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This crime thriller tells the story of an undercover cop (Fabio Testi) who has to "play" a drug dealer so that the real dealers accept him as a member of their syndicate and he can come close to the big men at the top of the syndicate. As it is the problem with many genre films of its decade, the depiction of the drug dealers, their environments and the investigating methods of the undercover cop looks clichéd and hilariously out of date. Except for that, this is a highly entertaining, action packed film.

Fabio Testi never looks like a real drug dealer, but who cares, his acting is solid as ever. David Hemmings as the police inspector who knows about Testi's true identity brings English flair to the role with his sometimes almost exaggerated British accent. The supporting cast consists of many faces familiar from other Italian genre outings (e.g. the ruthless syndicate killer in Lucio Fulci's "Luca il Contrabbandiere" from 1981, also starring Testi in the lead role), and the score by the (at that time) Argento regulars "Goblin" just rocks. There are some quite original action sequences, especially the climax, in which director Enzo Girolami delivers a plane chase for once instead of a car chase (and this plane chase looks daring sometimes). Because the simple plot always pushes the action forward, the movie never becomes boring and delivers.

Certainly not Enzo Girolami's best film (his "La Polizia Incrimina, la Legge Assolve" is probably the best Italian crime film ever made), mainly because the story is never really convincing, but it's fast paced and will please every fan of Italian crime thrillers.

The always studly and the always charismatic Fabio Testi plays a character named Fabio here, a police detective working deep undercover in order to get the goods on the top dogs in a drug syndicate. He makes life a little weary for Hamilton (David Hemmings), an Interpol agent working on the same case. But he's still the kind of guy who *will* get the job done, taking on as many baddies as he can along the way.

Don't look for much more story than that in this topical Eurocrime action picture from Enzo G. Castellari ("The Inglorious Bastards"), although the pitiful state of an addict / pusher named Gilo (Wolfango Soldati) forms a subplot. The ladies are lovely (including Sherry Buchanan as Vera) and there's a bit of sex and nudity, but mostly what Castellari serves up is action, and it's executed with skill. The chases are particularly effective; the big finale with the planes is likewise impressive; Testi is in real life an accomplished pilot and did his own aerial stunts.

Hemmings offers a truly fun supporting performance as the exasperated Hamilton; Soldati earns a fair bit of sympathy as the pathetic Gilo. Other familiar faces to fans of Italian exploitation include Massimo Vanni ("Rats: Night of Terror"), Romano Puppo ("2019: After the Fall of New York"), and Joshua Sinclair ("1990: The Bronx Warriors"). Helping to make it all go down easily is a groovy, kick ass music score by the great progressive rock band Goblin. That theme that opens the movie is terrific!

There's no deep thinking required with this simplistic enough tale. It's just good old fashioned entertainment.

Seven out of 10.

There were a lot of good Dirty Harry inspired cop films made in Italy during the seventies, and while The Heroin Busters isn't one of the best of them - it's still a damn fine example of this sort of film. By far the best thing about Italian Dirty Harry rip-offs is the entertainment value, and The Heroin Busters delivers that in spades! Granted, it's a bit slow to start (though never boring), but once the film kicks into action properly, it comes thick and fast and the film includes one of the best action sequences I've seen in a film like this - that being the one that sees Fabio Testi being chased through a construction site. As the title suggests, this is a film that bases its plot around drugs. Apparently, drugs are being trafficked around the world from Rome, and police chief Mike Hamilton decides to do something about it by having Fabio go undercover as a drug dealer. This requires him to immerse himself in the criminal underworld, with the intention being to get close to the lower level criminals, so that he can eventually catch the big guns at the top.

The film features a great pair of central performances from David Hemmings and Fabio Testi. This is undoubtedly one of the best things about the film, as both of their performances are excellent; and they offset each other brilliantly. Testi is great in the 'action hero' role, as he fits the bill perfectly and does a great job with the action scenes also. Hemmings is at the other end of the spectrum with his role as the police chief, but he does just great also and it's great seeing these two together. The music comes courtesy of Dario Argento's house band Goblin, and while their work on this film doesn't rival the stuff they did for Argento, The Heroin Busters certainly isn't lacking in the music department. The film is directed by Enzo G. Castellari, who directed a couple of well revered crime flicks before this one, including the excellent 'The Big Racket'. The film features a few big set pieces, and the climax which takes the form of a plane chase is a more than fitting finale to an audacious crime extravaganza. This isn't as good as Italian crime flicks get - but it's not bad at all, and comes highly recommended!

