CONTRABAND (1980)
aka Luca il contrabbandiere
aka The Smuggler
Label: Cauldron Films
Region Code: Region Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 97 Minutes
Audio: Italian or English PCM Dual-Mono 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Lucio Fulci
Cast: Fabio Testi, Marcel Bozzuffi, Ivana Monti, Saverio Marconi, Enrico Maisto
The Lucio Fulci (The Beyond) directed Italian crime-film Contraband (1980) was his only entry in the poliziotteschi sub-genre, an ultra-violent film that came towards the tail-end of the sub-genre's lifespan. It stars Fabio Testi (What Have You Done to Solange?) as a Neapolitan cigarette smuggler named Luca who runs into problems when a sadistic French crime boss known as The Marsigliese (Marcel Bozzuffi, The French Connection) attempts to muscle-in on Luca smuggling operation to move his drugs in a most-violent way.
Atypical of most of the poliziotteschi films this is not cops versus mafia flick, but a smuggler versus various other crime family factions, as the the Frenchman enlists a hitman to wipe out the competition. We get a great montage of the hitman (Romano Puppo, Ghoulies II) taking out a series of crime bosses and mob-connected men, very much in the vein of Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather. The best of the bunch is a gruesome scene of a guy who just won big at the racetrack only to get a pistol shoved in his mouth and his brains blown out! The Marsigliese makes an error in judgment when he orders a hit on Luca's brother Michele (Enrico Maisto, Violent Napes) who is gunned down in a spray of machine fire during a fake traffic stop by crooked cops. This sends the smuggler on a one-man kill-spree, and Luca's deadly wrath forces the Frenchman to up the ante; kidnapping his wife Adele (Ivana Monti, Argento's Five Days In Milan) and then forcing him to hear her being beaten and savagely raped over a phone negotiation! Needless to say this only bolsters Luca's resolve to destroy the usurping kingpin, calling in the old guard mafia bosses help take out the Frenchman's henchmen in another bloodbath montage, which features Fulci cameoing with machine gun in hand spraying hot lead.
Fulci's in top-form here, delivering a hard-hitting and bloody-as-hell tale of revenge, it's a brutal good time with a terrific boat chase sequence at the top, several explosions, and loads of gore by way of disfiguring explosions, a guy getting an acidic bath after falling into a sulfur pit, stabbings, a pretty girl's face burned with an open flame, and gunshot carnage galore - it's got all the gore of a Fulci horror flick but presented in a crime film, and it's awesome.
Audio/Video: Contraband (1980) gets a region-free Blu-ray from Cauldron Films, once again proving their superior tastes in genre films, offering a new 4K restoration from the negative presented in 1080p widescreen (1.85:1). It's a very nice upgrade from the previous Blue Underground Blu-ray, grain is more finely resolved and the textures look great throughout. It still has that slightly gauzy look that a lot of Fulci films tend to have, that's just the way it was shot, but we do get some nice moments of fine detail and clarity. Audio comes by way of English or Italian LPCM mono, both tracks are clean and free of distortion and hiss and well-balanced, with optional English subtitles.
Not only does Cauldron afford this Fulci crime-bloodbath a great looking A/V presentation but they load it up with extras, too. We start off with a brand new Audio Commentary by film historian Troy Howarth, Nathaniel Thompson and Bruce Holecheck - three guys who know a thing or three about Fulci and have a great rapport on this track. It's a terrific track that offers plenty of insight into Fulci's 34th film, noting it;'s his only entry in the
poliziotteschi sub-genre, but that it is still quite a strong example of the genre. They give plenty of detail about Fulci's career at this time, how this sits alongside other
poliziotteschi films, as well as the cast, locations and reception of the film.
poliziotteschi sub-genre, but that it is still quite a strong example of the genre. They give plenty of detail about Fulci's career at this time, how this sits alongside other
poliziotteschi films, as well as the cast, locations and reception of the film.
We also get a series of new interviews produced by noted cult-film historian Eugenio Ercolani produced exclusively for Cauldron Films. First up is the 13-min The Real Lucio:
Interview with writer Giorgio Mariuzzo who discusses his early history with Fulci in Milan working on comedy shorts, noting it was he who suggested Fulci should play one if the older mafia dons, his style if writing versus the Fulci films written by Dardano Sacchetti, and noting how cultured Fulci was, in addition to being a bit of a slob as well. He also touches on his thoughts in the films they made, including House by the Cemetery and Aenigma.
