Deep Conspiracies and Darker Crimes: The Big Racket (1976) Review

Director: Enzo G. Castellari

Notable Cast: Fabio Testi, Vincent Gardenia, Orso Maria Guerrini, Glauco Onorato, Marcella Michelangeli, Romano Puppo, Antonio Marsina, Salvatore Borgese, Joshua Sinclair

 

Within the confines of Italian genre cinema, particularly the boom of exploitative work from the late 60s through the 1980s, there are a handful of directors that repeatedly pop up as some of the cornerstones. Enzo G. Castellari is one of those. Although I have yet to fully explore his works with full gusto, the films that I have seen can range so wildly in quality that it makes him one of the more fascinating artists to explore. 

 

When Arrow Video decided to drop a double-feature box set of two of his works from the poliziotteschi genre (or fringing on it), it was high time to explore some new Castellari films. Entitled Rogue Cops and Racketeers: Two Crime Thrillers The Big Racket & The Heroin Busters from Enzo G. Castellari, in all of its long winded glory, the set features those two films and a slew of new special features for fans and collectors to enjoy. 

 

The first film featured in the set, The Big Racket, could be considered a big surprise. To me, at least. Although the film regularly hits many of the tropes of the crime films of the era and industry, it’s a remarkably intense flick and plays its story and characters like a much larger crime epic. It’s a meticulously pieced together slice of crime cinema loaded with a slew of fun side characters, a handful of intense crime and action sequences, and a finale that features a body count Rambo would be impressed with. The Big Racket not only rests as one of the best Castellari films, but perhaps one of the most entertaining Italian crime films of the period.

 

A New Duel, Venoms Style: The Flag of Iron (1980) Review Update

The Shaw Brothers studio was always sly in taking many of the same stories or scripts and remaking them in a way that would feel refreshingly new or unique compared to the original. Although the studio, which produced one metric shit ton of films through its lifetime, would rarely find itself delving too much into franchises, they loved these secret remakes. In the case of this film, The Flag of Iron, it’s the style of the film that is so different that the story it’s telling is almost unrecognizable to its predecessor. 

 

Yes, indeed, The Flag of Iron is a remake of the Shaw Brothers’ The Duel, and if you want more information, you’re welcome to read my previous review for The Flag of Iron HERE (or if you’re so inclined you can read my review for The Duel HERE). Yet, it's the new 88 Films release of the former that is the focus of this brief update. 

 

‘Twas the (Body) Hoppiest of Days: Spiritwalker (2022) Review

Director: Yoon Jae-geun

Notable Cast: Yoon Kye-sang Park Yong-woo, Lim Ji-yeon, Yoo Seung-mok, Park Ji-hwan, Lee Sung-wook, Hong Gi-jun, Seo Hyun-woo, Ju Jin-mo

 

Although it may often be known as the Freaky Friday premise due to the popularity of that film - and its various remakes, the idea of body swapping is a fairly familiar trope within cinema for a variety of reasons. Oftentimes, as in the case of the newer Jumanji films as an example, it’s ripe for comedy to see people of a particular physical appearance play completely against type for comedic effect. In the case of Freaky, it’s the final girl and the slasher killer that swap bodies. Horror comedy ensues. Further proof that it’s a concept that continues to work decade after decade.

 

Now, what if it was an action thriller that used that body-swapping concept? And not in the way that Face/Off swapped faces, but what if the “soul” of a person was forcibly placed into another body? Would that still work? These are the questions being asked by Spiritwalker, the latest film to cross over the ocean from South Korea to the United States. In this iteration, there’s a few more rules to the entire event and almost no comedy to be derived. Instead, the film focuses on how disjointed that experience would be and how it could both enhance and deter a quest for revenge. 

 

Feel free to walk this way, Spiritwalker. 

 

Fear and Focused Violence: The Batman (2022) Review

Director: Matt Reeves

Notable Cast: Robert Pattinson, Zoe Kravitz, Paul Dano, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, Colin Farrell

 

Fear and a little focused violence. In a line of dialogue in the third act of The Batman, Paul Dano’s Riddler gives the classic villain monologue which gives Robert Pattinson’s Batman a bit of credit for his style of unmasking the corruption of the city. It’s a reference to one of Batman’s opening voice-over narrations about how he uses the shadows, violence, and a sense of fear to try and repress the criminal element of a decaying Gotham. Now, his tactics are being used against him by a serial killer-styled Riddler, who is subsequently hunting down corrupt individuals from Gotham’s 1% and leaving riddles to drag Batman into the light. 

