Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the '70s

In the 1970s, Italian genre cinema was pretty much fad oriented. Always looking to cheerfully (and decidedly shamelessly) rip off whatever genre was popular in America at the time, be they spaghetti westerns, sword & sandal epics, or hard-boiled and rather racy takes on gritty American cop films, such as The French Connection or Serpico, only of course being Italian, they put their own exploitative spin on things. These cop films were known as Polizioteschi films, or more popularly, Eurocrime.

Eurocrime! The Cop & Gangster Films That Ruled the '70s, explores the mentality behind this genre, the factors that played part, and the players themselves, with contributions from the likes of Fred The Hammer Williamson, John Saxon, Henry Silva, Franco Nero, Joe Dallesandro & Luc Merenda, as well as from the technical end, from Enzo G Castellari and Claudio Fragasso.

While not without its flaws- it could have been leaner (it clocks in at over two hours, with some of it coming across rather needless padding), and fails to get any contributions (although this is probably not the maker's fault ultimately, in fairness) from the likes of Fabio Testi, Tomas Milian and Umberto Lenzi, and unforgivably hardly even mentions Di Leo, who even I, a relative novice to the Eurocrime genre am aware of- it's still a well researched and often pretty funny documentary on a prolific for its time, but often overlooked genre of Italian exploitation, with some cool clips and an awesome '70s score throughout.

Any fan of Eurocrime flicks should definitely check this one out, as it's very probably the only documentary you'll ever see on the genre, and again while not without its flaws, is overall a decent, well made and researched effort, with lots of entertaining anecdotes.

8/10, very enjoyable doc, and recommended.

I caught this at weekend at A Day Of Crime in Manchester. Through various communities and being a fan of Eurocrime movies i had very high expectations of this and they were exceeded.

The documentary catches the essence of what Eurocrime was all about, Tough Cops, Horrible Villains and everything in between, Car Chases, Cammora involvement it is all here.

All the great actors/directors who were present in the genre in it's heyday who are still alive give their input into why the movies were so special, what they were like to make, the death defining stunts, everything a fan of Eurocrime would want and more.

The greatest thing about this documentary though is that it does what all good documentaries do- it keeps you interested even if you have no interest in the subject matter- and it makes you laugh, it takes serious subject matter surrounding the genre and at points makes you cry with laughter due to the tales being told.

It is brilliantly paced and does not outstay it's welcome. I could have watched another hour or two of this.

For a first time director Mike Malloy really shows he has a talent for pacing, for asking the right questions, for garnering the best reactions from those interviewed who were involved in the whole Eurocrime scene.

I cannot recommend this highly enough if you are interested in Eurocrime. If you are not though you will become interested by the end and will be on the hunt for old VHS copies of these films before you know it.

Very entertaining documentary about crime movies of the 70s in Italy. Quite a lot of people could be found and interviewed for this. It's almost like traveling back in time, when you watch this. The movie is also very well edited and shot. There is a clear distinction and structure through the whole thing (which can't be said about most of the movies discussed in the documentary of course).

If you like crime movies, than this will be an easy sell. It does appeal more to a specific group of people of course, but maybe some people will be curious and give it a try. I'm sure they will be tempted to get a few movies that are being discussed here. Mission accomplished I'd say!

Dealing with the 70s Italian gangster film/rip-off scene, this is a fantastic two hours of interviews mixed with clips mixed with some very original animation segueways, all soundtracked by an authentic superfly soundtrack.

There is a general sense of good fun that runs throughout, even during the chapters that address misogyny and organised crime. Worth watching just for the car chases and scenes of actors genuinely doing their own stunts (the episode with John Saxon and live machine gun rounds is particularly memorable).

You don't need to be a particular fan of exploitation to enjoy this film; in fact its triumph lies in the way in which it weaves its own stories from the recollections of the chief protagonists. Highly recommended.

I managed to see this yesterday at the Day Of Crime festival in Manchester, and was blown away. Eurocrime is my favourite genre, but there's not much information available relating to it. Thank God then, that this documentary has been made and we can now see the genres stars and directors discussing all the crazy, funny, amazing stories about making these great films. It's a long doc, but it packs in so much information that the time just whizzes by! It's one of the best documentaries about film i've ever seen and REALLY needs to be more widely available for fans of the genre like myself!! Please make this available on DVD soon!!