YEARS OF LEAD: FIVE CLASSIC ITALIAN CRIME THRILLERS 1973–1977 [THE SAVAGE THREE (1975)/LIKE RABID DOGS (1976)/COLT 38 SPECIAL SQUAD (1976)/HIGHWAY RACER (1977)/NO, THE CASE IS HAPPILY RESOLVED (1973)] Blu-ray
Director(s): Vittorio Salerno/Mario Imperoli/Massimo Dallamano/Stelvio Massi
Arrow Video USA/MVD Visual

Arrow Video USA takes on the Italian crime genre with a quintet of decidedly idiosyncratic entries with the Blu-ray box set YEARS OF LEAD: FIVE CLASSIC ITALIAN CRIME THRILLERS 1973–1977.

Encompassing a period of roughly ten years of far-right and far-left acts of political terrorism that saw an uptick in crime, kidnappings, and bombings in Italy during the sixties and seventies, the "Years of Lead" were also the milieu in which the giallo genre gave way to the poliziotteschi genre. While the aforementioned genre retained the police procedural aspect of the former and took inspiration from American entries like DIRTY HARRY, the films in this boxed set distinguish themselves from the norms of the genre to which fans are accustomed, seeming more like worthy and diverse alternatives than just what might have been available to Arrow as the niche boutique market mines the Italian rights owner catalogues for films to exploit.

The two films on the first disc revolve around the so-called "ecology of crime" (to quote an alternate title for Mario Bava's BAY OF BLOOD); that is, the social and cultural context of crimes which seemingly lack a traditional motive. The SAVAGE THREE are computer programmer Ovidio Mainardi (Joe Dallesandro, BLOOD FOR DRACULA) and punch-card sorters Giacomo (Gianfranco De Grassi, NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS) and Pepe (Guido De Carli, THE SUSPECT) who toil away in a computer analysis company feeding the "electronic brain" information for everything from advertising to police work. In need to distraction and novelty, they instigate and manipulate a football riot into a deadly confrontation and steal cars for joyriding. When Ovidio stabs a truck driver with a screwdriver after a near collision turns into an argument, Giacomo assures him that all three of them are responsible for whatever one of them does. On their trail is Commissario Santagà (Enrico Maria Salerno, THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE), a former Squadre Volanti cop who believes that the motives for the growing list of seemingly unrelated crimes are more complex than his colleague Commissario Tamaraglio (Umberto Ceriani, BEAST IN SPACE). As the trio's diversions turn more violent and deadly – including the rape and murder of a pair of women, one of which turns out to be the wife of a cabinet minister – and an identikit sketch of Pepe circulates in the papers, the bond begins to fracture but one or more of them may not be content with going out with anything other than a bang.

Running just eighty-four minutes, SAVAGE THREE is a lean and mean thriller in which director Vittorio Salerno and co-scenarist Ernesto Gastaldi – who both co-directed Gastaldi's earlier sadomasochistic giallo LIBIDO – exercise an extreme economy of storytelling, from Salerno's stage actor brother's screen recognition as an archetypal cop, Dallesandro's impassivity (mis)taken for apathy – revealing a streak of cruel humor motivated by a need to break up the monotony of his work and home life with careerist doctor wife Alba (Martine Brochard, MURDER OBSESSION) – the unpredictability of the motiveless crimes, and even Santagà's indirect route of investigation. Just as cracks begin to show in Ovidio's cool mask, we see Giacomo and Pepe attempting to convinced each other and themselves that they feel no guilt or regret, and the we also see how Pepe out of all of them could be suspected not on the basis of actual evidence but from the motives that Tamaraglio is eager to fall back on as an explanation including Northern racism with Pepe's Southern origins and looks equated with those of actual foreigners (even Ovidio nicknames him "immigrant"). The economy of the storytelling extends to the photography of Giulio Albonico (PUZZLE) and the rock scoring of Franco Campanino (TO BE TWENTY), so much so that one might be less inclined to notice evidence of a low budget in settings that are supposed to be either soullessly modern or lived-in and squalid.

Thematically-related is the disc's co-feature LIKE RABID DOGS – not to be confused with Mario Bava's one crime thriller RABID DOGS – in which Commissioner Paolo Muzi (Piero Santi) also bucks the trend of his superiors towards motives of organized crime and political terrorism in suspecting wealthy young Tony Ardenghi (Cesare Barro, VIOLENCE FOR KICKS) of being the ringleader behind a string of robberies, abductions, and murders – committed with school chums and polyamorous lovers Silvia (Annarita Grapputo, THE TEENAGE PROSTITUTION RACKET) and Rico (Luis La Torre, LOVE ANGELS) – solely on the basis of not liking him or his well-connected industrialist father Enrico (Paolo Carlini, ROMAN HOLIDAY). What Muzi does not realize is that Tony despises his father, and that Enrico's inviting Muzi into his circle of friends is motivated not by his attempts to deflect suspicion from his son but to keep his own name out of the papers due to Muzi's investigation of the murder of Enrico's favorite prostitute. Despite being warned off the Ardenghi's by his superiors, Muzi hits upon the idea of asking his colleague and lover Germana (Paola Senatore, EMANUELLE IN AMERICA) to pose as a prostitute to ensnare Tony and his partners, but it is Muzi who is seduced by Silvia who either is tiring of her partners or luring him into a trap.

Loosely based on the "Circeo massacre" in which three wealthy suburban youths kidnapped and raped two girls, killing one while the other survived, LIKE RABID DOGS posits its thrill kills as a sort of rebellion with Tony resenting his father who has told Muzi that there is no generational conflict between himself and his son because "I grant my son all the freedom he wants and essentially make everything I own available to him." Although his superiors warnings to look elsewhere seem less designed to steer Muzi back on track than specifically to derail his investigation, Muzi's continued persecution of Tony does indeed appear unmotivated and personal; so much so that Germana comments on it in more than one instance and is justifiably put off when her near rape by Tony and Rico seems more opportunistic than indicative of his involvement in any of the other crimes. In contrast to the usual poliziotteschi protagonists, Muzi's investigation is so ineffectual that the events of the climax are hardly effected by him in any way, even when he tries to do his job in apprehending the final villain who meets his fate by chance (in a manner that does seem to vaguely reference an event in the aforementioned Circeo massacre). Although this seems by the design of director Mario Imperoli (BLUE JEANS) and scripter Piero Regnoli (CRY OF A PROSTITUTE), the milieu of the rich is severely hampered by the budget from the threadbare settings to the so-so Techniscope photography of Romano Albani (PHENOMENA) who later photographed Aldo Lado's DARK FRIDAY which also seems to have been loosely inspired by the Circeo massacre.

The two films on disc two look at unconventional experiments and maneuvers by the Italian police to counter crime and terrorism. In COLT 38 SPECIAL SQUAD, Inspector Vanni (Marcel Bozzuffi, IMAGES) leads a raid against French criminal nicknamed "Marseillaise" (Ivan Rassimov, ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK) in which the latter's brother is killed. Marseillaise responds by having Vanni's wife murdered; whereupon the district attorney gives Vanni the squad he has been requesting as well as the permission to use Colt 38 guns to counter the firepower of the criminals. Vanni trains his men in secret so as to not only keep the squad a mystery to the criminals but also the press. Unfortunately his men abuse their position, going after criminals on unauthorized chases using expanding bullets. Vanni is incensed upon learning this after one of the bullets is found in an X-ray of an injured prison escapee (Franco Garafolo, HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD) until he learns the man's fellow escapee Guido Pugliese (Antonio Marsina, MOUNTAIN OF THE CANNIBAL GOD) and a suspect they killed after traffic cop hit-and-run are both associates of Marseillaise; and that the latter was identified as being behind the theft of several kilos of dynamite. As the Marseillaise plans an explosive web of terror throughout Turin, one of Vanni's men Nico (Riccardo Salvino, YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY) attempts to get close to Pugliese's club owner girlfriend Sandra (Carole André,YOR: HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE) who is feeling guilt after unknowingly planting a bomb that kills several people.

The final film of cinematographer-turned-director Massimo Dallamano who died in a car accident at age fifty-nine, COLT 38 SPECIAL SQUAD is every bit as distinct as his other two crime films – the giallo hybrid WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO OUR DAUGHTERS? and globe-hopping SUPER BITCH (also featuring Rassimov) – in a jobbing career in which he got to dip his toes into various genres including the giallo (WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SOLANGE?), the spaghetti western (BANDIDOS), noir (A BLACK VEIL FOR LISA), and erotica (VENUS IN FURS, DORIAN GRAY, and ANNIE). The plotting is conventional and the mass calamity of the bombings is far more emotionally wrenching than Vanni's personal tragedy, but Dallamano's handling of the elements photographically and in the snappy editing of regular Antonio Siciliano is exhilarating, and Bozzuffi makes for a compelling lead than the usual Merli or Hilton mold and is ably supported by Rassimov, Marsina, André, and Giancarlo Bonuglia as Vanni's more by-the-book colleague. Another strong element is the score of Stelvio Cipriani (BAY OF BLOOD) which includes two vocals by Grace Jones who appears onscreen as the singer in Sandra's club.

