Made during the then popular poliziotteschi cycle, talented writer/director Pasquale Squitieri's boisterously action-packed crime thriller about the violently vengeful ascent and blood-spattered fall of surly, quick-witted, hot-blooded thug Aldo (Joe Dallesandro), a street smart smuggler whose seemingly limitless capacity for cruelty and delusions of grandeur bloodily orchestrates his gutsy, single-minded attempt to forcibly wrest power from incumbent gangland heavy Don Enrico (Raymond Pellegrin), Aldo's ambitious crime spree swiftly overextends the increasingly desperate reach of grievously gun-happy Aldo and his ever decreasing misfit mob's minor-league talents! While Pasquale's exhilaratingly pacey 'The Climber' is arguably one of the more consistently gripping, explosively eventful examples of 70s Italian crime cinema, this exceptional actioner has only just recently been given the cinematic credibility it so demonstratively deserves.
All the volatile ingredients that deliriously drew so many exploitation fans to Euro-crime's hyper-violent milieu are excitingly displayed in 'The Climber', with its attention-grabbing generosity of ferociously femur-fracturing fights, brutal bullet-fests, gratuitous Gangland goring's, bloodthirsty brawls, murderous displays of mobster mendacity, unrestrained vehicular carnage, and the coldly reptilian menace of Dallesandro effectively endows his hubristic, diabolically handsome, dead-eyed killer Aldo a malign Delon-like detachment that isn't exactly loveable, but his hyperbolic Alpha personality is weirdly magnetic! Much like vintage crime classics 'Scarface' and 'Public Enemy' long before it, Pasquale's doomy, frequently sadistic Euro-crime actioner exudes a similarly dark fascination with Aldo's rampant lust for money and power leading him inexorably to his own ignominious destruction! The exceptionally punchy score by composer Franco Campanino and equally strident film-making from maestro Squitieri has guaranteed that avid poliziotteschi fans, old and new, will readily appreciate the bellicose charms of this beautifully restored HD edition of Pasquale Squitieri's 'The Climber'.