Let's get some of the issues out of the way first. The film really gets off on the wrong foot with a dizzying amount of globe-trotting with Fabio Testi the hero as well as many tangentially related characters wandering around Amsterdam, Hong Kong, New York, Rome, and Bangkok before the film seems to kinda "settle down" on its narrative, maybe 15 minutes in. Unless you're a huge fan of Goblin music, you'll likely have lost interest long before the story starts.

Once things get going, you'll find the the film is remarkably thinly plotted when compared to Castellari's other crimers like HIGH CRIME and THE BIG RACKET. It has a lot of action, violence, and ups the ante as far as stunt work for sure, but the emotional connection just isn't there. It's like a whole lot of frosting on a stale and flavorless cake.

That said, there are some things worth noting about this movie. It's very strange and unpredictable for the first hour before settling into an extended chase sequence. Also it's odd to see David Hemmings as the big international star but he aquits himself well in the chase scenes and even dubs himself for a change. There's no leading lady per-say, and the highest up woman in the credits Sherry Buchanan gets kinda brushed aside without any affect on the plot whatsoever. Her whole story of working as a prostitute to support her junky boyfriend felt like it would have had a lot more bearing on things, but neither of them do once they fulfill their purpose of getting Fabio to the chase scene.

It is rare though to find a Eurocrime movie that isn't an obvious clone of a more successful American one. It's a little bit more like a James Bond style adventure with Testi as an undercover cop with sort of a goofy denim costume, but he grows on you complete with Michael Forest's cocksure dubbing voice. Also, the Goblin music sort-of suits the film but gets a little distractingly over-the-top in a way that worked a lot better for DAWN OF THE DEAD or SUSPIRIA than this sort of film.

When I first saw this film many years ago, I was put off by its slow and fragmented first ten minutes, featuring scenes of (gratuitous!) drug use in various parts of the world. Also, I had just seen David Hemmings' other Italian crime film from this year, SWINDLE with Tomas Milian (directed by Bruno Corbucci), which was INCREDIBLE, and this did not seem as good. However, once the film kicks into gear after fifteen minutes or so, it is quite good and features some incredible stunt work, imaginative action sequences, exciting guitar-driven music from Goblin (not as repetitive as some of their work), a wonderful over-the-top performance by David Hemmings as an interpol narcotics investigator, and a cool, smoldering performance by Fabio Testi as an undercover cop out to bust the international drug trade. As a later 70s product, this film features unnecessary closeup shots of drug use and some gratuitous nudity (a lesbian scene presented as a FANTASY of a minor character!), but there's not enough of either to derail what becomes a nail-biting action film. The final fifteen to twenty minutes of HEROIN BUSTERS are incredible--the motorcycle chase in the subway, which leads into an outrageous airplane chase--some of the most interesting and daredevil action-film stunt-work I've seen in a while. The film also has nice bursts of humor here and there (such as when Hemmings, chasing a crook, gets a ride from a young lady on a motorcycle and has to grab on to her breast to hold on!) and was quite satisfying on all levels. It does start slow, however, so don't give up on it (or fast forward through some of the initial scenes). What a "golden age" of Italian crime films the 1970's was--even a standard genre entry turns out to be a gem, the likes of which would NEVER be made today.

A splendid opening with shots of Hong Kong, Colombia, New York and Amsterdam of the drug journey but it ends on the streets of Rome and Fabio Testi the main man. He is in the film the whole time and I assume also his own stunts and he is great and David Hemmings is also fine, probably not doing his own stunts. The last twenty minutes are really wonderful, with planes as well although most of the time it is the drug and mafia crew on the streets. It is good but not anything like as good as Enzo G Castellari's first film of The Big Racket (1976) although it is nice to hear the music of Goblin.

Fabio Testi (Four of the Apocalypse, Revolver) plays the aptly named character of Fabio, an undercover cop who's on assignment to bust a group of drug peddlers in this lesser Enzo G. Castellari directed film. I make the aforementioned statement comparably to the director's other films off course, as this one is still quite watchable in it's own right. Testi is always watchable, but this one just isn't one of my favorite films in the 'italian crime' genre. It came off, to me anyway, as a tad dated and more then a tad more cartoonish.