 

The Batman is bleak. It’s grim. It’s a film dedicated to honing in on the dark part of the Dark Knight. 

 

Director and co-writer Matt Reeves never avoids it either. With his latest piece of the DC Extended Universe of live-action comic book films, Reeves doubles down on the darkness of the early days of the caped crusader, giving audiences a new cinematic vision of the long-running hero (or in this case, very much an anti-hero) and possibly delivering one of the more intriguing incarnations of him. The Batman is not the easiest film to digest, particularly with its butt-numbing 3-hour runtime, but it’s one that encapsulates a Batman that is both inherently a throwback to older versions while running parallel with the themes and societal fears of a new generation. 

 

A New Move in a Slasher X-orcise: X (2022) Review

Director: Ti West

Notable Cast: Mia Goth, Jenna Ortega, Brittany Snow, Kid Cudi, Martin Henderson, Owen Campbell, Stephen Ure, James Gaylyn

 

Over the last few years, the slasher has started to make another comeback. I’ve mentioned it a few times in recent reviews, including our coverage of Scream (2022) just a couple of months ago, but it’s a fascinating time for the slasher to be rearing its gory and gimmicky head. Perhaps it’s the reactive way that things swing after a handful of years of slow burn, artsy horror that has dominated the landscape, but nonetheless, here we are once again as slashers regain momentum. 

 

Of that reactionary stance, perhaps it makes sense that A24 would leap in on it as they continue to be one of the big studios leading the horror charge in theaters, but a slasher seems like it could be outside of their overall style as a studio. Compound that by having writer and director Ti West helm the film X for the studio and it seems like it could be a massive misfire in concept out of the gate. 

 

Yet, X, the film that brings Ti West and A24 together for the first time, is a wild and offbeat success. It rocks a see-saw teetering balance between the director’s notable slow-burn style and the more entertaining titillations of the genre. It also adds in just enough of that artistic flavor of the studio to snatch the horror fans with an “elevated” taste. It’s strangely effective at what it does and it makes X one of the more effective throwback horror flicks in recent memory. 

 

Sign the Dotted Line: The Contractor (2022) Review

Director: Tarik Saleh

Notable Cast: Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Gillian Jacobs, Kiefer Sutherland, Eddie Marsan, Florian Munteanu

 

As the industry continues to shift in recent years, it’s hard not to lament the loss of certain mid-tier genres in the wake of a spectacle-driven box office. The death of the mid-budget adult-targeted film is well recognized throughout film criticism and industry analysis where many great writers have spoken about it at length so iterating the eulogy here is not the best use of my word usage. With the rise of streaming, however, there seems to be a grasp towards grabbing those genres and reclaiming them for a modern era. 

 

The Contractor, exemplifies this. 

 

Although this latest old-school espionage thriller is receiving a small theatrical run this week, its sale to both Showtime and Paramount+ at the same time is indicative of this move. The Contractor is not the spectacle-driven spy flick that Mission: Impossible or James Bond fans might expect, but it is a solid sleeper hit that manages a balance between modern political themes and old-school espionage tension and thrills. It’s not wholly the most thrilling watch, thanks to a very drama-heavy first half, but its dedication to creating realistic characters and then throwing them into the military action shouldn’t be written off as boring either. The Contractor is simply more throw-back tone than anything. It’s utterly refreshing at times.  

 

Fight Father, Fight Son: Executioners from Shaolin (1977) Update Review [Shawscope Vol. 1 Box Set]

It’s amazing how much difference a decade makes. Executioners from Shaolin is considered, by fans at least, as one of the best films that the Shaw Brothers catalog and it’s an iconic classic in a variety of other ways. It’s loved for so many reasons and all of them are legitimate. The stars, the action, the story… you name it and there’s a reason why Executioners from Shaolin is considered a cornerstone film of the cornerstone studio. 

