A really explicit , disagreeable and twisted thriller with lots of murders committed by heinous mobsters and their hoodlums . It delas with Luca Di Angelo (Fabio Testi) is the leader of a smuggling gang , one member of an organized team trafficking cigarettes and booze up and down the coast off Naples , Italy . After a run-in with the coast guards in which the smugglers get escaped by faking a boat explosion resulting in the police motorboats responding to the false emergency . Then , Luca and his brother Mickey (Enrico Maisto) believe the head of a rival gang of smugglers , Scherino (Ferdinand Murolo) is the mole who's informing to Police on their illegal activities. Lucia and Mickey tell their accusations to their boss Perlante (Saverio Marconi) a sleazy playboy who has his own agend and he agrees to look into it . After an intentional fire at Mickey's racing stables kills a valued racehorse , he and Luca drive over to inspect the damage . On the way, they are stopped at a fake police roadblock , as Luca gets away but his brother is murdered . Luca searches for a haven of safety , while his cronies seek revenge . Things go wrong when a number of fellow smugglers are murdered by a kingpin smuggler from France, known as the Marsigliese (Marcel Bozuffi of French Connection) with numerous Mafia connections , being assisted by his sadist henchman (Romano Puppo) , as he's determined to become the Italian main ringmaster by smuggling drug from Naples ,Italy , to other countries .
Average crime yarn lacks much excitement , filled with sleaziness and non-sense of style . A really brutal thriller with full of killings , sexual violence including rape , red herrings , grisly murders by means of slashing , machine-gun shooting to death , killings in cold blood executed by ominous sicarios , a women's face being burned off with a blow torch , loathsome and lots of blood and gore . A mysoginist gangster movie with plenty of nudism , sadistic frames , graphic violation , explicit scenes of violence and extremely violent style , no for squeamish . Stars the italian idol Fabio Testi who gives a so-so but passable acting as the idealistic family man and dockside worker who actually works for a shady underworld smuggler . He's well acoompanied by a long plethora of familiar faces of the Seventies and Eighties , who participated in all kinds of genres , Spaghetti Western , Peplum , Eurospy , softcore , Poliziesco , such as : Venantino Venantini , Ajita Wilson, Luciano Rossi, Guido Alberti , Romano Puppo , Nello Pazzafini , and brief appearance by Lucio Fulci himself as an Old Boss.
The motion picture was middlingly directed by Lucio Fulci , and being entertaining enough. Fulci was one of the most controversial filmmakers in terror genre , though frequently derided as sheer sensationalism and commerciality , scathing commentary on social themes and state , and at times giving voice to its director's passionate hatred of the Catholic Church . Here Lucio Fulci directs in his usual style filled with flaws , failures and gaps , but professionally made because being a nice artisan . Critics are divided over both the moral and talents of Fulci (1927-1996), who sometimes directed under the alias Louis Fuller . For some reviewers many of his flicks are extremely cruel , grim and savage , yet their gory surface often concealing social , religious , or provoking commentaries or other thoughful , intelligent issues . Nevertheless , most of them considering his works have undeniably provided a considerable influence on the terror genre , creating decent efforts on low-medium budget flicks . Standing out his and ¨A Lizard in a Woman's Skin¨ (1971) and ¨Don't Torture a Duckling¨(1972) deemed to be two of his best pictures . And in the adventure genre with two financially successful Jack London 'White Fang' adventure movies in 1973 and 1974 which were ¨Zanna Bianca¨, and ¨Il ritorno di Zanna Bianca¨. Also during the mid and late 1970s, Fulci directed two 'Spaghetti Westerns' : ¨Four of Apocalypse¨ (1975) and ¨Sella d'argento¨ or ¨Silver Saddle¨(1978), and another good 'giallo' ; ¨The Psychic¨ (1977) with Jennifer O'Neill , as well as a few sex-comedies which include the political spoof : ¨The Eroticist¨(1972) , and the vampire comedy ¨Young Dracula¨ (1975) , and this violent Mafia crime-drama ¨Luca the smuggler¨ (1979) . In 1979, Fulci's film making career successfully another high point with him, breaking into the international market with ¨Zombi 2¨ (1979), an in-name-only sequel to George A. Romero's Zombi : Night of the Living Dead (1978), which had been released in Italy as 'Zombi'. And his big hit ¨New York Ripper¨ , at the time rated as a video nasty , due to it and why the excessive extra violence was heavily cut or prohibited in a large number of countries . With this film established Fulci as a gore director par excellence . Over the next three years , Fulci plied his trade with finesse and flair-play , rivaling even the popularity of his "opponent" the great Dario Argento, with such sanguine classics as ¨City of the Living Dead¨ (1980) and ¨Beyond¨ (1981). These films, as well as the reviled "New York Ripper" (1982) are actually intelligently crafted , with thorny commentaries on everything from American life to religion. Later on , he went on his fall with lousy movies, but eventually Fulci at least found work in television . Rating : 5/10 . Average , only for Lucio Fulci completists .
