The Heroin Busters

 

Enzo G. Castellari and Umberto Lenzi were the kings of the Eurocrime/poliziotteschi genre in 1970s. Both directed some rough ones that border on exploitation. Both directed some that have more to do with organized crime and the criminal side of things than the cops in pursuit of them. Both also directed ones that are little less serious and a little less exploitative. This is that movie. There are several moments that would be awesome fist pump moments in action movies made today. Fabio Testi does some of his own stunts that stars today would never do. It's worth watching just for the Goblin score that is jazzy, funky, and psychedelic at different times. While it's lesser on the fascist politics that usually made their way into these movies it does show how drug-addicted criminals are really stuck in a bad spot. If they turn to the cops they go to jail and don't get rehabilitated properly. On the other side of things they are just as likely to be killed or maimed by the dealers for not having their money. 

The movie starts with a jazzy Goblin score playing and the scenes going back and forth between drug deals from Columbia, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, and New York before transitioning to Fabio Testi in Rome. These scenes are all silent except for the music. Testi's character, appropriately named Fabio is caught with drugs at an airport. Another smuggler is caught by David Hemming's Interpol Agent character, Hamilton. Hamilton talks about the drug route between those countries and places I named above and how he wants to put a stop to it. Interestingly enough, the movie never spells this out but it seems as though he sent Fabio undercover after his arrest which goes with the theme of the criminals being caught between a rock in the hard place with cops and their own drug dealers where each side doesn't care about their well being. 

That is explored more in the subplot with Gilo (Wolfango Soldati) as three thugs are always around beating him up and asking him for money. One of these thugs is played by Castellari regular Massimo Vanni. Gilo is the fall guy at a drug deal near a school. When he is in jail with Fabio you see just how awful his withdrawals are. Fabio has heroin smuggled in the sole of his shoe and he gives it to Gilo for a fix. When they escape, a clever ruse by Fabio to get the cop in the prison cell so they can beat him up, Gilo doesn't know where to turn. He ends up needing money for his addiction and gets killed in a robbery. That just shows you how bad their dependency is and how they can't ever get away from it one way or another.

Romano Puppo, Castellari Regular

Massimo Vanni, Castellari Regular

There is a great scene where Hamilton's men find Fabio at this drug hideout of sorts. Fabio meets the kingpin of sorts there, played by Joshua Sinclair, another Castellari regular. This leads to a confrontation between him and Hamilton on the roof where it is officially revealed he is undercover. Of course one of the three thugs is there so to maintain the ruse Fabio punches Hamilton saying, "Give my regards to your dentist!" Man, I love these english dubs. This leads to Fabio disguising himself with two other thugs and breaking into a police station to get more drugs which is an awesome layer to add as an uncover police officer, further disguising himself to break into a police station. Hamilton is also there and has to kill one of the criminals at one point. 

Joshua Sinclair

While the first 45 minutes of this movie could be a little slow to some, when the action starts it's like a steady incline up the axis where it never stops. Fabio gets into a gunfight at this abandoned building and the echo caused by his magnum when shooting a bunch of bad guys is loud as hell and awesome. He then blows his cover at the laboratory and shows off his physicality by jumping over some big boxes and out of windows. There is another great scene where Hamilton is shot and gets a ride from a woman on motorcycle where he "accidentally" cops a feel on her boobs and she says "thats okay." David Hemmings must have gotten some action later. The action continues and here come three incredible fist pump moments. 

1. While cornered at a construction site Fabio uses a hole in a pole near his cover to aim his gun through and kill the bad guy.

2. He loses his gun while lowering himself down in this pulley drawn lift. At the shootout in the train station he throws a bad guy's body onto his gun, out of reach and drags the body with the gun back to him. 

3. He slides down this long escalator with a gun and kills a bad guy on his corner as soon as he gets to the bottom. 

The last gunfight of the movie takes place at this abandoned amphitheater type of place. I love all of the locations for the action in this. Fabio eventually pursues the drug runner to America on a plane, a sequence where Fabio Testi does all of his own stunts. I haven't even talked about some of the "WTF am I watching" type of moments. There is a moment where the leading thug, dubbed by Edward Mannix says "I'm going to shoot you right in your asshole. That will get messy." Another moment is when Gilo and Fabio are on a staircase and we suddenly transition to two women having sex. Of course one of them is literally sitting still letting the other do all the work, which is exactly how women have sex I'm sure. What is ridiculous about this sequence is you don't know if it's actually happening or maybe Gilo thinks its what is happening. I'm not complaining but it is really out of left field. Fabio Testi's costume is truly one of the best ever. He looks like a homeless man combined with drug dealer. He's got this full denim outfit with a white shirt underneath, plenty of necklaces, an Apollo mission hat, and those big Ugg type boots. The fun action moments, some of the dubbing, and Goblin's versatile and pleasant score make this a fun watch and I would recommend it to any action fan. 

Fabio Testi in costume

Rating: 8/10 

English Voice dubbing cast: 

Michael Forest dubs Fabio Testi as Fabio

Frank Von Kuegelen dubs Wolfango Soldati as Gilo

Edward Mannix dubs the lead thug 

Carolyn De Fonseca and Pat Starkes voices are heard various times as women

Ted Rusoff voices the guy the lead thug harasses in the bathroom

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vcTeZ_KazU