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 CONTRABAND
(Blue
Underground) 1980. Crime drama. 97 minutes. Not rated, gore, violence,
brief nudity. Directed by Lucio Fulci. Luca Di Angelo and his brother run
a successful and profitable cigarette smuggling business in Naples, Italy.
All is going well with the butt smuggling until Luca’s brother and other
underworld giants are murdered by an anonymous boss who wants to expand
his business to drugs. Luca
vows to avenge his brother’s murder and the vendetta intensifies after
his wife is kidnapped by the thugs.
If you’re looking for violence and gore, look no further than
Contraband! As with almost all Italian made movies, the story here is
nothing new, but the violence makes up for whatever the story lacks. Along
with the gore violence, there is a truly disturbing rape scene that forced
me to use the fast forward button because the scene went on just a little
too long for my comfort. Misogynists will also dig the blowtorch scene.
Amongst the bevy of violent scenes, there is one that really stuck out,
grabbed my attention, and had me rewinding the disc a few times due to its
“coolness.” As much as I dug this sick scene, I choose not to ram it
down your throat (hint) and divulge the
scene of which I write.
Tell me, why is it whenever a foreign film is dubbed with the English
language, they always have to find the most high pitched and annoying
voice for the kids? God, Luca’s kid in this flic is so annoying I was
actually saddened that he didn’t get kidnapped. Then again, the bad guys
probably didn’t want to have him around because his voice was so
annoying. Gore hounds take
note.- Denis Sheehan
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