Shoot First, Die Later — Shoot First, Die Later(Blu Ray)

Shoot First, Die Later (aka Il poliziotto è marcio)  is a 1974 Poliziotteschi (crime drama) from Italy directed by Fernando Di Leo (Naked Violence, Slaughter Hotel and The Italian Connection) and starring Luc Merenda (Torso, The Nun and the Devil and The Violent Professionals), Delia Boccardo (Death Walks at Laredo, Massacre in Rome and Tentacles), Richard Conte (The Godfather, Thieves Highway and Call Northside 777), Raymond Pellegrin (Woman of Rome, Imperial Venus and Le Deuxieme Souffle), and Vittorio Caprioli (Giovannona Long-Thigh, Le magnifique and The Boss). 

Domenico Malacame (Merenda) is a police lieutenant who turns a blind eye to the mob’s dealings in cigarettes and coffee, however, when they start dealing in drugs he takes a very different approach. When Malacame is asked to make a case disappear where a man couldn’t get out of his garden for the mob cars, which were used in disposing of a body. The man has given the registrations of the cars to the local Sergeant, who just so happens to be Malacame’s father, he reluctantly agrees to bury the case on behalf of his son. Eventually, the mafia decides to ask for more than Malacame is willing to give and this puts his reputation and his friends and family in danger, his girlfriend, Sandra (Bocccardo), his father (Salvo Randone) and when the local busybody who took the registration numbers turn up murdered Malacame’s life starts to unravel.

Fernando Di Leo has a reputation for good, violent Poliziotteschi movies, much like his colleague, Umberto Lenzi. Where the pair differ is that Lenzi’s movies tend to be the most graphic, both violently and sexually and are renowned for their depictions of drug abuse, whereas Di Leo’s have all of that with a good script and solid performances from his cast. Shoot First, Die Later is no exception to this, it’s well scripted by Di Leo and Sergio Donati (Once Upon A Time in the West, Raw Deal and For A Few Dollars More) and features some excellent performances across the board led by Luc Merenda, who is excellent as the bent cop trying to save himself and those he loves from the mob. On top of everything, the score from the legendary Luis Bacalov (Django, The Grand Duel and Caliber 9) is impeccable making this a must see for all fans of Italian crime cinema. 

The disc from Radiance features a lovely, clean print of the movie taken directly as a digital transfer straight from the original camera negatives, and it looks good. The colours are natural, and there is no noticeable dirt or damage to the print at all. We get both the original Italian dub and the English track of the movie, both of which sound very solid. As well as that, we get an audio commentary from Travis Woods, archival interviews with both director Di Leo and star Merenda and Italian and English trailers.

Overall, this is one of the true gems of the Poliziotteschi subgenre of crime cinema, given a really nice release on Blu-ray, the limited edition of 3,000 copies also comes equipped with a booklet with new writing from journalist Sam Moore. Many fans of Poliziotteschi cinema will pick this up instantly; however, those just dipping their toes into the genre should grab a copy of this classic while it’s still available.