BOSS NIGGER (1975) (The Sprocket Vault Blu-ray Review)

BOSS NIGGER  (1975) 

Label: The Sprocket Vault
Region Code: A
Rating: PG
Duration: 93 Minutes
Audio: English 2.0 PCM Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 
Director: Jack Arnold
Cast: Fred Williamson, D’Urville Martin, William Smith, R. G. Armstrong, Don “Red” Barry

Blaxploitation western Boss Nigger (1975) stars former pro-footballer turned bad-ass black cinema hero Fred Williamson (1990: The Bronx Warriors) as "Boss" and comic sidekick Amos (D'Urville Martin, Sheba Baby), a pair of black-skinned bounty hunters in the Old West. After years of being enslaved by whitey they've turned the tables and have begun hunting down bad white men for a change! At the top of the film the pair gun down a group of bank robbers and find a note from the Mayor of a nearby town offering one of the crooks a position as the town's sheriff, which seems odd but it turns out the Mayor, played by R.G. Armstrong (The Car), is in the back pocket of notorious outlaw Jed Clayton (William Smith, Invasion of the Bee Girls). Boss uses this bit of information to blackmail the mayor into giving him the vacant Sheriff position, making his sidekick Amos deputy, much to the dismay of the local white-folks who don't take kindly to a black sheriff in a white town! 

Amos begins posting notices around town laying down the new law, fining the not-so-good folk for racial slurs and general impoliteness, humorously jailing the bank president for using the n-word to the consternation of the befuddled Mayor. The film is a ragged bit of cinema that's poorly shot and edited but it has some charms, namely the presence of Fred "The Hammer" Williamson and D'Urville Martin as the gun-slinging bounty hunters turned local lawmen, plus a cast of fun side characters like Armstrong, and Carmen Hayward (Father of the Bride) as an ebony love-interest for Boss, and white-lady Barbara Leigh (Terminal Island) as a real-thirsty for lovin' schoolteacher! 

The film is filled with a typical western tropes with a blaxploitation slant, scripted by Williamson the film is loaded with bad dialogue, but some of it as uttered by Williamson is pretty cool, the guy is just bad-ass clad in all black leather from head to toe, plus Martin offers up loads of laughs as the sidekick. The film struggles a bit to find and maintain a tone though, at first it delivers the humor in force but then goes for some pervy leering and rape (via Armstrong's Mayor character) and then we have the death of a small Mexican child who is trampled by a baddie on a galloping horse, coming to a close with the torture of out hero and some grim revenge. That said, all the key players are a blast to watch and I found the technical shortcomings of the film forgivable. Director Jack Arnold made some iconic sci-fi and horror films in the fifties with Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Tarantula, (1955) and The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) before moving onto Westerns and TV fare in the sixties, this is not his best film by any means but it is entertaining slice of blaxploitation featuring Fred Williamson kicking ass and taking names in the old west, it's schlocky but fun.

Audio/Video: Boss Nigger (1975) arrives on Blu-ray from MVD Visual and The Sprocket Vault in 1080p HD framed in 2.35:1 widescreen. The flat murky image leaves a lot to be desired in regard to contemporary HD viewing with lots of softness, anemic blacks than leans towards dark green, and the color temps are all over the place. There's some print damage evident throughout but it's mostly minor white speckling, but it does look like it's been put through the proverbial DNR-wringer, it's just a shame this didn't get more love for it's Blu-ray debut. The mono PCM audio sounds okay, it's flat with some crackling and hiss in places but it does the job, the main theme song sounds good, optional English subtitles are provided. 

Onto the extras we get carry-overs from the previous DVD by way of an 8-min interview with Associate Producer Myrl Schrelbman who discusses his mentor and friend Jack Arnold, he speaks about how Arnold struggled to film the death of the little boy by horse trampling, and the difficulty casting an appropriate villain to go up against the imposing Fred Williamson. He also gives a brief tribute to the director , recalling Arnold's entry in the military where he made documentaries before going on to make horror, sci-fi and western films.

We also get a 27-min interview with star Fred Williams who discusses his career as a footballer before turning to TV and film, and how he earned "The Hammer" nickname, the disc is buttoned-up with a trailer for the film. The 2-disc DVD/Blu-ray release comes housed in a stylish clear Blu-ray keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork, the a-side is a sanitized "Boss"-titled variant, the b-side featuring the original illustrated one-sheet baring the Boss Nigger title. The Blu-ray disc features the Boss artwork, while the DVD disc, which features the same film and extras, has a sepia tone image of Williamson on a white background. 

Special Features: 
- “A Conversation with Fred ‘The Hammer’ Williamson” with Joel Blumberg (27 min) 
- “A Boss Memory” with Producer Myrl Schrelbman (8 min) 
Jack Arnold Tribute by producer Myrl Schrelbman (4 min) 
- Original Theatrical Trailer (3 min) 

Boss Nigger (1975) is a bit on the shabby side of Western film making but it entertaining and fun, I love seeing Fred Williamson do his thing in an Old West setting, and D'Urville Martin threatens throughout to run away with the show, still managing to be decked out in velvety pimping threads as the wisecracking deputy.

HELL UP IN HARLEM (1973) (Olive Films Blu-ray Review)

HELL UP IN HARLEM (1973)

Label: Olive Films
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 95 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Larry Cohen 
Cast: Bobby Ramsen, D’urville Martin, Fred Williamson, Gerald Gordon, Gloria Hendry, Julius W. Harris, Margaret Avery, Tony King

Tommy Gibbs (Fred Williamson, 1990: The Bronx Warriors), the "Godfather of Harlem," returns in this amped-up sequel to Black Caesar (1973), coming out just a scant 10 months after the first film was a huge hit for distributor AIP. Director Larry Cohen (Q The Winged Serpent) ramps up the violence and the lunacy in this sequel right from the get-go, we have a crooked District Attorney DiAngelo (Gerald Gordon, Ants!) gunning to take-down Gibbs because he's is in possession of a ledger full of dirty secrets. Gibbs is gunned-down in broad daylight, he escapes but is bleeding out fast, desperately he calls his estranged father Papa Gibbs (Julius Harris, Live And Let Die) who comes to the rescue along with members of Gibbs gang who take him to a nearby hospital and hold the docs there hostage while they save his life, also holding off the NYPD in a tense stand-off, the only reason they don't blow a hole in the whole gang is that Gibbs is in possession of the ledger and the crooked D.A. doesn't want to be exposed for the scumbag that he is.

After surviving Gibbs discovers that his kid's mother Helen (Gloria Hendry, Diamonds Are Forever) was the one who set him up, he takes the kid away from her, and she resorts to hooking on the streets, until she is later murdered, which plays into the final stretch of the film. Gibbs and his father rule the streets, reigning supreme in other criminal enterprises while at the same time working hard to eradicate drugs from the streets of Harlem. 

The assault on the drug-peddlers are pretty awesome in a kitschy sort of way, there's a clumsily choreographed kung-fu fight with some Asians and an amphibious frog-men assault on a beach front home with a rather awesome gunfight ensuing after they've beached - it's good stuff, it might not all be executed to the best-degree but it is certainly entertaining, especially when Gibbs and the gang force some super-white dudes to eat soul-food at gunpoint!  

Eventually Gibbs and his father have a falling out when his enforcer Zach (Tony King, Cannibal Apocalypse) inform Gibbs that it was his father who had his former girlfriend Helen murdered. In disgust Gibbs hands his East Coast empire over to his father, who in turn takes out his enemies with brute-force, with Gibbs moving to L.A. with his new gal pal Sister Jennifer (Margaret Avery, TV's Being Mary Jane). However, when Papa Gibbs is betrayed and murdered back in New York by Zach Tommy Gibbs returns to the East Coast to dole out some dynamite revenge, but his murder spree puts his son Jason's life on the line, and we get a sweet murder-montage of Gibbs taking out associates of Zach and DiAngelo, including a sniper kill on a busy street and a particularly fun kill with Gibbs plunging the business end of a beach umbrella into the chest of a sunbather on the beach with a fun animated bloodletting that has to be seen to be believed, an image that deserves to only be seen in a drive-in, it's crazy!  

Fred Williamson offers loads of the effortless charm we love him for, a black criminal with a heart, but ruthless and a skilled killer, his scenes are always a lot of fun, whether he's kicking ass or just looking cool as Hell. Not all the acting is great though, at times both Hendry and Harris are straight up awful, but I love the fist fight with Big Papa and Zach, a street brawl to rule them all! There's also a wild coast to coast chase involving Gibbs and Zach that culminated on a luggage conveyor belt at the airport, total kick-ass awesomeness. Also keep an eye-out for D'Urville Martin (Dolemite, Sheba Baby)as a pimp turned pulpit-pounder, Reverend Rufus! 

Audio/Video: Hell Up In Harlem (1973) arrives on Blu-ray from Olive Film presented in 1.85:1 widescreen in 1080p HD, the source looks solid, some white speckling here and again but nothing stands out in regard to print damage, the colors are nice and bright, depth and clarity are improved from the 2001 MGM Soul Cinema series DVD, but there's not a lot of wow-factor here either, but still a solid filmic transfer with the natural grain intact without a lot of edge sharpening or digital scrubbing. Black levels can be weak at times, more grayish, and the night scenes also show some additional graininess to them, but overall a solid presentation.  

The lone audio option is an English language DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono track, it is nicely clean and crisp, the soundtrack featuring Edwin Starr, singer of the Vietnam War protest song "War" (1970), sounds great, though I must admit I found a few of these songs a bit on the corny side, not one of my favorite blaxploitation soundtracks, but I dig the Big Papa theme. Optional English subtitles are included. 

Onto the extras we get a 2-min HD trailer for the film, and an audio commentary, not the same one from the 2001 MGM DVD either, this is a new commentary with director Larry Cohen, moderated by Steve Mitchell, director of the upcoming documentary King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen. I have always found Cohen's commentaries to me solid, every damn one of them, a spark plug who tells it like it was and is, and it's no different here! My favorite take away was Cohen telling the story of what happened to James Brown's original score for the film and why it was not used, which is too bad, this is Big Payback era James Brown!  

Special Features: 
- NEW audio commentary with director Larry Cohen, moderated by Steve Mitchell, director of the upcoming documentary King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen.
- Trailer (2 min) HD 


Hell Up In Harlem (1973) is not the most stylish blaxploitation movie you will ever see, it can be a bit corny at times with the gangster posturing and near-impossible ridiculousness, but Larry Cohen knows how to make an damn entertaining and kinetic action film, obviously stealing shots on the streets of NYC, which give the film a gritty realism and some added punch, this was a blast and a recommend for fans of action-packed, and slightly ridiculous, 70s cinema.  

HAMMER (1972)

HAMMER (1972) 

Label: Olive Films

Region Code: A

Rating: R

Duration: 91 Minutes

Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)

Director: Bruce Clark

Cast: Fred Williamson, Bernie Hamilton, Vonetta McGee, William Smith

This is the movie that put the "Hammer" in Fred "The Hammer" Williamson, the former pro-footballer tuned blaxploitation/action star's first leading role and it's a pretty decent slice of gritty 70's cinema not something I would classify as an essential piece of blaxploitation cinema, it still packs a punch. B.J. Hammer (Williamson) is a past his prime former boxer working the warehouse district of L.A. when he is fired after wiping the floor with a racist co-worker. Word of his fighting skills reach the ears of mafia-connected boxing promoter Big Sid (Charles Lampkin) he brings Hammer into his corner under the watchful eye of legit trainer the Professor (Mel Stewart). Things look great for the boxer as he works his way through a series of victorious fights and he begins a relationship with Sid's Secretary Lois (Vonetta McGee) but he begins to get some blow back from the neighborhood who accuse the fighter of selling out to the man. Furthermore local cop Davis (Bernie Hamilton) is after Sid who is dabbling in the drug trade> While Hammer initially refuses to believe his new employer is corrupt his attitude changes when Sid demands he take a dive during the next big fight. Crushed by the request Hammer refuses to take the dive, but Sid's right hand man Brenner, played by 70's baddie William Smith, threatens to kill Lois. 

We have a fairly straight story with the usual grittiness you've come to expect from 70's blaxploitation with the usual tropes of crooks, drugs and corruption at play in the inner city. Hammer is a solid piece of cinema but it does lack the style and sleaze of the Jack Hill directed Pam Grier movies I've been watching lately. Fred Williamson has charisma to spare throughout, a straight-shooter caught up in the corruption of the crooked boxing promoter. I did love the fight scenes which were well-paced with some great boxing action with Williams  natural athleticism on display, and the finale is fierce and ends on a high note with an appropriate amount of violence and comeuppance. 

The disc from Olive Films marks the HD debut of the film and might be the first widescreen presentation as well. The trasnfer looks very nice and is sourced from film elements that were in very good shape. The English language DTS-HD MA 2.0 audio is solid if not overwhelming, well-balanced and free of distortion. There are no extras or subtitles for the feature, a bare-bones disc from Olive Films. 2.5/5

1990: THE BRONX WARRIORS (1982)

1990: THE BRONX WARRIORS (1982) 

Label: Blue Underground

Release Date: June 30th 2015 

Region Code: Region-FREE
Duration: 92 Minutes
Rating: R

Audio: English DTS-HD Mono, Dolby Digital Mono with Optional English SDH Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 

Director: Enzo G. Castellari
Cast: Vic Morrow, Christopher Connelly, Fred Williamson, Mark Gregory, Stefania Girolami, George Eastman, Massimo Vanni

I can just imagine director Enzo G. Castellari (THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS) walking out of a double-feature of THE WARRIORS and ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and putting in a phone call to producer Fabrizio De Angelis just a few moments minutes later announcing he had a great idea for a film. Surely, this must have been the birth of 1990: THE BRONX WARRIORS, a low budget Italian knock-off that gleefully exploits both of those aforementioned slices of cult cinema. 

In the futuristic year of 1990 the Bronx has been declared a No Man's Land, which in 1982 probably didn't seem that far fetched to be honest. Various gangs have declared territories throughout the Burroughs, with the controlling gangs seems to be a group of motorcycle toughs known as the Riders, whom are lead by the dark-maned Trash (Marc Gregory, ESCAPE FROM THE BRONX). While on patrol they encounter a rival gang named the Zombies who are harassing a young woman named Ann (Stefania Girolami)). The Zombies are a group of roller-skating weirdos whom wear cartoonish outfits and carry metal hockey sticks as weaponry, exactly like a zombie... uh-huh. Anyway, the Riders make mince-meat of the Zombies and Anne becomes an honorary member of the gang. 

Anne's backstory goes as such, she's the daughter of the President of the Manhattan Corporation, and is set to inherit the multi-billion dollar arms manufacturer on her eighteenth birthday. However, she is turned off by the corruption f the corporation and flees Manhattan for the Bronx to live with the scum. Her father enlists the help of a mercenary named The Hammer, played by veteran actor Vic Morrow, in his last finished film prior his tragic death on the set of TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE. So far we have various costumed gangs and the daughter of a president in a bad part of town, you can taste the influences coming together here already. 

For a film that borrows so freely from other (better) movies it manages to become overly convoluted with a mish-mash of ideas and a poorly conceived tragic romance, Anne and Trash have zero chemistry onscreen and when they try to push that arc it goes nowhere fast. So we have Hammer who begins as every bad ass character who comes onto the scene dressed as a postman with cool shades carrying a deadly package, infiltrating the territory of the Riders where he murders two members of the gang before planting evidence meant to implicate rival gang the Tigers of the crime. The Tigers are lead by the Ogre (Fred Williamson) and dress dapper while cruising around in vintage cars. It made me laugh that Fred "The Hammer" Williamson was in a movie with a character named Hammer and it was not him, I imagine that might have drove him crazy.

Anyway, back to the convoluted storyline we have the Hammer joining forces with a devious semi-truck driver named Hot Dog (Christopher Connelly, MANHATTAN BABY) and Trash's turn-coat second in command, the power-hungry Ice (John Sinclair). When Anne is kidnapped by the Zombies on behalf of the Hammer. Now Trash must journey to the far side of the Bronx and through the different gang territories to seek the aid of the Ogre in returning Anne. During the journey he must face-off against primitive subterraneans and a group of vicious of tap-dancers in what appears to be Ultimate Warrior make-up. None of these manage to measure up to the Baseball Furies from The Warriors but you can see what they're going for here, each gang having their own wacky costumes and identity, none of which manage to come across as scary or intimidating. As the movie comes to a close we build-up to the Riders teaming-up with the Tiger's versus the mutual rival the Zombies and the death squad sent by the Manhattan Corporation lead by the now inexplicably maniacal Hammer, who was once a cool-cucumber of a bad ass with a plan but now just goes completely over-the-top cackling like a madman during the siege, thought we'd get something a bit more from him, but nope. 

Director Enzo G. Castellari could definitely stretch a dollar and get the most bang for his Italian financiers buck, and it shows with Bronx Warriors, shot partially on location in the Bronx it does have a somewhat post-apocalyptic feel about it, if you;re able to suspend disbelief and ignore the traffic in the background in nearly every scene. Castellari enlisted the NYC chapter of the notorious biker gang the Hell's Angels as stand-ins for the Riders and I have to wonder what the set was like and what they thought of the wooden Marc Gregory as the character of Trash. Gregory had a great physique but it was more the body of a dancer than a street-tough, the way he carried himself reminded me of the re-animated Patty Mullen from Frank Henenlotter's FRANKENHOOKER. His movement was uncomfortable and unnatural and he comes across slightly effeminate to me, seems a strange choice for the role, though I will say he is slightly better in the sequel. 
Probably not a surprise to anyone familiar with Italian exploitation but the dialogue is awful, it is crammed with deliciously awkard English-dubbing which for someone like myself who can appreciate an entertainingly awful movie is a lot of fun. 

In regard to the action sequences Castellari rarely disappointed and crammed the film with good action moments to get the blood pumping, the finale is particularly effective. There's a nice array of weaponry on display, each gang have their own weapon of choice, the Riders have a club-spear, the Zombies have the metal hockey sticks and Trash elbow-spikes are awesome. One of the motorcycles has a set of blades that pop-up from the front wheel which enables the rider to take out two enemies at once, cool stuff. Fred Williamson as the superbly moustached Ogre wears sweet satin shirts and carries a cane, loved his character but I wanted more scenes with him. I was not pleased with how easily his character was dispatched, though he does get a decent death scene with some gravitas, only further proving how cool he was. 

The film goes out in spectacular fashion with the Manhattan Corp. death squad arriving in riot gear on horseback with an arsenal of machine guns and flame-throwers. I loved the very simple effect they used of shielding the actors behind plated of glass and then blasting a real flame-thrower in their direction. The reverse point-of-view shots of the flames is cheap and effective.

1990: THE BRONX WARRIORS is a knock-off and a mish-mash of ideas but at least it's a fun knock-off. The plot might be overwrought but Castellari keeps the momentum moving forward with enough cheap action onscreen to merit a watch. Compared to something like EXTERMINATORS OF THE YEAR 3000 this was a pretty spectacular slice of Italian exploitation with good production value, not every Italian knock-off can make such a boast, but Castellari had high standards and wrung every ounce of value he could muster from the anemic budget provided to put more bang onscreen. 

Audio/Video: 1990: THE BRONX WARRIORS arrives on Blu-ray from Blue Underground with a new HD transfer that is very pleasing on the eyes, colors are vibrant with some decent depth and clarity with a surprising amount of fine detail evident throughout. Cinematographer Sergio Salvati (THE BEYOND) did the lensing on this one, he makes the most of the dilapidated building and subterranean settings, and the transfer does it justice. The Englisg language DTS-HD MA Mono audio as solid as the dubbing will allow, with well-balanced dialogue and score, English subtitles are provided, because you do not want to miss out any of these verbal nuggets. 

Onto the extras we have a brand-new audio commentary with the director and Enzo G. Castellari and Fabrizio De Angelis In Conversation Part 1 with the director and producer reminiscing about how they came to work together with Castellari turning down the chance to direct ZOMBI 2, which went on to be directed by Lucio Fulci. They also speak about shooting in te Bronx and what it was like working with Vic Morrow and Marc Gregory, both speaking about how the actor has slipped into obscurity. There's also a featurette with Castellari visiting the Italian Weapons Rental House of Paolo Ricci where he sourced many of his movie weapons from, displaying guns, knives and flamethrowers. Additionally there is an interview with Actor/Stuntman Massimo Vanni who speaks about his career with the director and visiting the US for the first time during the filming of this one. 

Special Features: 

- Audio Commentary with Co-Writer/Director Enzo G. Castellari
- Enzo G. Castellari and Fabrizio De Angelis In Conversation Part 1 (14 Mins) HD
- Sourcing The Weaponry - Enzo G. Castellari visits the Italian Weapons Rental House of Paolo Ricci (12 Mins) HD
- Adventures In The Bronx - Interview with Actor/Stuntman Massimo Vanni (7 Mins) HD
- Italian Trailer (3 Mins) HD 
- International Trailer (3 Mins) HD 
- The New Barbarians Trailer (3 Mins) HD 
- Escape from the Brox Trailer (3 Mins) HD
- Poster and Still Gallery

Blue Underground have done a great job with the transfer and a putting together a bunch of new extras for 1990: THE BRONX WARRIORS. They're also releasing the sequel ESCAPE FROM THE BRONX (1983) and the ROAD WARRIOR knock-off THE NEW BARBARIANS (1983) on the same day, if you are a trash-cinema enthusiast with a predilection for Italian post-apocalyptic knock-offs then mark June 30th on your calender, it's gonna be a glorious day.  3/5

EUROCRIME! THE ITALIAN COP AND GANGSTER FILMS THAT RULED THE '70S (2014)

EUROCRIME! 

THE ITALIAN COP AND GANGSTER FILMS THAT RULED THE '70S (2014)

Label: Cinema Epoch

Duration: 127 Minutes

Region Code: 1

Rating: Unrated

Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1) 

Audio: English, Italian  Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0 

Director: Mike Malloy
Cast: Franco Nero, John Saxon, Henry Silva, Luc Merenda, Antonio Sabáto, Fred Williamson, Richard Harrison, Chris Mitchum, Enzo Castellari, Leonard Mann, Joe Dallesandro, Michael Forest, Claudio Fragasso, John Steiner Ottaviano Dell'Acqua, Mario Caiano, Nicoletta Machiavelli, John P. Dulaney, Greg Stephen, Sal Borgese, Ted Rusoff

Something I didn't even know I was yearning for was a comprehensive documentary about the high octane Eurocrime police films coming out of Italy in the 1970s following the decline of the lucrative spaghetti westerns. At first these films were out and out copycats of American angry cop films like DIRTY HARRY but the Italians quickly made it something all their own by informing their stories with the true life violence of the era. The format usually dealt with an angry cop fed up with crime but also infuriated by the bureaucracy and red tape that prevented them from taking the scum off the streets ending with a fed-up cop pushed over the edge and taking things into their own hands with bloody consequences.

Mike Malloy's two hour plus documentary covers all the facets from  Enzo Castellari's HIGH CRIME (1973) starring Franco Nero (DJANGO) onward offering up a steady stream of movie posters, clips and talking heads. We gets some great info about the second career it offered both seasoned Italian and American actors and just which films were ripping off what other films. Some of the dialogue comparisons are quite fun and just a cunt hair short of being verbatim.

The interviews with John Saxon, Henry Silva and Franco Nero are my favorite with candid and often funny recollections of making these oftentimes misogynist crime thrillers under suspect and hurried circumstances.

Plenty of tales of shooting death defying stunts and action sequences peppered with live ammunition - the spaghetti western may have died off but the down and dirty nature of some of these shoots are right out of the wild west.

I've seen only a handful of Eurocrime capers from the likes of Blue Underground and Raro Video so it was a treat to sit down with  this and just take notes with pen and pad jotting down names of films to further my Italian crime education - this was quite an introduction to a sub genre of Italian cinema that has eluded me for the most part.

There's a metric ton of interviews crammed into this, it's a veritable who's who of Eurocrime cinema spread out over two hours and divided up into chapters with a great soundtrack from Calibro 35 among others. The editing is down and dirty and not overly glossy and that's just fine by me, this is a great documentary packed with more info than I could ever hope to absorb in one sitting. The passion for the genre by the filmmakers is dripping off screen and makes for an electrifying watch one critique might me that at over 120 minutes it's a bit long in the tooth and might wear out the less initiated but not me, I wanted it to on for another hour! 

If you have a curiosity for Eurocrime and Italian cinema I strong encourage you to seek this out and immerse yourself in the glory of the action-packed and ultra-violent Eurcrome cinema of the '70s, a damn fine documentary.