The Big Racket (1976)
I knew this was going to probably be a pretty entertaining Italian police action film, and Enzo G. Castellari is known for some over the top spectacle. Still I was not prepared for how outright nuts and extreme this was. It is sort a mix of Dirty Harry and Death Wish with a simple premise of some utterly despicable criminals terrorizing the city with racketeering, and Fabio Testi as the police sergeant trying to stop them. But of course the bureaucracy of the police and justice system is too soft and slow with their regulations and principles, so he has to go rogue to stop the criminals. I need to acknowledge there is something rather problematic with this film’s core message, that basically says authorities are not be trusted, the rule of law doesn’t and vigilantism is the answer. At the same time, the film is incredibly successful in convincing me that these criminals deserve absolute nothing less than death. No questions asked. These types of films are not shy to depict some brutality to get some justification for the narrative, but the way it is done here is both too extreme and too real. It is not merely a fun and games action flick, it goes deeper. We see a brutal rape of a minor, a devastated father discovering his daughter has committed suicide afterwards. There is a woman who is first raped then burned alive while her screaming desperate husband is futilely fighting the fire. It is easy to get riled up with this, giving into the sweet revenge against these criminals of human waste. In addition everything is well produced, great cinematography, great action scenes and a funky score. It left me a bit with a bad taste in my mouth, but damn it sure is a wildly entertaining spectacle of poliziotteschi.
Rating: 4