In HIGHWAY RACER, hot-headed ordinary officer Marco Palma (Maurizio Merli, VIOLENT CITY) attempts to show up the Squadre Volanti in chasing down suspects, but his police-issue car lacks the horsepower and his offensive driving is rough around the edges compared to his idol Tagliaferri (Giancarlo Sbragia, THE BLOODSTAINED BUTTERFLY) who is now in charge of the Flying Squad. When Tagliaferri recognizes in the M.O. of a series of bank robbers the hand of Jean-Paul Dossena (Angelo Infanti, BLACK EMANUELLE) who he put away five years ago before hanging up his own driving gloves, he realizes that the only way to stop him is to get someone in undercover, and the ideal person is Palma who was on the verge of quitting the force after chasing Dossena resulted in a crash in which his own reckless driving killed his partner. Palma trains him and gives him a false identity, and Palma becomes the favorite of Dossena for his driving skills to the annoyance of right-hand man Pistone (Glauco Onorato, THE BIG RACKET). When Palma's cover is about to be blown by his long-suffering girlfriend Francesca (Lili Carati, TO BE TWENTY), he tosses his gun aside and faces off against Dossena behind the wheel.

Like COLT 38 SPECIAL SQUAD, HIGHWAY RACER – also from a cinematographer-turned-director Stelvio Massi – looks like a standard poliziotteschi on paper but it is anything but the usual Merli effort, going for a more lighthearted comic tone and little onscreen violence with the only truly traditional element being the auto stunt work of Remi Julienne and his team, to which Massi gives plenty of screentime. A Merli sans mustache is an odd sight but the character is also quite different from usual, a hothead rather than a stoic tough guy unable to see Tagliaferri busting him down for endangering his own and other lives during a car chase as anything other than the older man wanting to protect his own image and not be overshadowed by a younger replacement. Merli's character does have an arc – more than could be said for Carati's romantic interest who has next to nothing to do even when used as a human shield – but the contrast of Palma's relationships with mentors Tagliaferri and Dossena is interesting, and the ending does achieve some unexpected emotional resonance. Cipriani's score recycles a coupel cues from elsewhere and is not as interesting an effort as COLT 38 SPECIAL SQUAD. Apart from the gialli FIVE WOMEN FOR THE MURDERER and the incredibly sleazy crotch-stabbing ARABELLA, THE BLACK ANGEL, Massi generally stuck to crime and action films including a handful more Merli films and some entries with Luc Merenda (THE LAST ROUND) and Fabio Testi (SPEED CROSS), as well as a couple a trio of efforts during company Produzioni Consorziate Atlas' brief return to production in the nineties (a brief run that also included Lamberto Bava's BODY PUZZLE and Aldo Lado's CIRCLE OF FEAR and POWER AND LOVERS).

The third disc includes only one film, Vittorio Salerno's solo feature debut NO, THE CASE IS HAPPILY RESOLVED in which the idyll of a fishing trip on Lake Bracciano for railway ticket seller Fabio Santamaria (Enzo Cerusico, THE DEAD ARE ALIVE!) is disrupted by his witnessing the brutal bludgeoning murder of prostitute Olga Poddu (Loredana Martinez, DARK EYES) by unassuming middle-aged school teacher Eduardo Ranieri (Riccardo Cucciolla, SACCO & VANZETTI). Fabio who runs away but not before Ranieri catches sight of him. Fabio initially goes off in search of the police but is paranoid about Ranieri pursuing him. He eventually goes home and resolves to forget it happened, but desperate Ranieri goes to the police and reports the crime with himself as the witness and provides a description of Fabio. Growing increasingly paranoid, Fabio attempts to confront Ranieri, not knowing that Ranieri has withheld his license plate number from the police and used it to discover his identity. While the police have no clues other than a vague identikit sketch and Fabio's lost sunglasses which have his prints (which are not in the system), gutter press reporter Don Peppe (director's brother Enrico Maria Salerno again) has already discovered Fabio's identity but starts surveilling Ranieri either because he suspects that things are not what they seem or just feels that a murderous schoolteacher makes for a juicier story than a railway worker.

More of a drama and work of social criticism than a giallo-tinged poliziotteschi, NO, THE CASE IS HAPPILY RESOLVED? does fit the set in its intimations that socioeconomic status counts in whose account is believed, connections can sway investigations, and the very title suggests that the police are only looking for clues for an explanation that result in a happy resolution to the case. Although Cerusico's protagonist seems insufficiently motivated throughout, doing a lot of wandering and interior monologues, the progress of the film provides some pointed social commentary with Fabio experiencing guilt when he agrees with Ranieri to keep quiet about the crime if the older man will change his story for the police, is advised by his priest (Umberto Raho, THE NIGHT EVELYN CAME OUT OF THE GRAVE) that he is just as guilty for not reporting the crime, and while Ranieri outwardly blames Fabio for not reporting him and forcing him to live with his crime, it becomes apparent that he is not so much tortured as arrogantly believing the younger man deserving of being punished for the crime because was not clever enough to report the crime first. Salerno's role is more enigmatic here than in THE SAVAGE THREE but we soon come to feel that he might be the only one who can save Fabio even though his story speculating that the professor as murderer would make an intriguing film idea is what makes Ranieri desperate enough to get his lawyer (Franco Mazzieri, ISLAND OF THE FISHMEN) to push some buttons. As the protagonist's wife, Martine Brochard has less to do here, but she has a nice arc from annoyed with her husband's erratic behavior to trying to convince herself of his innocence if only for their daughter who starts to withdraw when her classmates whisper about the case in school. Produced by Angelo Iacono (Dario Argento's PHENOMENA, Rene Cardona's THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE and CYCLONE, Alejandro Jodorowsky's SANTA SANGRE) for a bit more money than THE SAVAGE THREE looks a bit slicker but still gritty and naturalistic thanks to the photography of Marcello Masciocchi (THE MURDER CLINIC) with a moving theme song "Mother Justice" and various instrumental variations by the great Riz Ortolani (CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST).

Unreleased in the United States, SAVAGE THREE was only accessible on the gray market and trading circuit from fansubbed Greek and Italian VHS releases before German label Camera Obscura struck a new HD master for their English-friendly Blu-ray in 2017. The same master has been utilized for Arrow's 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen Blu-ray with additional grading work by Arrow. Thankfully this is not one of the earlier Italian HD masters, with rich blacks and blood reds, with the only distractions evident in the faults of the original photography (note how separately-photographed close-ups of Dallesandro in some scenes give him a paler complexion than the master shots of the same scenes). The DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono Italian track is clean-sounding but subject to the limitations of the mix (I still have no idea if the lyrics of the rock theme song are in English or not). Optional English subtitles are provided for the film.

Arrow have dropped Camera Obscura's subtitle audio commentary track by film historians Christian Keßler and Pelle Felsch; however, they have ported over the video interviews. In "Rat Eat Rat" (40:49), director Salerno recalls forming a collaborative to produce films with four writers and five directors – among them credited screenwriters Giancarlo Balestrini and Lucile Laks (BLACK BELLY OF THE TARANTULA) and filmmaker Pasquale Squitieri (who had directed Dallesandro in THE CLIMBER) – and that although Squitieri got them a distributor with Titantus' Goffredo Lombardo, he hated all of the scripts they provided for him, leading Salerno to bring in Gastaldi to collaborate on the story he was concocting out of reports of motiveless crimes (the screwdriver stabbing of the truck driver was a real newspaper story). Although he wanted Gastone Moschin (CALIBER 9) for Santaga, Lombardo insisted on Salerno's brother, and the production was scheduled to shoot in Turin because his brother would be available for several days while performing in a play there. Actress Brochard had already worked with Salerno and liked her role, but recalls not getting on with Dallesandro due to the language barrier and him possibly being on drugs.

Also ported over is "The Savage One" (40:56) in which actor Dallesandro recalls his first involvements with Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey in THE LOVES OF ONDINE which he thought on the basis of its content to be a home movie rather than a theatrical film, and his surprise at what constituted a western for Warhol when he was asked to appear in LONESOME COWBOYS. He discusses the FLESH trilogy and BLOOD FOR DRACULA and FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN in terms of his frustration with Morrissey who spoke of prepping him for Hollywood films while seeming to undermine him with other filmmakers in expressing doubt that he could do scripted dialogue (indeed, it was Dallesandro as well as Kier and Arno Juering who insisted on scripted dialogue rather than Morrissey's improvisation). He also recalls Squitieri wanting to be the first to direct him in a non-Morrissey/Warhol film and his anger and threats upon learning that he had been beaten by Sergio Bazzini who cast Dallesandro in ONE WOMAN'S LOVER (motivated by the actor wanting to work with Andréa Ferréol who he had seen in LA GRANDE BOUFFE). He goes on to discuss SAVAGE THREE and the language barrier, as well as his dislike of Salerno the actor, his co-stars, as well as his subsequent credits, noting that his Italian films were exploitation while his French films were art films. Although Dallesandro is not prompted about Brochard's suspicion of his drug use, he admits to drinking heavily while working in Italy and France, and getting clean once he returned to the states.
Poster (1 image)

LIKE RABID DOGS was another that was unreleased outside of Italy and hard to see outside the gray market until Camera Obscura remastered it for their English-friendly 2014 Blu-ray – followed up by a limited edition French disc from Le Chat Qui Fume with only French subtitles – with the same master utilized by Arrow Video for their 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen Blu-ray in which detail improves dramatically after the credits – the sporting event under the credits having been shot with extra-long telephoto lenses – with the textures of ski masks and the contrasts in the tanned complexion of Santi and the flawless skin of his co-stars providing the perfect canvas for explosions of bright red blood. The DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono track sports clear dialogue and music but is rather basic when it comes to sound design. Optional English subtitles are also provided.

For LIKE RABID DOGS, Arrow have also dropped the film historian commentary from the Camera Obscura set but they have ported over the interviews. In "When a Murderer Dies" (51:57), comments by ailing cinematographer Albani are framed by film historian Fabio Melelli in which Albani recalls working under Luciano Tovoli (SUSPIRIA) and meeting Imperoli through him while working on TV commercials, leading to Albani photographing four films for Imperoli. Melelli also discusses Imperoli's career, noting how hard it is to classify his films by genre – including LIKE RABID DOGS as a crime film – his role in promoting Gloria Guida's career with BLUE JEANS, and providing background on some of LIKE RABID DOGS' cast (noting that it was not known for a long time that actor "Jean-Pierre Sabagh" was cabaret Piero Santi who appeared in a couple Joe D'Amato films around the same time). "It's Not a Time for Tears" (32:55) is an interview with assistant director Claudio Bernabei (DEATH SMILES ON A MURDERER) who discusses his working relationship with Imperoli, the Years of Lead, as well as providing details and his perspective on the Circeo massacre. The disc also includes the film's theatrical trailer (3:49), a "music sampler" (6:01) with tracks from the film, and a poster gallery.

Unreleased in the United States until 2006 when NoShame put out a double-disc set (with the previously-lost Luciano Ercoli comedy crime film THE RIP-OFF/LA BIONDATA), COLT 38 SPECIAL SQUAD makes its Blu-ray debut from Arrow; as such, it is the only new transfer in the set, a 2K scan of the original camera negative. The 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen transfer is excellent, possibly the best-looking Dallamano film on Blu-ray (I have not yet seen Arrow's transfer of BANDIDOS in their upcoming VENGEANCE TRAILS spaghetti western set), but the blood reds pop against a largely sedate color scheme that has some occasional bold colors in settings like Sandra's club while textures of hair and clothing stand out in close-ups, and the grading leaves blacks just a hair lighter than widescreen matting rather than crushing available detail. Seamless branching enables either English or Italian credits with the English or Italian version options – audio and subtitles are also enabled this way but can be toggled via remote – and the credits for both appear to be newly-created rather than original overlays. The Italian and English LPCM 1.0 tracks both sound quite healthy in regard to Cipriani's throbbing score, and the dubs and subtitles (English for the Italian dub and SDH for the English dub) reveal some differences in the scripting (Rassimov's villain is Marseillaise in Italian and Black Angel in English).

Arrow ports over all of the NoShame extras starting off with an introduction by composer Cipriani (0:45) and an interview with him in "Always the Same Ol’ 7 Notes" (25:48) covering his early career touring with singer Rita Pavone, his experiences performing in America, and his first experience with film scoring through Tomas Milian who needed a composer for THE BOUNTY KILLER, and the different scoring choices for his credits for Dallamano. In "A Tough Guy" (9:30), editor Siciliano also speaks highly of Dallamano, noting the director's ability to plan and film sequences for editing, but also noting that COLT 38 SPECIAL SQUAD was more difficult than the other films, requiring a lot of resequencing of scenes and shots to get them to work. The disc also includes the film's theatrical trailer (3:31) and a poster gallery of only four images.

