Killer Cop: Limited Edition – Raro Video UK (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1975
Director: Luciano Ercoli
Writer: Gianfranco Calligarich
Cast: Arthur Kennedy, Claudio Cassinelli, Sara Sperati, Franco Fabrizi, Bruno Zanin, Francesco D’Adda

Release Date: April 28th, 2025
Approximate Running Times: 96 Minutes 52 Seconds (Italian Version), 95 Minutes 27 Seconds (English Version)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Both Versions)
Rating: 15 (UK)
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Italian (Italian Version), DTS-HD Mono English (English Version)
Subtitles: English (Italian Version), English SDH (English Version)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: £14.99 (UK)

"Police inspector Matteo Rolandi (Claudio Cassinelli, The Suspicious Death Of A Minor) witnesses a massacre in a hotel when a bomb explodes and kills dozens of civilians. The prime suspect, a young political activist (Bruno Zanin, Amarcord), is shot dead soon after, despite being under the protection of General Attorney Di Federico (Arthur Kennedy, The Man From Laramie). As Inspector Rolandi continues his investigation, he soon discovers a terrifying conspiracy behind the act of brutal terrorism." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, “High-Definition digital transfer."

Killer Cop comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 33.1 GB

Feature: 26.3 GB

This release uses seamless branching for the two versions. This is another solid upgrade from Raro Video UK when compared to their earlier 2015 Blu-ray release. Colors have never looked better; image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid. That said, this transfer appears to use the same 2k master Cineploit used for their German Blu-ray release.

Audio: 4.5/5 (DTS-HD Mono Italian, DTS-HD Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian and a DTS-HD mono mix in English. Both audio tracks sound clean, clear, balanced, and robust when they should. Included are removable English subtitles for the Italian-language track and removable English SDH for the English-language track. There is a second removable English subtitle for Italian text when watching the English-language version.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an archival interview with production manager Alessandro Calosci titled The Professional (20 minutes, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an audio commentary with Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth, reversible cover art, and a 12-page booklet (limited to 3000 copies) with cast & crew information, and an essay titled The Police Have Their Hands Tied - Luciano Ercoli and Killer Cop written by Barry Forshaw.

Summary:

Though the focal point of most Italian crime is cops versus criminals. There are a handful of films that go beyond the scope of this genre's set limits. Case in point is Killer Cop, which is a film that starts off just like any other Italian crime film before shifting into something that goes against many of this genre's staples.

The plot revolves around a narcotics detective named Matteo Rolandi, and when something goes horribly wrong during one of his investigations, he then becomes obsessed with uncovering the whos and the whys of this tragic event. This put him in conflict with another character named Armando Di Federico, a specially appointed judge who does everything he can to keep Rolandi away from the case and block him from obtaining any evidence.

Content-wise, as you can see, this is more about police procedure, and all crimes committed are all pushed on the back burner until Killer Cop’s justice Italian-style finale. Also, besides focusing heavily on police procedure, another area where this film often puts its focus is on political aspects of the story at hand.

From a production standpoint, Luciano Ercoli once again delivers solid visuals. With this film’s standout moment being a pivotal hotel bombing sequence, which reinforces the political undertones. Pacing is never an issue, as things move along at a good pace from one revelation to the next. Giving each plot twist just enough time to settle in. Another strength of this film is another remarkable, albeit familiar-sounding, score from Stelvio Cipriani.

Performance-wise, so much relies on this film’s protagonist, Matteo Rolandi. And cast in this key role is an actor named Claudio Cassinelli (What Have They Done to Your Daughters?, The Suspicious Death of a Minor). Fortunately, Cassinelli is up for the challenge and delivers a strong performance that does not miss a beat. Another performance of note is Arthur Kennedy (Lawrence of Arabia, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie) in the role of Armando Di Federico, the judge who is constantly at odds with Rolandi.

That said, this film’s English title, Killer Cop, kind of does it a disservice, while its Italian language title, La polizia ha le mani legate, which roughly translates into ‘The Police Have Their Hands Tied,’ gives one a clearer sense of what this film is ultimately about.

Raro Video UK delivers another upgrade over their North American release, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer