Highway Racer

After only recently pondering the multitude of singularly splendid Euro-crime titles I have seen over the years, I can say with some considerable enthusiasm that 'Poliziotto Sprint' (1977) has become one of my all-time favourite Massi/Merli collaborations, well, top 5 at least! My overwhelmingly feelings running somewhat contrary to the few rather lukewarm reviews I have barely endured reading, leading me to strongly question whether or not we have even watched the same action-packed adrenalin-jacked film! As once again, I found hyper-masculine Maurizio Merli's sans-moustache, speed-demon, douche bag-fragging, joyously hell-raising, J&B chugging copper to be an entirely riveting, hot-blooded creation, and the plentiful, gonzo display of bravura stunt driving is second to none; and if all that exploitation goodness didn't suffice, we also enjoy a sweetly funky soundtrack by Euro-crime soundtrack deity, Stelvio Cipriani, and I, for one, was left gloriously spent, giddy with unalloyed boy's own excitement after the experience, and wonder to this very day why on earth this fabulously entertaining actioner remains such a frustratingly obscure title. Personally, I passionately feel that ALL the Merli/Massi collaborations should now be made available in handsomely restored DVD/Blu-ray prints, as Stelvio Massi was always a superior craftsman and Maurizio Merli is the diamond-hard definition of Italian retro, hard boiled, Euro-crime cool, and, hot-damn! He looks deliciously, dangerously dapper in his nifty skinny-fit denim shirt and just snug-enough, bad boy leather-jacket! 'Poliziotto Sprint' is a petrol-headed, tarmac-tormenting, Euro-crime dream!

In 1977, the partnership of Maurizio Merli and his moustache was temporarily dissolved as each of them pursued their own careers. Due to making some bad decisions, Maurizio's moustache ended up taking the role of the pubic region of a busy German porn star, whereas Maurizio himself made this film - where a racing car obsessed cop finds himself up against a bunch of bank robbers...who are also racing car obsessed.

He's a young cop who loves a good car chase, but his boss thinks he's too hot-headed and not experienced enough. Plus his car is crap. His boss is also a legendary driver amongst the force, and knows fine well that the spate of bank robberies taking place in Rome are down to an old, racing car driving enemy of his. He warns Maurizio that this bad guy will outsmart him, and tells him not to be drawn in to a race with the guy, adding that Maurizio better be careful with that anxious partner of his who only has two days before transferring to a safer job. Guess what happens to him?

One dead partner later, it's up to Maurizio and his boss to make Maurizio the hot-shot driver he was born to be, so we get a lengthy sequence of training and such like which could have been covered in less time with a montage, but this is the seventies and not the eighties I guess. Plus, Mr No Moustache also has to go undercover, but did I need to tell you that? His cover is blown in the most stupid way possible, too.

A film called Highway Racer just better be filled with car chases and stunts, and it is! They even have a car chase on the Spanish Steps of all places. Not sure how they got away with that one. There's also a scene where it pretty much looks like a stuntman was hit by a car on purpose. Hope they paid that guy well. Or at least the family he left behind.

A film like this is to be watched for fun, and I had fun. Maurizio loves racing so much even his room is filled with toy cars. Awesome. After some very thorough trips to the dry cleaners, Maurizio and his moustache were reunited for Inspector Grrrr: Mancop and it's seven thousand sequels.

This is a low-grade poliziottesco, the second I've watched from former cinematographer Massi – and a much inferior product to the character-driven EMERGENCY SQUAD (1974). In fact, as the title itself suggests, the film is virtually a non-stop succession of car chases – filled with spectacular (but often unbelievable) stuntwork staged by the ubiquitous Remy Julienne. Its other major flaw is the miscasting of lead Maurizio Merli as a speed-crazy rookie cop(!), a role better suited to Giuliano Gemma (who had actually played a racing-car driver in Luciano Ercoli's THE MAGNIFICENT DARE DEVIL [1973]) or even Luc Merenda. Amusingly, to give us the impression that the hero is brash and inexperienced, Merli simply had his trademark moustache shaved off!; while his essential woodenness was usually offset by a genuinely authoritative/tough presence and street-smart attitude, here, he comes across as not merely glib but dumb as well! For the record, according to the "Stracult" guide, HIGHWAY RACER is a favorite of both Massi and Merli – go figure!

The majority of the plot, if so it can be called, revolves around the obsessive manhunt by Merli's ageing superior (a legendary iconoclast himself in the old days!) for a notorious criminal/ace driver emanating from Nice. After some initial aggravation between Merli and the Chief (the hero even causes the death of his perennially scared-shitless partner when their inadequately-empowered police car overturns during a chase), the old man is quick to realize that if he's to fight "Il Nizzardo" tooth and nail, Merli's the one to do it – cue the young cop's intensive training to maneuver the revved-up engine on the road and other even more treacherous terrain. Merli's also given an obligatory romance, supplied by lovely "Euro-Cult" starlet Lilli Carati – but her part is so underwritten as to be almost an afterthought! Incidentally, the hero's eventually made to infiltrate the villain's gang – but he's unwittingly exposed by the girl herself prior to their next hit. By now, Merli's so intent on testing his acquired skills with those of the criminal that he even lets the latter go when cornered instead of arresting him…only for the two to meet up for a duel-to-the-death with their cars in a canyon!

A couple other things: the main riff from Heavy Rock band Iron Butterfly's signature tune "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" is ever so subtly (but recognizably) incorporated into Stelvio Cipriani's score towards the end of the film!; also, when I discovered that among the U.S. titles attached to this one is CONVOY BUSTERS, I mistakenly thought it had been released as a "Special Edition" by No Shame. However, when I went to check for reviews of that particular DVD, I realized that the original title of the film in question was UN POLIZIOTTO SCOMODO, made in 1978…albeit re-uniting the same lead and director! Confused? (Actually, it's much the same thing that went on with two separate gialli called at one time or another PARANOIA, both of which were directed by Umberto Lenzi and starred Carroll Baker.)

Well the international title already suggests what you will get here - well many times that is. Although there probably are better car chase movies, this can be a lot of fun too. And it is the only way to watch this and be entertained by it.

It has aged quite considerable, but certain themes still remain ... interesting and true. Like someone making fun of another mans car and what will come out of it. The masculinity of it all ... cliches and action collide ... and cars do too. A fun ride, if you'll excuse the fun, if you suspend your disbelief long enough.

The poliziotteschi genre was well known for its extreme violence and cynicism, so its quite interesting to encounter the odd entry which goes against this format. This Stelvio Massi effort is a case in point. Its much lighter in tone than usual and is more squarely about car action than anything else. To that end, this is an example of a poliziotteschi-carsploitation hybrid, which derives more inspiration from the likes of Gone in 60 Seconds and Vanishing Point, than it does Dirty Harry or The French Connection. The story does incorporate that old staple where a cop infiltrates a gang of criminals on the eve of a big job. But despite this routine basic idea, the focus in this one is squarely on car chases galore. There is much brilliant stunt work here and some insanely dangerous looking crashes caught on film; there's cars jumping over a fifty metre ravine; there's a mad moment where a stunt man is battered by a car and thrown sideways like a rag doll; there is a sequence which is both incredible and appalling, where a couple of cars fire down Rome's famous Spanish Steps, clearly causing some damage to this picturesque landmark! Only in Italy in the 70's!

As I said earlier, the tone is decidedly less aggressive in this one than normal. We even have a chief villain who doesn't like members of his gang bad mouthing his police opponent! We have genre regular Maurizio Merli sans 'tache, in a role where he is young hotshot and not a fascistic police detective. There's even mutual respect between the two protagonists, leading to a final duel - it boils down to honour and chivalry - hardly a theme seen too often in other entries in this genre, which usually involves violent men wearing balaclavas driving around in small cars while brutal police officers pursue them in other small cars. On the whole, this made for a nice change of pace for me with regards to this genre. It may ultimately be defined by its car action but when the car action is this good, then that's a pretty decent thing to be defined by.