Blu-Ray Review: Fernando Di Leo: The Italian Crime Collection, Volume 2

By Brad Henderson

Many people either don’t know the name Fernando Di Leo or have never seen any of his films. Aside from filmmakers and cinephiles, his name doesn’t come up too often, but I’m here to change that. Raro Film has recently released a second volume of their Fernando Di Leo Italian Crime Collection. Aside from being a balls-out release, the transfers are outstanding.

First we have Naked Violence (1969), which is about a schoolteacher who is raped and murdered by her students. This film dabbles in the depths of horror, detailing an investigation by a detective trying to find out what drove these children to this madness. Is there someone or something else at play that possessed these children to commit this horrendous crime, or are they all mentally disturbed and worked this plan out by themselves?

The transfer is decent on this film but is the weakest in the set. That said, it doesn’t look bad by any means and I suspect the minor flaws are from the original film. These films are old and likely not well preserved to begin with, so Raro Films probably did the best they could do with what little they had.

Kidnap Syndicate (1975) is a little more laid back and direct than the other two films in this set. It is more of a character piece rather than one focused just on action and exploitation. The story revolves around Colella, a hard working mechanic who raises his son Fabrizio by himself. Fabrizio is friends with the son (Antonio) of a wealthy businessman and the two are on their way to school when suddenly they are kidnapped. Colella’s son tries to prevent the kidnappers from taking Antonio but then he is thrown in the car as well. When the wealthy businessman refuses to pay the ransom, the kidnappers make a statement by hurting the “poor” child (Fabrizio). Colella takes the law into his own hands and goes after the kidnappers. The first half of the film is a melodrama and the second half is a gritty, vigilante, revenge flick.

The transfer is excellent and it picks up every grain and scratch on the film itself; it isn’t distracting by any means but you definitely get the feel of the original film as it was intended and presented back in the day.

Shoot First, Die Later (1974) is the most excellent of the set and by far one of my favorite films this year. I’ve explained the plots to the other titles in this review but I’m keeping my mouth shut on this one. This film was a freaking treat.

Di Leo plunges us into one of the most fascinating cop/mob flicks ever. All action directors could learn a lot from Di Leo and should use this film as a foundation for their work. From the car chase scenes to the heart pounding score, Shoot First, Die Later is pure bliss from beginning to end and doesn’t let up until the final shot. Even after it’s over, you sit through the credits thinking to yourself “How is this film not on anyone’s radar?” Sure the hardcore film buffs know of Di Leo and might have seen this movie, but I can almost guarantee this film is highly under-seen.

Volume Two of Fernando Di Leo: The Italian Crime Collection was released by Raro Video in June 2013.