Ricco the Mean Machine: Limited Edition – Cauldron Films (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Spain/Italy, 1973
Director: Tulio Demicheli
Writers: José Gutiérrez Maesso, Santiago Moncada, Mario di Nardo
Cast: Christopher Mitchum, Barbara Bouchet, Malisa Longo, Eduardo Fajardo, Manuel Zarzo, José María Caffarel, Ángel Álvarez, Arthur Kennedy, Paola Senatore, Luis Induni, Antonio Mayans

Release Date: August 12th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 93 Minutes 31 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Italian, DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English, English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $39.99

"Ricco Aversi (Chris Mitchum — Summertime Killer) emerges from a short prison sentence to find that Don Avito (Arthur Kennedy — The Tough Ones), the ruthless smuggler who murdered his father, has also stolen his girlfriend. With the help of the ravishing petty thief, Scilla (Barbara Bouchet — Don’t Torture a Duckling), he makes his way through the dastardly cast of characters who betrayed him in a legendary fury of blood-drenched vengeance!" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, “Ricco the Mean Machine was scanned in 4K from the original camera negative, graded, and restored by Augustuscolor.”

Ricco the Mean Machine comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 43.3 GB

Feature: 26.8 GB

This new transfer will be a revelation for those who have only seen this film via Dark Sky Films' abysmal DVD release. The source looks excellent; flesh tones and colors look correct, image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic.

Audio: 4/5 (DTS-HD Mono Italian), 4.25/5 (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, and more balanced. That said, the English-language track sounds more robust than the Italian-language track. Included are removable English subtitles for the Italian-language track, removable English SDH for the English-language track, and removable English subtitles for Italian text when watching with the English-language track.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an image gallery with music from the film playing in the background (posters/stills/home video art/advertisements), a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 22 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an archival interview with actor Christopher Mitchum titled Mitchum the Mean Machine (18 minutes 15 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actor Antonio Mayans titled A Hombre and a Cult (18 minutes 26 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with actress Malisa Longo titled Malisa of the Mob (17 minutes 4 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), a video essay by Italian genre film historian Eugenio Ercolani titled Cauldron of Ricos (9 minutes 40 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), reversible cover art, a slipcover (limited to 2000 copies), and a 28-page booklet (limited to 2000 copies) with cast & crew information, an essay titled Ricco’s Mean and Heavy Gangland Cauldron written by Mike Malloy, archival images, and information about the transfer.

There is an Easter egg, an alternate censored version of Ricco the Mean Machine with clothed nude scenes (94 minutes 9 seconds, 1.78:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles). This extra can be found via the audio setup menu when choosing Italian with English subtitles and clicking left.

Summary:

Tulio Demicheli directed Ricco the Mean Machine. He’s known for Espionage in Lisbon, Assignment Terror, Sabata the Killer, and The Two Faces of Fear. When Film Ventures International released Ricco the Mean Machine in the U.S., they retitled it The Cauldron of Death and promoted it as a horror film.

Ricco the Mean Machine is a violent crime film that opens with a shootout that ends with a headshot. The narrative centers on a reluctant avenger named Ricco, who desires a normal life but is constantly pushed by those around him to seek revenge for his father's murder. That said, Ricco the Mean Machine has many elements that have become synonymous with Italian crime cinema. There’s also some spaghetti western influence, most notably when it comes to the Ricco character and his journey.

Ricco the Mean Machine, like most Italian genre films of the 1970s, has a cast of recognizable faces from U.S. and European cinema. Christopher Mitchum (Murder in a Blue World) is cast in the role of Ricco, and though he is not the most engaging actor, his performance works well within the confines of the story unfolding. Other notable cast members are Arthur Kennedy (The Tough Ones), who portrays Don Vito, the man who killed Ricco’s father; Malisa Longo (The Way of the Dragon) in the role of Rosa, Ricco’s ex-girlfriend who is now with Don Vito; Barbara Bouchet (Cry of a Prostitute) in the role of Rosa’s cousin Scilla; and Antonio Mayans, a frequent collaborator of Jess Franco, who has a minor role as a bartender.

Although a violent precredits sequence foreshadows bloodshed and brutality that's prevalent later on, there is a slight shift in tone before things get there. Most of the opening setup are melodrama moments, like a flashback that fleshes out Ricco’s backstory and a series of lighthearted moments with Barbara Bouchet’s character, who uses her more than ample assets to distract men as she passes off counterfeit bills in exchange for real money from them. That said, these are not the only moments that show off Barbara Bouchet’s sex appeal, and when it comes to other female characters, there is an ample amount of nudity.

Ricco the Mean Machine is a film where no character has a moral center, and when they do the things that they do, it is never surprising. The narrative effectively establishes each character's identity, creating a tension that escalates to a fever pitch by the time the finale arrives. The visuals are never flashy; their power lies in just showing, without a filter, that brutality being inflicted, notably a scene where one of Don Vito’s bodyguards who betrayed him gets his dick and balls cut off, shoved in his mouth, and then thrown into a vat of acid. Another memorable moment is a scene where Scilla performs a striptease in the fog, where she straddles a car with two of Don Vito’s men inside. Composer Nando De Luca (The Killer Must Kill Again) delivers a solid score that does a superb job reinforcing the mood. Ultimately, Ricco the Mean Machine is a perfect mix of action, violence, and exploitation.

Ricco the Mean Machine gets an exceptional release from Cauldron Films that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and informative extras; highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer