I was what I thought a huge fan of EuroCult and Eurohorror back in 2008, and yet I had not yet seen any films by Enzo G. Castellari, that changed when seemingly overnight Redemption issued Cold Eyes of Fear on DVD, and Severin did Blu-ray’s of The Inglorious Bastards, and Eagles Over London. Soon after I found myself seeing much more of Castellari’s cinema including Spaghetti Westerns like Keoma, and, of course, poliziotteschi like the 2 new releases by Arrow Video, The Big Racket and the Heroin Busters.
This new boxset, which features 2 Castellari films previously released on DVD, by I believe Blue Underground, but never put to Blu-ray is called Rogue Cops and Racketeers, and that is exactly what you are getting here. The Big Racket stars Fabio Testi (both films do actually) as Nico Palmieri, a renegade cop who is trying to bust apart drug racketeers in Rome. Unfortunately, unlike the character of Dirty Harry, that is the obvious inspiration here, Palmiero is kind of a screw up, and let’s the criminals get the best of him. This leads to him eventually getting his career ruined, but that doesn’t stop the vigilante spirit from taking over Rome…
This one is really excited, and plays like a dirtier, nastier, and more Italian cousin to Dirty Harry, while it gets some rape/revenge nodes from Death Wish. The film really is a shocking experience, with some startling action set-pieces and extreme sequences that will definitely hit even the most hardened viewers.
The Heroin Busters has Testi again playing a cop, this time one who is deep undercover trying to expose the heroin syndicates in Rome who are processing the opium to turn into heroin. This one is a brutal watch as it occasionally dwells in junkie-dom, at the same time Castellari went fully international here with sequences going as far as Hong Kong. If The Big Racket was Castellari’s nod to Dirty Harry, then Heroin Busters, is the director fully channeling Friedkin’s French Connection, culminating with a 2nd half chase sequence that has to be seen to be believed.
Both films are presented by Arrow Video in a splendid 1:85:1 1080p transfer preserving the OAR of the films. Everything looks absolutely gorgeous here, colors pop, detail is excellent. No complaints. Audio is mono sound in English or Italian and comes through crisp and clear. Extras include interviews with Casterllari, interviews with Testi, additional interviews with cast and crew, plus additional featurettes and a booklet of liner notes,