As the Giallo was losing steam in Italian cinema, producers and distributors were looking for the next genre to catch heat. Hollywood gave them an answer in 1971 when Dirty Harry and The French Connection became blockbusters. Italy was getting more unlawful as home-grown terrorist organization such as the Red Brigade were getting more brazen in their attacks. They were robbing banks, kidnapping the rich and firing bullets all over cities. The country wanted cops that weren’t going to back down during this lawless time. Filmmaker were ready to create this new breed of hero. After a genre where nobody wanted to call the cops, Poliziotteschi arrived in the mid-70s with waving badges and plenty of bullets. Rogue Cops And Racketeers: Two Crime Thriller From Enzo G. Castellari gives us film that cover the themes of both of the influential movies. Castellari had just come off making one of the last great Spaghetti Westerns with Keoma starring Franco Nero. He brought the wild west to Rome with this double feature starring Fabio Testi (What Have You Done to Solange?). First is The Big Racket which gave us a Dirty Harry level cop taking on the outlaws. The Heroin Busters was the French Connection with narcotics being smuggled into Italy.
The Big Racket (1976 – 104 minutes) has Rome neighborhood being taken over by a youthful protection racket. Without getting too bogged down in setting up the action, we cut to a group of creeps putting on catcher masks and trashing a store that didn’t pay up for their services. Inspector Nico Palmieri (Fabio Testi) is appointed to investigate the new breed of mobster only to have his case hit a wall when the law protects the guilty and their victims are too scared to testify. The police department wants him off the case because he got too involved. Inspector Nico goes beyond the law and put together his own team of people who have been hurt by the racketeers that they want to fight back. The Big Racket has over the top action. A great stunt is when the outlaw mob tosses Nico’s car down a hill. We see the tumble from inside the car with glass falling all over the place. Vincent Gardenia is part of the cast which must have helped the box office because of his connection to Death Wish. Vincent is back to seeing a vigilante cleaning up the streets of a major city.
The Heroin Busters (1977 – 94 minutes) is about how most people perceived that Italy was merely a place they processed opium into heroin. Turns out that a good quantity of the narcotics was getting on the streets of Rome. This led to plenty of junkies that could only pay their massive dealer bills by stealing and hustling. Fabio Testi plays Fabio, an undercover cop who gets inside the local drug ring by earning his way up. He heads off to Hong Kong to help smuggle a shipment back into Rome. He impresses the drug ring and even comes up with a plan to steal back all the heroin that is locked up inside the evidence room at the police station. Fabio at keeping his cover because the mobsters don’t want to mess around. The Interpol part of the operation is run by David Hemmings (Deep Red). The film goes deep with the stunts including a motorcycle going down an escalator to an underground train and two small planes chasing each other in the sky. The film has a great score thanks to the rock band Goblin cranking things up like they did on Deep Red (which also starred David Hemmings).
Enzo G. Castellari and Fabio Testi deliver a great double feature of Italian cop action. The good part is you get to see Testi play two cops that aren’t the same. He’s deep cover in The Heroin Busters and gone vigilante in The Big Racket. Although both times he wants to clean up the neighborhood from the crime wave that’s keeping down the honest Italians. Castellari doesn’t back down from the action and violence. If you enjoyed last summer’s Years of Lead: Five Classic Italian Crime Thriller 1973 – 1977 from Arrow Video, you’ll dive straight into Rogue Cops And Racketeers: Two Crime Thriller From Enzo G Castellari.
The video is 1.66:1 for The Big Racket and 1.85:1 anamorphic for The Heroin Busters. The new transfers bring out the details of the non-touristy areas of Rome. The audio the Italian track in DTS-HD MA mono. There’s also a DTS-HD MA English dub for both films. The movies are subtitled in English. You do have pick if you want to watch the film in English or Italian from the start since the titles are in both languages.
Illustrated collector’s booklet features new essays on the films by Roberto Curti and Barry Forshaw.
Twelve double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproduction artcards that are suitable for framing.
Disc One – The Big Racket:
Audio Commentary by Adrian J. Smith and David Flint. The two are big fans of the film. They discuss the immediacy of Enzo G. Castellari’s filmmaking since there’s minimal set up of the characters when they first destroy the shop. They give the historical background for Italy at that time.