My Grade: C-

Eye Candy: Patrizia Webley gets topless; Sherry Buchanan shows off boobs & bush

This is just a fun movie. The acting is campy at parts but the action sequences are better than expected. We had a lot of fun watching this. There's a pointless out of the blue lesbian scene and "drug addict" acting of the caliber of an after school commercial.

I know it sounds like I'm taking digs at the film, but I'm not. Watch the trailer on the Blue Underground site... it might be on IMDb too... but the trailer was delicious enough to get me to rent it (just as the trailer for Street Law did that title). David Hemmings is great.

Basically... "fun" is the key point of this review. Fun.

8 out of 10

Politically and Objective, Subjective viewed this film is a kind of insult for every drug consumer (and i mean every drug: illegal and legal)and suits actually well the political"comedy" concerning this theme. Castellari shows here a strong stereotype world of the "drugscene" that i cannot associate with the word intelligence especially with such a theme(though funny it is). Here we have the "typical" junkie whos halfcrazy coz he doesnt get his "medicine", and the tough b*****d dealer who beats the s*** out of everybody when it comes to money. it gets then "socio-critical" when the police says how many poor people die due the use of (illegal)drugs (fine that its unimportant how many die due excessive alcohol consume-especially when the state gets money for it) Naturally if you dont take it seriously this film is quite entertaining: fabio testi here who plays a cop who goes undercover in the drug scene, wears most of the film a cap and some priceless wildleather boots(!) The (psychedelic)music from goblin is great, and is a perfect start for the film Needless to say that some decent action is also included here. Patrizia Webley the sleazy blonde, has here a short cameo as one of the lesbian customers of sherry buchanan -who gets her money for the drugs by selling her body. Yes, its a "mondo candido"!..

If you only know Italian cinema for the works of Federico Fellini, Vittorio DeSica, etc, you might be surprised to learn that the boot-shaped country also turned out a number of cult genres. Lasting multiple decades was their horror genre (Mario Bava, Antonio Margheriti, etc). The '60s were dominated by the spaghetti westerns (Sergio Leone, Sergio Corbucci, etc). The '70s were dominated by what are known as poliziotteschi. These were action flicks. "La via della droga" ("The Heroin Busters" in English) is an example. Enzo G. Castellari's movie is about a cop investigating drug dealers while Interpol tries to do the same.

Of course, the movie is an excuse for all sorts of action (I'm talking some truly over-the-top stunts) with some sex along the way. It's the sort of movie that's not afraid to do anything it wants. I bet that they had a lot of fun filming it. If you're into European cult cinema, you shouldn't miss this one.

PS: Castellari's 1977 movie "The Inglorious B------s" (IMDb won't let me write the title) inspired Quentin Tarantino's similarly-titled movie, which in turn referenced Antonio Margheriti.

Testi plays an undercover cop who "Dirty Harrys" the bad guys into oblivion. There is great music from the band who did "Suspiria," a groovy prog rock band. Full of escalator stunts, bike stunts, plane stunts, and Testi jumping from high places and flipping around avoiding bullets. Once the film picks up the pace its a squib frenzy and a murder-pocalypse. This is a pretty decent Castellari film.

You can always rely on Enzo Castellari to knock things up a notch, and even though he had me worried (and a little confused) at the pacing of this one, it all leads up to major kick ass ending.

After the film seemingly randomly shifts between Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Colombia and New York, the film finally settles in Rome, as we see Fabio Testi getting busted for carrying drugs into the country. At the same time and in the same place, another guy who's just arrived from Amsterdam is tailed by cop David Hemmings, who gets duped by the dealers as big old Romano Puppo gets away with the goods.

Yep, Hemmings is hot headed, potty-mouthed cop out to take down a huge drug cartel, and he's the only guy who knows that Fabio Testi is an undercover cop. Things get pretty difficult for Testi as he works his way into the dealer's trust via a junky guy with his own sub plot, and nothing ends up going to plan as everything results in a huge chase at the end that uses feet, motorbikes, and finally, planes. I think there's a deep meaning to all this, and that is "If you deal drugs, Fabio Testi will shoot you."

You've got the usual Enzo back up crew here: Massimo Vanni (who does his 'riding a bike downstairs' bit), Joshua Sinclair as a suave dealer, Romano Puppo as another dealer, and even Enzo himself turns up to mug for the camera. Sherry Buchanan turns up as the junky guy's girlfriend, but she really just turns up to be naked for a minute or two.

I found it strange that there's an obvious stunt double doing even the most routine of stunts for Fabio, but then it's Fabio himself doing all that crazy crap with the planes later. I did burst out laughing when a guy pulled a particularly strange face when getting shot in slow motion.

It does seem however that Enzo is kind of making some sort of comment about the hippy life being dead and leading to horrible addiction, because the drug taking here is shown in all its glory and when you see a guy licking spilled heroin from a toilet seat, it doesn't exactly entice you to go take the stuff. Well done Enzo!

There are some preposterous situations and developments in LA VIA DELLA DROGA aka THE HEROIN BUSTERS but it still reeled me in and had me interested to the end.

Director Enzo Castellari is no household name, not even in his native country, Italy. To be frank, I had never heard of him. That said, the production looks far from shabby thanks to effective cinematography by Giovanni Bergamini and the convincing if unusual leading duo of Fabio Testi - undercover cop looking tall, fit and muscular despite wearing cowboy boots in his almost nonstop running - and Hemmings, the somewhat podgy Interpol inspector still able to climb walls. They exchange some cryptic, even funny lines, none more so than when Testi teaches Hemmings on how to use the pronoun "whom" instead of "who."

The film posts some well made car, bike and running chases - though I found the final one, aboard two light planes, downright risible. The top villain with his fake wig rather struck me as a clearly unintended comedian, especially when piloting the aircraft.

Despite those flaws, I found HEROIN BUSTERS and its level of violence credibly engrossing. 7/10.

Poliziotteschi is a category of film that will rarely if ever let you down. This particular Poliziotteschi or Euro crime is yet another brilliant work of Enzo Castellari's, one of the key players in this genre. This movie is a classic, very entertaining, packed with action, a strong plot and Fabio Testi to top it all off! Ignore any mediocre reviews, this movie is phenomenal. A must see especially for fans of euro crime. In this movie Fabio Testi plays an officer who goes deep cover in the heroin game to try and take out the big boys of the operation. Only one cop is aware of the undercover op, so this movie is basically Testi vs. the world with one cop on his side. The action in this movie continues from beginning to end and the question is continually asked, who is more of a threat to Fabio, the heroin dealers he is trying to bust or his fellow police officers who believe him to be another drug dealing son of a bitch?!

It's initially distracting that, in the first twenty minutes of THE HEROIN BUSTERS, extremely handsome Italian actor Fabio Testi doesn't seem the part of a grungy, emaciated drug-dealer, busted at an airport before helping a junky escape from a dilapidated lockup... which is intentional because he's not what he seems...

Meanwhile the true junky, played by Wolfango Soldati, who, to further complicate matters, resembles Testi, merely seems like an important side-character, as does gorgeous TENTACLES starlet Sherry Buchanan as a bisexual model wielding much appreciated gratuitous nudity...

But soon enough this FRENCH CONNECTION inspired programmer narrows briskly into a simple and singular action/chase flick (undercover cop Testi being chased by a mob of spurned/betrayed dealers) ranging from a rural, broken-down-factory shootout; speeding cars getting rammed and smashed; motorbikes zipping down escalators then zooming through futuristic-looking subway tunnels...

And a zigzagging, nail-biting, bombastic airplane sequence that, before you know it, concludes this drug-bust exploitation that seemed like it was just getting started...

And a zigzagging, nail-biting, bombastic airplane sequence that, before you know it, concludes this drug-bust exploitation that seemed like it was just getting started...

Added to that a surprisingly upbeat, loose and funky Goblin score and English BLOW-UP actor David Hemmings providing random sideline lectures in what plays like director Enzo G. Castellari's 80-minute trailer...

And as these 1970's Italian crime flicks can often be overlong and plot-convoluted (like the director's prior THE BIG RACKET using many of the same cast), frugality's not such a bad thing. Although a second viewing is probably the best bet here: to figure out the first half's rambling exposition to then better appreciate and comprehend all of the last half's running around.

Great film that doesn't disappoint. This film moves at a fast pace and the two lead actors keep it interesting. Fabio testi and David hemmings..obviously he dubbed his own voice as well. But a great film that shows some scenes of what addicts will do for their fix.