Years of Lead: Five Italian Crime Thrillers 1973 - 1977

Excuse the personal anecdote, but in this case I think it applies.  On a recent trip to Italy, my part-time career as a film critic inspired our 20-something tour guide to ask what my favorite type of movie was.  When I answered “Italian” his jaw about hit the cobblestone floor.  I explained that certain companies (like Arrow) specialize in obscure genre films from his country, introducing American audiences to little slices of Italian exploitation that had amassed quite a devoted fanbase.  Most of the titles and directors I mentioned were completely unfamiliar to him (although Argento rang a bell) and I quickly came to realize that for much of his generation, Italian films were viewed as second-rate historical oddities not worth the effort to explore.  My tastes were dismissed as wildly left-of-center.  Much like an American 20-something forced to watch something in black-and-white, this Italian was missing out on a world of cinematic entertainment that was right under his nose.

Perhaps that explains why Years of Lead: Five Classic Italian Crime Thrillers 1973-1977 gets my vote for boxset of the year.  While not quite as beloved as the gallo - those lurid sexy thrillers - Italian polizia movies have their own macho charm, often inspired by sweaty chase films like The French Connection or Eastwood’s iconic Dirty Harry character.  The 1970’s found Italian filmmakers at the height of the exploitation powers, lifting the best ideas from popular trends and giving them a peculiarly nasty twist.  The new set gathers five films with no real common element other than the unspoken Italian edict:  Never be boring!


Savage Three (1975) stars Warhol factory alum Joe Dellesandro as one of a group of anonymous citizens who get their kicks plotting random acts of violence.  There’s certain Clockwork Orange vibe at work - minus the futurist vernacular - and one particularly nasty death scene carried out by a forklift(!) but director Vittorio Salerno manages to create a uniquely chilling vibe.  The next film, Like Rabid Dogs (1976), is a companion piece that puts the blame squarely on the shoulder of a corrupt elitist society whose offspring are essentially eating their own.  Massimo Dallamono’s Colt 38 Special Squad (1976) is a comic-book come to life featuring a group of all-star cops given special privileges - and the aforementioned weapons - to fight crime on it’s own terms.  Highway Racer (1977) is a progenitor of the Fast and Furious formula pitting a notorious criminal against the rebellious protege of his archenemy, a cop famous for his high-powered driving skills.  And finally No, the Case is Happily Resolved (1973) adheres more closely to the giallo structure with an innocent witness framed from murder…by the murderer himself!


Arrow have really outdone themselves with this collection. There isn’t a bad apple in the bunch and the transfers are well above the curve, drifting into flawless territory, all restored from the original negatives.  And the list of extras includes interviews, visual essays, trailers, poster galleries and a collectible booklet.  

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