Action immédiate

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.

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

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.

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.