 

Yet, just ten years ago in the early days of Blood Brothers, I wrote a very lukewarm review of the film. It’s not a very well-written review, to be frank, and part of me hates to link it HERE, but it’s important to recognize the flaws of the past. That’s what Executioners from Shaolin teaches us anyway. To learn from the past, make the proper corrections, and move forward to claim justice. 

 

A few years ago, I was graciously asked to write a new piece on the film for the official Celestial Pictures Shaw Brothers website - which can be found HERE, and in that time I saw that I was perhaps a bit harsh on the film initially. With its inclusion in the Shawscope Vol. 1 boxset from Arrow Video, now it’s my third time addressing the film and I like to think that it’s the charm. 

 

18 and Bronze to Go: 18 Bronzemen (1976) Review [Cinematic Vengeance Box Set]

Director: Joseph Kuo

Notable Cast: Tien Peng, Carter Wong, Polly Shang-Kuan Ling-Feng

 

Heading into the final leg of Eureka’s Cinematic Vengeance box set, it’s nice to be able to see a remastered, high-def version of one of Joseph Kuo’s most iconic films - 18 Bronzemen. The original copy that I had laying around the house, a bootleg DVD with a VHS style rip of the film, was one that remained in rotation as a film to put on in the background when I was doing house chores, but after seeing this latest release - I’ve found a new respect for Kuo’s Shaolin saga of revenge. 

 

Although it’s easy to compare 18 Bronzemen to The 36 Chambers of Shaolin for its structure and themes, it’s not necessarily a comparison that does either film any favors. As noted in the booklet that comes along with the Cinematic Vengeance boxset, written by James Oliver, 18 Bronzemen came out two years prior to the Lau Kar Leung cornerstone classic and that’s a fact that should be remembered. 

 

A Short, Sharp…: Shock (1977) Review Update

For the record, there is already a review for the film Shock here on Blood Brothers. It just happens to be under the original US title, Beyond the Door II, and was written by Eric Reifschneider as a defense of the film. You’re welcome to read it at this LINK. The intention of this piece is to give a slightly new viewpoint on the film and address the latest Blu Ray from Arrow Video. 

 

What’s fascinating is that while Eric defended the final film from the iconic genre director Mario Bava, almost 12 years ago on this very site, it’s only now that Shock is finding its way onto the Arrow Video lineup. The label has made a statement to release damn near every film from the Italian auteur under their banner and they are getting damn close with the latest being this ghostly Italian spin on the haunted house film. 

 

Upon this latest watch, a gorgeous new 2K restoration by Arrow Films that truly brings out Bava’s use of visuals and sound design in some impressive ways, it’s remarkable that this film gets as overlooked as it does. Even in the years since Eric originally posted his review here on Blood Brothers, Shock finds itself mostly falling between the cracks in discussions of Italian horror. 

 

Let the Lack of Games Begin: Deadly Games (1982) Review

Director: Scott Mansfield

Notable Cast: Alexandra Morgan, Jo Ann Harris, Sam Groom, Saul Sindell, Steve Railsback, Denise Galik, Dick Butkus

 

If you’re a horror fan of a certain age, then growing up with slashers and having an affinity for them is part of the nostalgia and heritage. They were all the rage and became the formula for what the social conscious associated with the term horror. Although I would not care to place myself within the confines of being a slasher diehard, I, too, have an affinity for the genre that piques my interest when I hear about lost films from the golden era (i.e. 1980s.) 

 

However, the die-hards of the genre will certainly claim that a slew of films from that timeline are cult classics when they are often baffling, watered-down representations of all the great things that slashers could be even within the boundaries of its genre. For every true slasher gem, whether it is the surprisingly competent and effective tones of The Mutilator or the hilariously tongue-in-cheek Blood Rage, there are ones that simply do not come close to living up to the standards of the genre - even with nostalgia goggles firmly in place. 

 

Deadly Games, despite its glorious cover artwork absolutely meant to guarantee rentals in the ma n’ pop video shops of the 1980s, is one of those films. For every moment where it finds traction in a fun idea or shockingly sober pop of artistry, there are a dozen perplexing choices being made throughout the film. It’s bewildering how Deadly Games manages to misfire at almost every corner from its concept, script, performances, or style.