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The Heroin Busters (1977)
When it comes to Italian crime films or even Italian action films there is no name more important than Enzo Castellari. The director has made such awesome movies such as “The Inglorious Bastards” and “1990: Bronx Warriors” and that’s not even scratching the surface. The man has made a career out of making these movies and they are some of the best films to ever come out of the country shaped like a boot. These movies bring together some kick ass tough guy actors, some great action sequences and one hell of a great time for action fans. Seriously, if you are a fan of American action movies try a few Italian ones on for size. I’m thinking you won’t be disappointed. So today lets have a look at one of Castellari’s most well known flicks, “The Heroin Busters”.
“The Heroin Busters” is a story about a cop going undercover (Fabio Testi) to bring down a international drug cartel. At the same time an Interpol agent (David Hemmings) joins the case only to see everything get way more violent as a result. Now it’s up to them to bring down the syndicate before it kills the both of them, of course with all kinds of twists and turns around the corner you never know who’s going to win this war!
First off I have to say that going into this film I was expecting it to be damn good. After all when it comes to Italian crime films I personally hold director Enzo Castellari in high regard. I have to say though that I wasn’t disappointed in the least as the story held up well and with actors like Hemmings and Testi, it’s hard to deliver a bad product. They’re both excellent in this one and we’re cast perfectly in the film. With a wonderful script written by Massimo De Rita and Galliano Juso this one excels from beginning to end and was a thrill to sit down and watch.
Call me a sucker but I can literally watch David Hemmings in anything and get enjoyment out of it. He always seems to take on a role as opposed to just acting in a film. By that I mean he really seems to embody his characters and that really helps this film succeed as does most of the things that he appears. Testi on the other hand is a blast watching in this tough guy role as cop/thug and does well in both instances. I always though that Fabio Testi was a pretty good leading man and this might be his best performance that I’ve ever seen.
Another important thing here for me to talk about are all of the great chase scenes and great action sequences. This isn’t your kids movie with all kinds of CGI and nonsense either. We get kick ass chase scenes with cars crashing and all the typical carnage that you’d come to expect. There’s even a chase scene with airplanes for crying out loud!
Overall I would have to say that “The Heroin Busters” is a winner all the way. I was never bored for a second, loved the story and the characters and overall the film was just a blast to watch. So with that being said, this one is a MUST SEE for fans of Italian crime films and if you haven’t seen anything from Enzo Castellari this is a good enough place as any to start. RECOMMENDED.
Rating - ***
-Ed Demko
