The Children of Violent Rome – Terror Vision (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1976
Director: Renato Savino
Writer: Renato Savino
Cast: Gino Milli, Cristina Businari, Emilio Locurcio, Sarah Crespi, Paola Corazzi, Gino Barzacchi, Marco Zuanelli, Alicia Bruzzo, Renzo Rinaldi, Francesco Pau, Mario Cutini, Stefania D'Amario

Release Date: July 8th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 89 Minutes 18 seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVCC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Italian
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $27.99

"In the gritty underbelly of 1970s Rome, Children of Violent Rome exposes the harsh reality of Neo-Nazi youth living in the shadow of societal decay. This Italian crime drama follows a group of disillusioned teenagers from the outskirts of the city, whose lives are shaped by violence, crime, and their environment. As they navigate their turbulent existence, they find themselves entangled in a deadly cycle of lawlessness and rebellion." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "Terror Vision is proud to present the worldwide disc debut and the first US release! This new 4K scan from the original camera negative (which was lost for years) brings the film’s striking cinematography to life."

The Children of Violent Rome comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 43.4 GB

Feature: 24.6 GB

The source looks excellent; flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image looks organic.

Audio: 5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian with removable English subtitles. The audio is in excellent shape; dialogue always comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced and robust when it should.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an interview with actor Gino Milli titled Baby Face Gino (32 minutes 24 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with actor Marco Zuanelli titled The Lawless Breed (27 minutes 25 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with editor Roberto Colangeli titled Cutting a Violent Rome (24 minutes, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an audio commentary with film historians Eugenio Ercolani and Nanni Cobretti, an audio commentary with film historian Rachel Nisbet, a slipcover (limited to 1,000 copies), and a 36-page booklet with an essay titled Crazy Parioli(nis) the Circeo Massacre and Italian Crime Films written by Pier Maria Bocchi, an essay titled Exploitation Cinema During Socio-political Tumult: Violence Against Women in 1970s Italian Crime Film written by Sam Dunkley, an essay titled What Would You Do? - On Children of Violent Rome written by Sam Cohen, and an essay titled Beyond Vicious: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Children of Violent Rome written by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas.

Summary:

Renato Savino wrote and directed The Children of Violent Rome. He would only direct four films, of which The Children of Violent Rome is his most notable.

A neo-Nazi youth gang of bored teenagers from affluent families terrorizes the streets of Rome.

Italian crime cinema was at its peak during the 1970s; besides brutality, these films are known for their social-political themes, many of which are ripped from the headlines. Despite having many of the elements associated with 1970s Italian crime cinema, The Children of Violent Rome is lacking one: the police. That said, the narrative does revolve around a familiar culprit: violent youths.

Although The Children of Violent Rome never claims to be based on a true story, it opens with a series of newspaper headlines and a reporter on the street asking about violent youth crime. This opening setup does a superb job setting the tone for what follows, and from there things never let up for a moment as they build to a bleak finale that serves as a perfect coda.

There are two extremes at play in The Children of Violent Rome: fascism and communism. These are represented by violent youth gangs whose philosophies clash. Where one commits crime to obtain basic needs, the other has a superiority complex rooted in nihilism. That said, The Children of Violent Rome lets these ideologies speak for themselves and never takes a side.

What sets Italian "Youth Gone Wild" crime films apart from their 1970s counterparts is how the cast had little or no experience, which adds to their authenticity. Though none of the performances are lacking, they are all overshadowed by Gino Milli's (Shoot First, Die Later) portrayal of Marco, the leader of a neo-Nazi youth gang. There is an intensity to his performance that makes his actions all the more potent.

From its opening moments, The Children of Violent Rome is a film meant to make you feel uncomfortable, and in this regard, it's exemplary. For a film where each moment of violence and degradation tops the next, none stands out more than a gut-punch moment where Marco’s nihilism reaches its apex. Ultimately, The Children of Violent Rome is an unflinching exploration of violence without purpose.

Terror Vision gives The Children of Violent Rome a definitive release; highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer