Overview: A follow up of sorts to his earlier film, the seminal Caliber 9 (1972), Blood and Diamonds (1977) blasts its way into familiar poliziotteschi territory, leaving scars, bullets and tire tracks in its bloody wake.

After being set up by the Mafia gang he is part of, Guido (Claudio Cassinelli) is sent to prison but upon he vows to take revenge on those who betrayed him. Another must for all collectors of high octane Italian crime thrillers from the 1970s.

Blu-ray Verdict: Laudio Cassanelli is a safe breaker out for one last job when some fink snitches on him. His partner Marco manages to get away, but Claudio himself is banged up for five years. Not only that, when gets out two masked gunman attack the bus he’s on and his girlfriend Olga Karlatos is shot in the back. Claudio kills the two bad guys so he’s still winning by this point, if you’re keeping score!

In a permanent bad mood for the entire film, Claudio blames everything on local gangster Rizzo (played immaculately by Martin Balsam as usual). The cops tend to agree with Claudio, but when a crooked cop passes this information on to Rizzo, he sends his right hand man Pier Paolo Capponi to put the squeeze on him.

Further compounding Claudio’s low mood and lack of sleep is Olga’s son Enzo, who hates him because he got his mother killed. I might have missed it, but I think Claudio used to go out with Enzo’s girl Barbara Bouchet, who seems to be trying to force Enzo’s hand in arranging a big score for a huge amount of diamonds.

That’s a lot of plot but it all serves to make Claudio madder and madder until he’s striking back at Rizzo, folks are getting plugged left right and center, and a few twists throw everything up in the air for a remarkable ending!

Personally, I’m a big fan of Claudio Cassanelli - he does moody very well, but to be honest, I’ve not seen him do comedy. Martin Balsam, once again, just knocks it out of the park as Rizzo. He constantly shows Claudio respect even though all Claudio does is threaten to kill him and shames him in front of his men.

This gives the ending even more clout as Rizzo and Claudio seem to share a father/son bond that Claudio can’t find with Enzo. It’s unusual to say the least, in truth.

The best bit for me was when Claudio and Pier Paolo Capponi have a violent fight to the death in Barbara Bouchet’s house, using all that kitsch seventies decor to try and kill each other. Also of note was the soundtrack, which you’ll know as that tune Bruno Mattei nicked for Zombie Creeping Flesh!

Special Features:
Brand New Remastered 4K Transfer from the Original Negative
High Definition (1080p) Presentation
Uncompressed English Audio
Uncompressed Italian Audio with Newly Translated English Subtitles
Audio commentary with Troy Howarth
Journey of love - Discovering Fernando Di Leo - Feature Length Documentary
Blood and Di Leo - A Portrait by Luc Merenda
Italian Opening, Intermission and Closing Titles
Original Trailer
Includes first Pressing Slipcase, Poster and Booklet

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