Interview with writer Giorgio Mariuzzo who discusses his early history with Fulci in Milan working on comedy shorts, noting it was he who suggested Fulci should play one if the older mafia dons, his style if writing versus the Fulci films written by Dardano Sacchetti, and noting how cultured Fulci was, in addition to being a bit of a slob as well. He also touches on his thoughts in the films they made, including House by the Cemetery and Aenigma.
Up next the new 22-min A Woman Under Fire: Interview with actress Ivana Monti, the actress stars off talking about her passion for acting and love of cinema from a young age, studying acting, her work in TV and on film, including Luigi Cozzi's Tunnel Under the World (1968), Orsini's Men or Not Men (1970), and Fulci's Contraband (1980), describing the harrowing treatment of her character in the latter. She describes Fulci as wonderful, dwarf-like man who was prone to outbursts, as well as his sweeter side, and his love of dogs. She also discusses the cast, particularly Testi who she says was not only a terrific actor but a warm, generous man.
Also new, the 20-min From Stage To Slaughter: Interview with actor Saverio Marconi, a career spanning interview wherein he speaks about his rapport with Fulci, how he enjoyed the director's wicked sense of humor and his eye for cinema. He also touches on mistakes he's made that might have hindered his cinema career, noting how he inadvertently insulted Fulci while discussing Shakespeare, but that they has a good on-set relationship. He also gets into several other films he made with different directors and the other actors he's worked with, noting the temperament of a few of them, including Giovanna Lombardo Radical, whom he describes as a "strange man", and then into his own directing career.
The 18-min Lucio and I: Interview with Sergio Salvato he talks about his collaborations with Fulci beginning in White Fang, a rough start that turned into a 10-film run with the director. He notes his keen intelligence as well as his argumentative style, how he rough around the edges, and noting his relationship with actors, how he was never shy about hiring difficult actors,
There are also a handful of archival interviews withs actor Fabrizio Jovine (6 min) and Venantino Venantini (5 min), plus cinematographer Sergio Salvati (6 min) and composer Fabio Frizzi (2 min). These are fairy brief and are more remembrances of Fulci than specific to this or any film, and are sourced from the Paura: Lucio Fulci Remembered (2008) documentary, which I have not seen, so this was all new to me, and I appreciated their inclusion. The disc is buttoned-up with both Italian and English language trailers for the film, plus a still gallery with artwork, home video releases and lobby cards for the film.
The single-disc release arrives in a clear keepcase with a reversible sleeve of artwork with both English and Italian titles with different key art.
Special Features:
- 4K restoration from the negative 1080p presentation
- New audio commentary by film historian Troy Howarth, Nathaniel Thompson and Bruce Holecheck
- The Real Lucio: New Interview with writer Giorgio Mariuzzo (13 min)
- A Woman Under Fire: New Interview with actress Ivana Monti (22 min)
- From Stage To Slaughter: New Interview with actor Saverio Marconi (20 min)
- Lucio And I: New Interview with cinematographer Sergio Salvati (18 min)
- Archival Interview with actor Fabrizio Jovine (6 min)
- Archival Interview with actor Venantino Venantini (5 min)
- Archival Interview with cinematographer Sergio Salvati (6 min)
- Archival Interview with composer Fabio Frizzi (2 min)
- Image Gallery (4 min)
- English Trailer (4 min)
- Italian Trailer (4 min)
- Reversible Sleeve of Artwork with Alternate Art
I'm not terribly well-versed in the poliziotteschi films to be honest, but I do love me some Lucio Fulci and this was a fantastic watch. I think that because this is not one of his supernatural splatter flicks it's sort of been neglected and underseen, but if you're a fan of his gory horrors this is every by as gruesome and it's well-made, so check it out. I love that this has finally arrived on Blu-ray thanks to good work from Cauldron Films, who will also be releasing Fulci's City of the Living Dead on 4K Ultra HD in 2023, and based on what I am seeing here with Contraband on Blu-ray I am pretty damn excited about what's yet to come from Cauldron.
Screenshots from the Cauldron Films Blu-ray (2022):
Extras:
