Me: Escape from L.A. on 4K UHD
A Woman's Viewfinder: The Camera is Ours on DVD
Chaplin's Silent Pursuit: Modern Times on Blu-ray
The Ecstasy of Cosmic Boredom: Dark Star on Arrow
A Frosty Reception: South and The Great White Silence on Blu-ray
You'll Never Guess Which is Sammo: Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon on Blu-ray
Two Christopher Miles Shorts: The Six-Sided Triangle/Rhythm 'n' Greens on Blu-ray
Not So Permissive: The Lovers! on Blu-ray
Uncomfortable Truths: Three Shorts by Andrea Arnold on MUBI
The Call of Nostalgia: Ghostbusters Afterlife on Blu-ray
Moon Night - Space 1999: Super Space Theater on Blu-ray
Super Sammo: Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son on Blu-ray
Sex vs Violence: In the Realm of the Senses on Blu-ray
What's So Funny About Brit Horror? Vampira and Bloodbath at the House of Death on Arrow
Keeping the Beatles Alive: Get Back
   
 
  Crimebusters A city too violent even for Henry Silva
Year: 1976
Director: Michele Massimo Tarantini
Stars: Henry Silva, Antonio Sabato, Silvia Dionisio, Ettore Manni, Rosario Borelli, Calogero Caruana, Nicola D'Eramo, Daniele Dublino, Claudio Nicastro, Thomas Rudy, Christian Mori
Genre: Action, ThrillerBuy from Amazon
Rating:  5 (from 1 vote)
Review: When paratrooper Major Paolo Altieri (Henry Silva) reports that defective chutes claimed the lives of two men, he is transferred to an office job in the city so he will no longer trouble his superiors. But trouble follows wherever he goes. After foiling the attempted kidnap of a child, Altieri barely survives a revenge attack only to discover a gang of brutal criminals are on the rampage with machine guns stolen from his old unit. Teaming up with tough cop Paolo Tosi (Antonio Sabato), Altieri tries to find out who is supplying the gang with weapons, but in doing so endangers the life of his girlfriend Anna (Silvia Dionisio).

For some reason two Italian crime-thrillers with the same international title were released around the same time, causing some confusion despite being very different films. While Crime Busters (1977) was another raucous hit for action-comedy stars Terence Hill and Bud Spencer, Crimebusters a.k.a. Poliziotti Violenti ("Violent Policemen": a 'does what it says on the tin' kind of title) was a nihilistic poliziotteschi vehicle for the slightly less wacky duo of Henry Silva and Antonio "one expression serves all emotions" Sabato. By 1976 both men were established stars of the genre. To the point where the producers were no-doubt banking on the combination of Silva's unique brooding intensity and Sabato's, er, whatever would prove a big box-office draw. Here both stars are interestingly cast in roles contrary to those fans would expect them to play. While Silva essays the earnest, vulnerable, slightly out of his depth boy scout, Sabata is the cynical, hard-bitten veteran cop. Against the odds their chalk-and-cheese pairing works relatively well in a fast-paced thriller that gets by on relentless momentum alone.

As per usual with Euro-crime the plot riffs on those familiar Hollywood touchstones: Death Wish (1974) and Dirty Harry (1971) and the over-arching theme is disenchantment with bureaucracy and corruption. Michele Massimo Tarantini (whose genre-hopping career encompassed sexploitation highs The Teasers (1975) and Taxi Girl (1977), well-regarded poliziotteschi thriller A Man Called Magnum (1977), superior sword and sorcery romp Sword of the Barbarians (1982) and the risible Massacre in Dinosaur Valley (1985)) confronts Altieri with one criminal atrocity after another to stoke his righteous indignation. Fueling the fears of a Seventies Italian audience, Tarantini indulges in an eccentric conceit. He underscores each criminal act with a chorus of wailing women, to the point where it sounds like the city itself is recoiling in horror at the rising tide of barbarism.

Tarantini hits all the familiar crowd-pleasing Euro-crime beats, albeit in often hilariously unsubtle fashion ("There is something wrong with this god-damn city", gripes Altieri. "It's full of violence." Like, duh), and stages plenty of rousing motorized mayhem. In particular a cracking motorcycle chase. However, as with many examples of the genre, sloppy scripting undercuts the central message. For all its lip service to social outrage the chief motivating factor for Altieri is neither injustice nor the victimization of innocents. Rather it is a desire to avenge his wounded male pride. Altieri feels humiliated, forced to walk with a cane after his brutal attack and seemingly shunned by his violence-hating girlfriend, albeit briefly. Crimebusters draws an explicit parallel between social and sexual impotence. Its core argument is that for society to regain some semblance of order, never mind social reforms, a man's got to do what a man's got to do. Which is kick ass with impunity. At one point Tosi describes the proposal of a police state as "a great idea but impractical, because of politics."

The film includes the typical array of darkly comic vignettes (e.g. a machine-gun toting little old lady fakes a heart-attack to pull of a jewel heist) that sit awkwardly alongside queasier scenes where Tosi brutalizes a transvestite informant at a gay bar or the inevitable scene where the leading lady gets gang-raped. The latter is glossed over far too cavalierly as this stands as yet another Italian film where the hero 'heals' a traumatized woman with a good shagging. On the other hand it is unfair to single out Crimebusters for flaws that riddle a dozen other Euro-crime thrillers. When the film is on point it is compelling and builds to a satisfying climax with Henry Silva venting his rage with a machine-gun. Plus a grim punchline only slightly undercut by Antonio Sabato's singular inability to emote. Oh, and why have both heroes named Paolo?

Reviewer: Andrew Pragasam

 

This review has been viewed 2883 time(s).

As a member you could Rate this film

 
Review Comments (0)


Untitled 1

Login
  Username:
 
  Password:
 
   
 
Forgotten your details? Enter email address in Username box and click Reminder. Your details will be emailed to you.
   

Latest Poll
Which star probably has psychic powers?
Laurence Fishburne
Nicolas Cage
Anya Taylor-Joy
Patrick Stewart
Sissy Spacek
Michelle Yeoh
Aubrey Plaza
Tom Cruise
Beatrice Dalle
Michael Ironside
   
 
   

Recent Visitors
Mary Sibley
Enoch Sneed
Darren Jones
Mark Le Surf-hall
  Louise Hackett
Andrew Pragasam
Graeme Clark
  Desbris M
   

 

Last Updated: