Contraband (1980)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Lucio Fulci is not among my favorite Italian directors, but he did make a few movies that were entertaining and/or interesting to watch. And his penchant for extreme violence and gore is a definite plus in my book, so you may understand why I was pumped to see "Contraband", after reading reports stating it was full of bloody and brutal violence. Well, that report is true - there is some serious violence and bloody splatter to be found here, and those moments are quite entertaining. But I wish I could say that about the rest of the movie. Personally, I was quite bored with most of the movie, especially the first third. It's slow moving, and really dull at times. And I didn't really care about any of the characters at all, so it was really hard to get involved in the story. It doesn't help that the movie is more often than not shoddily photographed, sometimes resembling a black and white movie, but more often having a sickly green pea soup coloring. I know I am in the minority here, and I did want to enjoy the movie much more than I did. But as a whole, the movie just didn't do that much for me.

A typically intense police thriller from gore meister Lucio Fulci which has recently enjoyed its first uncut UK release thanks to the guys at Shameless. All of the cheesy gore effects are now present and correct allowing British viewers to see the movie as it was intended. As for the film itself, we're in familiar territory here with a good-hearted petty criminal caught up in a world of Mafia killers, vengeful assassins, and the like. A big influence is inevitably THE GODFATHER although it's definitely a Fulci film in look and style.The first third of the film is a little slow as it sets up the plot. I've always found Fabio Testi a second-tier actor and it's hard to really like him here as he does dither around a lot. However, things pick up with the first fight scene at the sulphur pits and remain above average from there. THE SMUGGLER features more death and destruction than in a dozen American crime films put together. Fulci, best known for his gory horror films like ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS, inserts plenty of his trademark excessive violence into his film with people being shot and hit and spraying blood all over the place.Things really get going with a choppily-edited series of murders, where we get to see people machine gunned for what seems like an endless time - they even turn around halfway through in order to get the full treatment. An assassin goes on a rampage of murder for about twenty minutes of screen time and the level of on screen violence is just outrageous. However, the worst violence is meted out to female characters, with a horrendous rape scene and a bit involving a Bunsen burner that'll have your eyes watering. Then there's a predictable but nonetheless exciting shootout at the end, with loads of people biting the bullet, as it were.

With having become very keen on the Italian Giallo films,I felt that it was time that I started to explore the other big genre in Italian cinema at the time:Italian Crime films.For my first dip into these (very bloody) new waters,I decided to try a film by a Giallo director that a friend has been talking to me about for a while called Lucio Fulci.After having seen the film,I feel that whilst it is a bit muddled,it is still a hugely enjoyable crime film,with a great amount of real gritty gore.The plot: When a group of local gangsters go to collect there latest supply of cigarettes (which are said to have a street value of up to two million),they are left in shock when the police suddenly come out,revealing that some one had tip them off about the pick-up.Realiseing that the police are closing in,the smugglers quickly set up a "fake" explosion,which gives them just enough time to get away from the police.Sadly when they arrive back,one of the main gangsters in the smuggling operation (Mickey Di Angelo) gets caught in a police set-up,which leads to the cops shooting him,until he is completely dead.With his heart filled with anger over the killing of his brother,Luca Di Angelo decides to go against some of the wishes from the other members of the gang,and to instead search round to try to find out who set up his brothers slaying.As he searches the underground,Luca discoverers that a new group of gangsters have appeared,who are wanting to destroy all of the main Mafia gangs who, sell "Kiddie" contraband (such as cigarettes) and to instead get the gangs old customers hooked onto their new hard drugs,such as Heroin and Cocaine.Feeling that he desperately needs support in his plan to destroy the new gang,Luca decides to ask a group of semi-retired "old hands" to help him out with his plans.Although Di Angelo does not realise that the new gang has some very sadistic plans,for Luca and his wife..View on the film:During my viewing of the film,I have to say the I felt that the screenplay by Ettore Sanzo and Gianni De Chiara sadly made the films plot slightly muddled by not making most of the members of the two main gangs that distinctive from each other,with most of them acting in a very cocky,confident manner (although the new gang are a lot more aggressive than the old one)Thankfully the film is helped by brilliant directing from Lucio Fulci,who makes the stunning shoot-outs in the film POP,with his terrific ultra-violence.Along with the very violent scenes,Fulci is also able to build a good amount of tension in the film,with each of the assassinations of the mobsters filmed in a very distinctive way.Lucio also turns the parts of the story that are to do with Luca hunting for the people that set his brother up,into a gripping revenge plot,that is matched by very good performances from Fabio Testi and Marcel Bozzufi.

At least that what I think he says. Contraband is Lucio Fulci trying his hand at the Italian Crime genre, adding his very own touch to the proceedings, and producing what results in a very gory thriller with all his eccentricities intact. Set in Naples, it involves small time crooks Luca and his brother Mickey, who are heavily involved in the smuggling of cigarettes. After a raid on their operations, they both seek to find the grass who's been trying to mess things up for them. But who is it? After much accusation and conspiring, it turns out there's a new boss on the street, wanting to flood Naples with drugs and willing to wipe out the competition at any cost. Contraband is a very slow moving film at first, but in a good way. Luca doesn't even start getting payback until the half hour mark, and there's a definite lack of car chases and gun battles that we've enjoyed before in films like The Big Racket and Violent Professionals. Fulci approaches the story from a different angle, showing us the various levels of the criminal hierarchy in Naples, introducing us to a myriad of characters, and then, basically, killing them all off in a very gory fashion. It's not action packed, but when the violence happens on screen it's extremely gory. This film ain't for the kids!There's gore here to rival The Beyond and Zombie Flesh Eaters. Throats and stomachs are blown out, someone has their face burned off, and a man is very graphically shown having the back of his head blown off. Add to that the very cool scene in the disco (You can see it on YouTube), Fabio Testi's presence, and the overall laid back atmosphere, and you've got a great film right here.There's a good few cameos from Italian Movie land - Romano Puppo, Venantini Venantino and Fulci himself. The Region 0 Blue Underground version is the one to have.