Eurocrime Rarities: Volume 1

The Eurocrime film, or poliziottesco, went through many of the same phases as other trends in Italian cinema. By virtue of necessity, stretching its boundaries or tooling with the genre was inevitable. Perhaps equally inevitably, given the sheer number of films produced, quite a few fell through the cracks over time. Three rare, distinct features late in the genre's cycle, each retaining the big names associated with it, are collected here.

IL GIORNO DEL COBRA (THE DAY OF THE COBRA)
Larry Stanziani is a bottom-of-the-barrel private eye in San Francisco, quietly scraping by to make ends meet. But in a former life, Stanziani (Franco Nero) was The Cobra, one of the most capable and deadly secret agents the world had ever seen. Called back into action in Italy after a narcotics agent is killed, Larry uncovers a syndicate that'll attempt every dirty trick in the book to finish him off. But they don't know that The Cobra always stays one step ahead of any double-cross ever invented. Directed by Italo-action legend Enzo G. Castellari (The Big Racket) as a showcase for Nero's range, this cheeky Eurocrime/gumshoe hybrid also stars Sybil Danning (Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf), Mario Maranzana (Behind Convent Walls), Mickey Knox (Cemetery Man), and Romano Puppo (The Big Gundown).

LA BANDA DEL TRUCIDO (THE RASCAL'S GANG aka DIRTY GANG)
Naples is being crippled by crime, and now an important police leader has been assassinated. The grizzled Commissario Ghini (Luc Merenda) is tough enough to tackle the crime wave and is the only one to fill his shoes. Meanwhile, Monnezza (Tomas Milian) has his hands full, too: he's running his cheeky trattoria while also teaching a new batch of hapless schemers at his low-rent school for thieves. Balancing Milian's popular comedic chops as a loveable rogue and Merenda's hard-as-nails, stunt-driven performance, director Stelvio Massi (Arabella: Black Angel) pulls out all the stops for this wildly entertaining ride. Also starring Elio Zamuto (Violent Naples), Katia Christine (Designated Victim), and Massimo Vanni (1990: The Bronx Warriors).

IL COMMISSARIO DI FERRO (THE IRON COMMISSIONER)
Commissario Mariani (Maurizio Merli) has been taking down crooks for years, and these days the weight of it shows. He's divorced, his son thinks of him more as a friend than a father, his superiors are critical of him, and even the children of people he put away are coming after him. But he's not the Iron Commissioner for nothing, and however seasoned, he's not afraid to knock around a few hoods to get the job done. When a kidnapping occurs too close to home, Mariani doesn't hesitate to spring into action. A remarkably efficient and realistic feature from technical journeyman Stelvio Massi (Five Women for the Killer), showing plenty of tricks up his sleeve, it also stars Janet Agren (Bakterion), Ettore Mani (A.A.A. Masseuse, Good-Looking, Offers Her Services), and Chris Avram (Obscene Desire).