Average crime yarn lacks much excitement , filled with sleaziness and non-sense of style . A really brutal thriller with full of killings , sexual violence including rape , red herrings , grisly murders by means of slashing , machine-gun shooting to death , killings in cold blood executed by ominous sicarios , a women's face being burned off with a blow torch , loathsome and lots of blood and gore . A mysoginist gangster movie with plenty of nudism , sadistic frames , graphic violation , explicit scenes of violence and extremely violent style , no for squeamish . Stars the italian idol Fabio Testi who gives a so-so but passable acting as the idealistic family man and dockside worker who actually works for a shady underworld smuggler . He's well acoompanied by a long plethora of familiar faces of the Seventies and Eighties , who participated in all kinds of genres , Spaghetti Western , Peplum , Eurospy , softcore , Poliziesco , such as : Venantino Venantini , Ajita Wilson, Luciano Rossi, Guido Alberti , Romano Puppo , Nello Pazzafini , and brief appearance by Lucio Fulci himself as an Old Boss.
The motion picture was middlingly directed by Lucio Fulci , and being entertaining enough. Fulci was one of the most controversial filmmakers in terror genre , though frequently derided as sheer sensationalism and commerciality , scathing commentary on social themes and state , and at times giving voice to its director's passionate hatred of the Catholic Church . Here Lucio Fulci directs in his usual style filled with flaws , failures and gaps , but professionally made because being a nice artisan . Critics are divided over both the moral and talents of Fulci (1927-1996), who sometimes directed under the alias Louis Fuller . For some reviewers many of his flicks are extremely cruel , grim and savage , yet their gory surface often concealing social , religious , or provoking commentaries or other thoughful , intelligent issues . Nevertheless , most of them considering his works have undeniably provided a considerable influence on the terror genre , creating decent efforts on low-medium budget flicks . Standing out his and ¨A Lizard in a Woman's Skin¨ (1971) and ¨Don't Torture a Duckling¨(1972) deemed to be two of his best pictures . And in the adventure genre with two financially successful Jack London 'White Fang' adventure movies in 1973 and 1974 which were ¨Zanna Bianca¨, and ¨Il ritorno di Zanna Bianca¨. Also during the mid and late 1970s, Fulci directed two 'Spaghetti Westerns' : ¨Four of Apocalypse¨ (1975) and ¨Sella d'argento¨ or ¨Silver Saddle¨(1978), and another good 'giallo' ; ¨The Psychic¨ (1977) with Jennifer O'Neill , as well as a few sex-comedies which include the political spoof : ¨The Eroticist¨(1972) , and the vampire comedy ¨Young Dracula¨ (1975) , and this violent Mafia crime-drama ¨Luca the smuggler¨ (1979) . In 1979, Fulci's film making career successfully another high point with him, breaking into the international market with ¨Zombi 2¨ (1979), an in-name-only sequel to George A. Romero's Zombi : Night of the Living Dead (1978), which had been released in Italy as 'Zombi'. And his big hit ¨New York Ripper¨ , at the time rated as a video nasty , due to it and why the excessive extra violence was heavily cut or prohibited in a large number of countries . With this film established Fulci as a gore director par excellence . Over the next three years , Fulci plied his trade with finesse and flair-play , rivaling even the popularity of his "opponent" the great Dario Argento, with such sanguine classics as ¨City of the Living Dead¨ (1980) and ¨Beyond¨ (1981). These films, as well as the reviled "New York Ripper" (1982) are actually intelligently crafted , with thorny commentaries on everything from American life to religion. Later on , he went on his fall with lousy movies, but eventually Fulci at least found work in television . Rating : 5/10 . Average , only for Lucio Fulci completists .