Contraband — Contraband(Blu Ray)
From the early 1980s, Contraband is brutally gory, at points nastily sleazed euro crime thriller. The Naples-based film features genre star Fabio Testi, as cigarette smugger/ family man- who finds someone trying to ruin his operation- first messing up drops, before quickly escalating the torture and death to all those he loves and cherishes. Here from Cauldron Films is a region-free/ fully uncut Blu-Ray release, taking in a new print of the picture, a commentary track, and a good selection of new/ archive interviews.
Released in the year 1980 Contraband (The Smuggler, The Naples Connection). It was directed by infamous Italian director Luci Fulci, appearing around his key spaghetti splatter chillers like Zombie (1979), City Of The Living Dead, The Beyond & House By The Cemetery- all from 1981. On the surface Contraband is a fairly standard/run-of-the-mill organized crime thriller from the 80s- but what makes it stand out (like a bloody ‘n’ spurting stump) is the level of splatter and extreme gore, with even a few detours into nastily misogynistic violence.
The film kicks off at a fair pace, as we see Luca Ajello (Fabio Testi) on one of a fleet of speed boats going out to pick up his latest delivery of smuggled cigarettes at sea. All of a sudden just as the tobacco swag is brought on board- they are under attack with one of their decoy boat being blown up. Next, we switch to the other side of Luca’s life- as a family man, taking a shower, trying to make it out with his wife Adele (Ivana Monti), as their young son bursts in. Next Michele (Enrico Maisto )Luca’s moustached brother is on the phone from the racecourse- the family head down there, with Michele & Ajello trying to figure out who’s behind spoiling the drop.
We find out that a year or so back Luca moved to Naples to help his brother and link in with local sleeked back-haired play/wide boy Luigi Perlante (Saverio Marconi). But his wife is far from happy- wanting him to go straight once again- as he had been when they met. But he refuses, and things start to go from bad to worse- as fairly soon his brother is gunned down by fake cops on a cliffside road…with whoever is behind spoiling the smuggling rapidly ups the ante.
By around the mid-way point Fulci gore ‘n’ nastiness has kicked in. Going from very splatter-bound shootings, a female face melted with a bunsen burner, brains shot out the back of heads at the racetrack, blood neck explosion, heads obliterated into pulp, etc. As well as misogynistic violence, which is at its worse with a stripping beating and an attempted anal rape. So, this is most certainly a Fulci film!
Acting wise Testi is good- initially trying to balance his smuggling and family life- then he shifts from a caring nice guy, to a focused vengeful killer. Marconi is effective as the rather untrustworthy playboy Luigi. With Marcel Bozzufi been rewarding as the balding, strong aftershave wearing and sadistic out-of-town crim Marsigliese. The film features a score by Fabio Frizzi, who of course composed the soundtracks for Fulci horror classics. And while the score here is not quite as memorable as his other work, it’s not bad switching between up-paced guitar-edged funk, instrumental disco, music box-felt moodiness, and brooding synth droning. I’m not the biggest fan of organized crime thrillers, but I found Contraband a watchable enough euro crime film, with memorable Fulci violence, a largely good cast, and an even pace throughout.
The Blu-Ray features a new 4K scan of the film- and this is clean, clear and punchy- with the effects largely coming out very well, and not too rubbery. On the extras side, we get a good selection of new & archive stuff. For the new stuff, we get a commentary track from film historians Troy Howarth, Nathaniel Thompson and Bruce Holecheck- and as you’d expect this is a fact/observation-filled track, with some great banter and a few laughs along the way. They begin by discussing how atypical the film is for Fulci- as it was his one and only film in the Poliziotteschi genre. We find out the film- the director's 34th- was shot over eleven days in 1980, with it very much made for the Italian market. We get a brief talk about real-life smuggling in Naples, how around 500 people were killed in the real-life gang battles in the city, and apparently, some of them were helping Fulci and his crew during filming. They move on to comment that Testi's character is not terribly well-defined, and mention other notable films the actor was in. They talk about the film's darker/ more sombre tone, when compared to other Poliziottesch. We get details of the track played in the disco, which got a single release. Later on, they discuss the nasty face-burning scene- comment on who may have created it, and how the effect was realised. They talk about how it was very much filmed for the Italian market, and unlike some Fulci films of the period, it did get a theatre release in the states. They move on to give details of the films VHS release in the states, and touch on the companies that put them out. And of course, much, much more- easily a play two or three-time track. Otherwise, on the new side, we get the following on camera interviews-writer Giorgio Mariuzzo(13.24), actress Ivana Monti(21.54), actor Saverio Marconi(19.58), cinematographer Stergio Salvati(17.52).
On the archive side, we get the following interviews- actor Fabrizio Jovine, actor Venantino Venantini, composer Fabio Frizzi, an Image gallery, and a trailer.
As a long-time Fulci appreciator, it’s great to finally see Contraband, and while I’m not the biggest fan of organized crime thrillers the director certainly puts it’s his gory stamp on the genre. This Cauldron Films release is really the definitive version of the film- with a wonderful 4k scan, and a neat selection of new/ archive extras.