The Big Racket
Someone's gonna pay...
Nico Palmieri is a police inspector who battles against hoodlums terrorising a sleepy Italian village, extorting cash from the locals. With the threat of violence, no one dares to act except a restaurant owner who approaches Palmieri and sings like a canary. As a result, his young daughter is raped. Discovering that the terrorism is related to drug dealers, Palmieri is forbidden to continue investigating his case by his superior - so he goes it alone. Palmieri recruits men who have become victims of the crooks and the film ends with a bloody massacre. Bullets fly and blood spatters the screen.
Member Reviews
Explosive and violent. - OrionJeriko
Similar to The Heroin Busters in many ways. Same actors, same director (Enzo G. Castellari), Polizia film...but, I liked this a hell of a lot more than the pedestrian Heroin Busters.
A great little diddy of a excommunicated police investigator who breaks out a rogue bunch from prison seeking revenge on on an international ring which deals in "protection", white slavery, drugs, etc...
Violent, sleazy, never a dull moment. I know Polizia isn't everyone's dig around here, but, if you ever decide to look into the genre, start with this one.Corruption, protection rackets, gun violence taboo of vigilantism - Porkchop
THE BIG RACKET, written and directed by Enzo G. Castellari, and
starting Fabio Testi, is a movie that deals with an important theme
- corruption, protection rackets, gun violence, murders, thug
behavior, chaos running loose in the streets. It also deals with an
aspect that is often taboo in society, which is the frustration that
often is felt by merchant, when they feel they're getting the short
end of the stick as taxpayers, or when they are robbed, etc. Those
are very ugly aspects that people prefer to forget, and not deal
with.
Many will be turned off, by this "taboo" of retaliation against
gangsterism in the form of vigilantism, that the police officer
carries out, as socially unacceptable conduct, morally reprehensible
violence, even when carried out with the most honest, pure of
intentions, such as retaliating against a rape, murder, looting,
etc.
Others, will be disappointed by the lack of belief in the principles
of Christianity or their own religion, that underline forgiveness,
comprehension, patience, and allowing time for anarchists to "see
the light" and redeem themselves in the eyes of a Supreme Being.
Whichever perspective of the viewer, it cannot be denied that the
images are crystal clear on the DVD, (very sharp transfer), the
audio and dialog in English (dubbed over Italian) is professional,
and well spoken, the thrill and suspense is maintained over 90
minutes. The acting, is also not shabby at all.
In this picture, released 1977/78, the recurring soundtrack too,
underlines the ugliness of those aspects. A crude, metal guitar riff
is looped over and over, reminiscent of Black Sabbath or Tony Iommi,
to get the audience to feel the "on the edge of insanity" mental
landscape of the police officer, played by Testi, who is pulled from
the case, first, and then removed from his job, secondly, as a
consequence of the existing laws on the books of jus
Member Reviews
Read All...
Explosive and violent. - OrionJeriko
Similar to The Heroin Busters in many ways. Same actors, same director (Enzo G. Castellari), Polizia film...but, I liked this a hell of a lot more than the pedestrian Heroin Busters.
A great little diddy of a excommunicated police investigator who breaks ...Corruption, protection rackets, gun violence taboo of vigilantism - Porkchop
THE BIG RACKET, written and directed by Enzo G. Castellari, and
starting Fabio Testi, is a movie that deals with an important theme
- corruption, protection rackets, gun violence, murders, thug
behavior, chaos running loose in the streets. It also ...