The Years of Racketeering (30:15) is a recent interview with co-writer/director Enzo G. Castellari. He talks about what inspired him to make The Big Racket. There was a lot of crime and protection rackets rising up in Italy. He talks about various things he did to Fabio Testi to make him more super cop on the scene. Enzo recounts the importance of a table read with cast and crew to make sure everyone is on the same page as production starts.
Violent Times (18:59) catches up with actor Fabio Testi. He was popular in the early ’70s thanks to working on Vittorio De Sica’s film The Garden of the Finzi-Continis. He describes the freedom Enzo gave him as an actor which is why they worked together quite a few times. There’s also a breakdown of the car tumbling scene which was not faked in the studio.
Angel Face for a Tough Guy (43:20) is a fresh visit with actor Massimo Vanni. He turns out to be a second cousin to Enzo. They didn’t hang out much as kids because Enzo was 10 years old. They got a long better as adults when Enzo kept hiring him to be in his films. The first film was Hector the Mighty which retold the Trojan War with motorcycles.
King of Movieola (27:42) talks with editor Gianfranco Amicucci. He talk about how his dad was a key grip and he wanted to be a cameraman originally. His mom wasn’t excited about him working underwater and in aircraft so his dad set him up to intern as an editor back when he was 14. He started editing for Enzo when he was in his early 20s.
The Great Racket (44:41) is a career retrospective of composers Guido and Maurizio De Angelis by musician Lovely Jon. The brothers were massive hitmakers and brought attention to films with their soundtracks. They also worked on Keoma, The Mountain of the Cannibal God, Torso, Killer Fish, The Shark Hunter, Banana Joe and Yor, Hunter from The Future.
Theatrical trailer (3:55) shows a city being ruled by criminals and only one cop can stop them. We get a taste of the car tumbling scene.
Image gallery includes posters, Italian Fotobusta, German Lobby Cards and the German Pressbook.
Disc Two – The Heroin Busters:
Audio Commentary by Adrian J. Smith and David Flint. The two writers give a bit of context to the film that came out during the poliziotteschi era. They point out how one of the actors is a stuntman which is why he is able to climb a building and make a big jump.
Endless Pursuit (24:00) lets co-writer/director Enzo G. Castellari discuss all that went into the film. He took cast members to rehab clinics to see how heroin abusers react. He did quite a bit of travel to get the real locations in the film and not fake it with stock footage. He did backdown on being too realistic for the danger could be real. He didn’t go into the mountains of Columbia and stuck his scene at the luxury hotel.
Drug Squad (16:03) has actor Fabio Testi talk about the drug crisis in Italy when Heroin Busters was filmed. He talks about his relationship with a real undercover cop while preparing for the role. He wanted to be faithful to his friend’s personality and not merely impersonate him.
The Drug Dealer (21:05) lets with actor Massimo Vanni talking about working with Enzo again. He grew a beard to look tougher than his time in The Big Racket. He talks about narcotics cop Nicola Longo giving his expert advice on the set.
How They Killed Italian Cinema (20:12) is another visit with editor Gianfranco Amicucci. He goes into how the airplane chase was created under a tightening budget.
A Cop on the Set (23:51) talks with retired poliziotto and criminologist Nicola Longo. Turns out a bunch of his stories ended up in elements of the film. He worked undercover in Thailand. He shows off what he looked like during his years working to bust drug rings.
The Eardrum Busters (38:40) is the history of Goblin by musician and disc collector Lovely Jon. He talks about how the Italian prog rock band ended up composing for films including Deep Red, Suspiria and Dawn of the Dead.
Theatrical trailer (3:45) re-edits two scenes so you think you know how the movie plays before you buy your popcorn and get fooled.
Image gallery includes posters, Italian pressbook, German pressbook, German lobby cards and Spanish lobby cards. West Germany releases the film as Dealer Connection.
Arrow Video presents Rogue Cops And Racketeers: Two Crime Thriller From Enzo G. Castellari R- Limited Edition. Directed by Enzo G. Casterllari. Screenplays by Arduino Maiuri, Massimo De Rita and Enzo G. Castellari. Boxset Contents: Two movies on Two Blu-ray Discs. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: April 19, 2022.
