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There are probably other Italian crime films that are more substantial than The Heroin Busters – I’m no expert at the genre, so I can’t say. But I did find myself completely entertained by its relentless desire to cram as much action as possible into its 93-minute running time. And it’s all delivered with real muscle and imagination by Castellari, whose knack for outrageous stunt sequences gets an eye-popping showcase in the film’s final 30, which features a head-on motorcycle crash (no faking, no dummies) in the middle of a Roman historical site, a shootout in an abandoned subway tunnel, and a game of mid-air chicken between two single-prop airplanes. I understand that this barrage of craziness might come across as old hat by modern action standards, but what makes The Heroin Busters so enjoyable on a basic popcorn level is that there’s really nothing to the movie but action – no heavy moralizing, no romantic subplots. No subplots of any kind, really. Sure, there are a few attempts at grey shading, mostly from the abuse suffered by the junkie at the hands of dealers and a gang of local dads who thump his ass for peddling dope outside a school. But aside from that, it’s all go-go-go action, with little dialogue aside from Hemmings’ crusty growls and a wisenheimer crack or two from Testi (who manages to play it cool in a ridiculous pair of buckskin boots). And I can’t say that I got the same degree of uncut entertainment from anything I saw in the theater this summer. Can you? Blue
Underground’s DVD includes the original trailer (which serves as an
excellent highlight reel for the movie’s best stunts, so don’t watch it
before you see the film itself), as well as commentary by Castellari, who
frequently giggles with something approaching glee at the sheer fun he
created. I know exactly how you feel, signor.
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It’s
too fucking hot out right now to think in complete sentences, much less
ponder a complicated movie storyline. What’s called for during these
broiler weekends is a picture served up like a good hamburger – hot,
bloody, and uncomplicated, yet fulfilling with every bite. And that’s what
I got from The Heroin Busters, a wall-to-wall Italian actioner
about tough cops and slimy drug dealers beating each other senseless
against the beautiful backdrop of Rome. Fabio Testi (Fulci’s Contraband
– see review) stars as a plays-by-his-own rules counterculture cop cut
from the Serpico/Cop in Blue Jeans cloth who’s part of an Interpol
investigation working to bust an international heroin ring centered in
Rome. In order to ferret out the local players, he’s picked up at the
airport for smuggling and thrown in with a strung-out junkie hippie, who
leads him to the local dealers. They in turn bring Fabio to the
middle-management guys (led by a weaselly cat in a knockout navy-colored
pimp suit), with whom he strikes a deal to bring in the goods from Genoa
. The whole arrangement, of course, is a sting conceived by Fabio’s boss
(David Hemmings from Deep Red) to break the smuggling ring before
the drugs reach their ultimate destination – New York City. Naturally,
the best way to break the ring is go into every situation with guns
blazing (no tactics for our boy Fabio), and the last 30 minutes of The
Heroin Busters is nothing but pure, unadulterated good-guys/bad-guys
action, with Fabio racking up the body count as he carries out his drug
busting crusade. If that doesn’t sound like a movie that eats like a meal
to you, go read a book or something.