Come cani arrabbiati – Camera Obscura Blu-ray (First Look)

Come cani arrabbiati (Mario Imperoli, 1976)

Three vicious, robbing, raping, scumbags lead by Rico (Cesare Barro) and his twisted girlfriend Germana (Annarita Grapputo) stick two fingers up at the law as they evade capture at every turn. Determined cop Tony (Jean Pierre Sabagh) tries as he might to find the masked maniacs even resorting to having his girlfriend and fellow police officer Silvia (Paola Senatore) pose undercover as a lady of the night. The trap pays off, almost. She’s stripped naked and almost knifed before the approaching law alert the troublesome trio who make good their escape…

Mario Imperoli directed a handful of films but none of them match this one for sheer outrageousness of content. Kidnapping, misogynistic humiliation, homophobic beatings, point blank head shots and a good old tyre screeching Alfa Romeo car chase keep this juggernaut of euro trash barrelling down the highway of political incorrectness.

Grapputo pulls out all the stops and pretty much steals the show with her penchant for brutality equal if not higher than her male compatriots, plus the fact that she frequently strolls around buck naked helps one keep focused on the screen when the action takes a rest.

A sadly under-appreciated sleazy gem that deserves to be sat up there with Euro-cult sleaze royalty such as Night Train Murders and Terror Express, it may even stick a shotgun in their face and tell them to take a seat elsewhere… (Italian Film Review)

The above review was written a few years back when the only copy of this film available was from a beaten up Greek VHS that had no English track and a far from ideal aspect ratio. Fast forward to 2014 and Camera Obscura are set to unleash a pristine, high definition transfer that is, simply put, a revelation.

 (Click images for FULL SIZE versions)

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Perfectly framed you can now see all of the original Techniscope image in perfect clarity, Camera Obscura have really done this one justice revealing detail you could never have imagined via the previously available VHS version.

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Audio is Italian language only (dub tracks were never made for this film in any other language other than the native Italian) so subtitles are provided for non-Italian speakers in either English or German.

Extras: Featurettes with Romano Albani and Fabio Claudio Bernabei and Melelli (Blu-ray exclusive) Audio Commentary with Marcus Stiglegger and Christian Kessler (German language with English subs), image gallery, trailers, booklet (German / English) by Kai Naumann

Pre-order at: DIABOLIK DVD

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UK Premiere! Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films that Ruled the ’70s

FRIGHTFEST 13: EMPIRE CINEMA, LEICESTER SQUARE, LONDON.

SATURDAY 25TH AUGUST – UK PREMIERE – EUROCRIME! THE ITALIAN COP AND GANGSTER FILMS THAT RULED THE ‘70S

 


Directed by Mike Malloy. Starring Franco Nero, Enzo G. Castellari, Henry Silva, Richard Harrison and John Saxon. USA 2012, 127 mins.

ROME ARMED TO THE TEETH, MILAN CALIBRE 9, CRY OF A PROSTITUTE, HOW TO KILL A JUDGE… just four of the hundreds of ‘poliziotteschi’ movies the Italian Film Industry churned out during the turbulent 1970s once the Spaghetti Western and Giallo trends subsided. First they aped the American crime hits of the day DIRTY HARRY and THE GODFATHER. But soon they addressed typically Italian issues like the Mafia, Camorra, Red Brigade and even ‘scippo’ – Vespa bag-snatching. And rushed production methods meant ‘poliziotteschi’ superstars Franco Nero, Richard Harrison, Luc Merenda and Maurizio Merli performing their own stunts, directors stealing shots, no live sound recording and a rapid bleed-over between real crime torn from newspaper headlines and violent movie action. Here those once involved in the genre paint a brilliant picture of all that madness and mayhem in this lucidly explained visually dynamic documentary packed with fabulous clips and poster artwork.

Full festival passes are on sale now and single performance tickets go on sale 28th July – Check the Frightfest website for further details