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Released by: Cauldron Films
Released on: November 22nd, 2022.
Director: Lucio Fulci
Cast: Fabio Testi, Marcel Bozzuffi, Ivana Monti, Saverio Marconi
Year: 1980
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Contraband – Movie Review:
Lucio Fulci’s one and only attempt to get in on the Eurocrime phase that was so popular in Italy in the 1970s was this later entry, 1980’s Contraband, also known as The Smuggler. The movie takes place in Naples, Italy where we meet a cigarette smuggler, Luca Ajello (Fabio Testi). He and his team spend their days evading the cops trying to shut down their operation by driving really fast in their motorboats. Luca is, essentially, a reasonably well-natured crook living the good life with his wife Adele (Ivana Monti) and kid and enjoying his work.
Things take a turn for him when Il Marsigliese (Marcel Bozzuffi), the head of a French drug peddling operation with a penchant for cruelty has his men move in on Luca’s gig, using force to make sure that the message is head loud and clear. Soon enough, the French gang has knocked off a whole lot of Luca’s associates, including his brother Michele (Enrico Maisto), at which point he decides to team up with some of the local rivals and even a few Mafioso types to beat the Frenchmen at their own game. But Luca’s new worst enemies aren’t going to take this lightly, and soon enough Adele has been kidnapped, at which point he grabs a few guns and decides to end this feud once and for all.
Set in a reasonably logic-barren world where cigarette smugglers are not only the good guys but seem to be the main backbone of Naples’ economy and are even sanctioned by the Catholic Church, Contraband is nicely shot by Sergio Salvati and set to a pretty great pseudo-disco score by none other than Fabio Frizzi. It’s also rife with splat-tastic special effects from Germano Natali and Roberto Pace, and it would stand to reason that a lot of the film’s likely modest budget went to squibs. There are a fair amount of shoot outs and scenes of gun play in the movie, and they all pretty much end in bloody violence.
Plot-wise, this might not be the most groundbreaking film ever made but Fulci paces it pretty well and turns the violence level all the way up in a few scenes, giving the FX team plenty to do. There’s a fairly sordid atmosphere to the whole thing and overall, if it isn’t on the same level as some of Umberto Lenzi or Fernando Di Leo’s crime films made around the same period, it does work quite well on its own level.
The cast is pretty solid here. Fabio Testi is believably charming as the main man out to put an end to the French gang’s invasion of his turf and he does a good job in the lead. It’s a pretty physical role, with Testi involved in a few nice stunt set pieces and handling them well. Ivana Monti is solid as his wife, we feel for her once she’s kidnapped and subjected to a rather nasty assault, and she’s believable in her distress in this sequence. Marcel Bozzuffi, instantly recognizable from his iconic turn in The French Connection, makes for a really good villain in the movie. We have no problem buying him as cruel and sadistic, he not only looks the part but he acts it as well. The supporting players, one of whom is played by a machine gun-toting Lucio Fulci himself, are also pretty entertaining to watch. Watch for the notorious Ajita Wilson in a small part as an oversexed gangster moll type.
Bonus points for gratuitous use of J&B whiskey and a guy getting shot in the throat.
Contraband – Blu-ray Review:
Taken from a brand new 4k scan of the original 35mm negative and presented in AVC encoded 1080p high definition on a 50GB disc framed at 1.85.1 widescreen, Contraband excellent on this region free Blu-ray from Cauldron Films. While there are a few spots where damage is visible, the vast majority of the transfer is quite clean, though it retains the natural film grain as you’d hope. Colors look pretty solid here, this movie was shot using a fairly bland palette but everything looks lifelike and accurate. Detail definitely rises above what we’ve seen before but keep in mind that this was intentionally shot to look fairly hazy and soft, so for that reason this doesn’t really get to reference quality in that department. Compression struggles a little bit in some scenes. Still, overall, this is a really strong presentation and quite a nice upgrade over the older Blue Underground DVD Release.
Audio options are offered in English and Italian language in 24-bit LPCM 2.0 Mono tracks with optional subtitles available in English only for the Italian track and in English SDH for the English track. The film plays better in Italian as it looks like that’s what the actors were speaking on set, and the English dubbing done for this particular movie isn’t great, but there’s a little bit of audible distortion in the mix at times that isn’t on the English track, which is a bit cleaner sounding. Either way, it’s good to have options here and the lossless tracks give Frizzi’s excellent score more depth than we’ve had in the past.
Extras start off with an audio commentary from Troy Howarth, Nathanial Thompson and Bruce Holecheck. It’s a good track, very conversational in nature, and it covers a lot of ground. There’s plenty of discussion here about Fulci’s career and what he was reportedly like to work with and as a person, as well as talk of the score, the cinematography and some of the effects work as well. They also offer plenty of biographical details about the different cast members that appear in the film, with a good bit of time spent covering Ajita Wilson’s career and, of course, Luc Merenda’s. They also go over the different cast members that worked on the movie, talk about the differences between the two dubs created for the movie, and, along the way, share their individual opinions about what makes the movie as memorable and interesting as it is.
In the first of a series of new interviews on the disc, screenwriter Giorgio Mariuzzo spends thirteen minutes talking about his work on the movie, collaborating with Fulci and how they got along, collaborating with Dardano Sacchetti and his thoughts on the movie. A twenty two minute interview with Ivana Monti allows the actress to speak quite candidly about her life growing up, how she got into acting, the early days of her career, landing the part in Contraband and all of the nastiness that she had to deal with during the course of her time on the production. A twenty minute interview with actor Saverio Marconi sees the man talk about how got into the business, some of the good and bad decisions that he made during his time in front of the camera, working with Fulci and the mistake he made that ensured they never collaborated together again. The last of the new interviews is with cinematographer Sergio Salvati and it runs eighteen minutes. He speaks quite openly about the good and the bad qualities of the man that he collaborated with quite frequently during this period (they made ten movies together), what it was like working with Fulci and how he could behave on set at times.
The disc also includes a selection of archival interviews, the first of which is with Fabrizio Jovine and runs six minutes. It covers his thoughts on Fulci as a person and as a director and what he was like to work with. A five minutes interview with Venantino Venantini follows suit, going over experiences on set and thoughts on the director’s talents and personality. Sergio Salvati shows up again in a six minute piece to discuss Fulci’s love of cinema and passion for filmmaking, while a quick two minute interview with composer Fabio Frizzi sees the man talking about his friendship with the late director.
Finishing up the extras on the disc are English and Italian trailers for the feature, a still gallery, menus and chapter selection options. This release also comes with some nice double-sided cover sleeve art.
Contraband - The Final Word:
Contraband is a really solid crime thriller with Testi delivering good work in the lead and some of Fulci’s obvious touches all over it, giving it an enjoyably gritty, sleazy feel. The Blu-ray from Cauldron Films offers the movie up uncut and nicely restored on a disc loaded with some pretty strong supplements that explore its origins. All in all, great release for a great movie.
Click on the images below, or right click and open in a new window, for full sized Contraband Blu-ray screen caps!