Unreleased in the United States, HIGHWAY RACER was one of the titles 01 Distribution dumped onto DVD in Italy using an older non-anamorphic letterboxed master, but it received a high definition remaster when Camera Obscura put it out on Blu-ray last year in another one of their English-friendly special editions. Although the transfer is quite recent, clean, and sports good detail in close-ups and medium shots, the lower budget of the film compared to COLT 38 SPECIAL SQUAD is apparent in the slightly muddier colors of the Telecolor processing, blues and reds are not quite as vibrant, pink skin tone are a shade darker than Merli's and Carati's tans, and some diffusion has been deployed in front of the lens in some exteriors and flashbacks. Although the disc includes English and Italian version selection options and English and Italian LPCM 1.0 track are included, there is no branching option for the credits which remain in Italian, and there is only an English subtitle option for the Italian track and no SDH track for the English (although the subtitle track can be toggled on via remote while listening to the English track).

Apart from a poster gallery of three images, the only extra on both Camera Obscura's disc and Arrow is "Faster Than a Bullet" (19:42), an interview with film historian Roberto Curti who discusses the ways in which the film is more escapism than some of the other crime films during the Years of Lead, Merli's established crime film career with the earlier VIOLENT CITY and his collaborations with Massi, and background on the supporting cast (including Carati's sad experience with drugs, pornography, and brain cancer).

Unreleased outside of Europe, NO, THE CASE IS HAPPILY RESOLVED? was hard to see outside of a subtitled bootleg of an Italian tape until Videa's clamshell-cased anamorphic DVD from 2011; however, it became more widely available in English-friendly form with Camera Obscura's region free 2015 Blu-ray edition, the HD master of which Arrow has also used for their 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen Blu-ray. The color scheme is sedate but he rare blood reds suggest that other colors have not faded, and detail is such that the film's few make-up effects appliances are disturbing, and also brings out textures in the woolen clothing, and the everyman complexions and hairstyles (apart from Cerusico's which is almost as much of a perennial bad hair day as that of Luc Merenda). The film was never dubbed but the Italian LPCM 1.0 mono track boasts clear dialogue, effects, and scoring, and the English subtitles are free of errors. It should be noted that Arrow's disc represents the film's theatrical cut (97:39) which added a coda to the original ending to be less pessimistic while the original ending included here as an extra (4:02) points in the same direction but perhaps not enough for audiences. The equivalent of the theatrical ending might be the foreign censorship ending of Hitchcock's VERTIGO. Camera Obscura went the opposite route and grafted the original ending onto the feature transfer and put the theatrical ending in the extras.

As with the other Camera Obscura ports, Arrow drops the commentary but retains the video extras starting with "Mother Justice" (40:36), an interview with director Salerno and actress Brochard in which the former notes that he wrote plenty of westerns but that he wanted to make his directorial debut with a crime film. Although he had submitted a number of scripts to producers, he was asked by a producer to show a treatment by Augusto Finocchi (THE ITALIAN CONNECTION) to his brother. Salerno ended up liking the film's combination of crime and social criticism and started expanding it into a script. Cerusico liked the challenge of playing a not entirely likable protagonist, and suggested new acquaintance Cucciolla when the producers vetoed Salerno's desired casting choice of Gabriele Ferzetti (L'AVVENTURA). He discusses the film's characterizations, use of misdirection through sound, the film's camerawork and special effects, finding Brochard and casting his brother, and the various interpretations of the original title "The Culprit". Besides the aforementioned alternate ending, the disc also includes the film's theatrical trailer (3:33) and a poster gallery of four images.

The sole new video extra is "Poliziotteschi: Violence and Justice in the Years of Lead" (20:17), a visual essay by critic Will Webb who describes the upheavals of the Years of Lead, the tenets of the poliziotteschi genre, and the ways in which each of the film's embodies the genre as well as diverts from it. Also new to the set but not included for review are reversible sleeves featuring original artwork for all five films – the three discs are housed in separate cases in one of Arrow's boxes – and a limited edition collector's booklet featuring new writing on the films by Troy Howarth, Michael Mackenzie, Rachael Nisbet, Kat Ellinger and James Oliver. (Eric Cotenas)

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