A typically intense police thriller from gore meister Lucio Fulci which has recently enjoyed its first uncut UK release thanks to the guys at Shameless. All of the cheesy gore effects are now present and correct allowing British viewers to see the movie as it was intended. As for the film itself, we're in familiar territory here with a good-hearted petty criminal caught up in a world of Mafia killers, vengeful assassins, and the like. A big influence is inevitably THE GODFATHER although it's definitely a Fulci film in look and style.
The first third of the film is a little slow as it sets up the plot. I've always found Fabio Testi a second-tier actor and it's hard to really like him here as he does dither around a lot. However, things pick up with the first fight scene at the sulphur pits and remain above average from there. THE SMUGGLER features more death and destruction than in a dozen American crime films put together. Fulci, best known for his gory horror films like ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS, inserts plenty of his trademark excessive violence into his film with people being shot and hit and spraying blood all over the place.
Things really get going with a choppily-edited series of murders, where we get to see people machine gunned for what seems like an endless time - they even turn around halfway through in order to get the full treatment. An assassin goes on a rampage of murder for about twenty minutes of screen time and the level of on screen violence is just outrageous. However, the worst violence is meted out to female characters, with a horrendous rape scene and a bit involving a Bunsen burner that'll have your eyes watering. Then there's a predictable but nonetheless exciting shootout at the end, with loads of people biting the bullet, as it were.
The first third of the film is a little slow as it sets up the plot. I've always found Fabio Testi a second-tier actor and it's hard to really like him here as he does dither around a lot. However, things pick up with the first fight scene at the sulphur pits and remain above average from there. THE SMUGGLER features more death and destruction than in a dozen American crime films put together. Fulci, best known for his gory horror films like ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS, inserts plenty of his trademark excessive violence into his film with people being shot and hit and spraying blood all over the place.
Things really get going with a choppily-edited series of murders, where we get to see people machine gunned for what seems like an endless time - they even turn around halfway through in order to get the full treatment. An assassin goes on a rampage of murder for about twenty minutes of screen time and the level of on screen violence is just outrageous. However, the worst violence is meted out to female characters, with a horrendous rape scene and a bit involving a Bunsen burner that'll have your eyes watering. Then there's a predictable but nonetheless exciting shootout at the end, with loads of people biting the bullet, as it were.