Initially I was loathe to purchase this classic poliziottesco film on DVD for a third time but I am a sucker for limited edition packaging. It is pleasing to hear that this limited edition lenticular cover release by Shameless has already had its 1000 copy run ship to retailers meaning that if you want this limited edition cover you had better get an order in sooner rather than later. Being the first real release of a classic poliziottesco on DVD in the UK and that it appears to have sold rather well we might get to seem some of the other quality films in this cycle given a release.

Due to my work commitments I rarely get the time to build fan DVDs anymore.  This is my most recent effort.  Manhunt in the City is one of Lenzi's little known poliziesco films.  Like Enzo G Castellari's excellent earlier film Street Law (1974), this film was influenced by the popularity of revenge films such as Death Wish (Michael Winner, 1974).  Henry Silva stars as David Vannuchi whose daughter is killed during a jewel robbery.  Vannuchi then has to decide whether to trust the police to bring her murderers to justice or to take the law into his own hands.  I am sure you can guess the decision he makes.  I have always enjoyed the film and find the ending to be particularly thoughtful, better than many poliziesco in fact.

An Italian DVD release surfaced last year.  As per usual, there were no English options and the video was not 16x9 enhanced.  I converted the widescreen video for 16x9 playback, added an English audio track taken from a VHS release of the film and synchronised English subtitles created by DjangoLi to the film.

A documentary on the lesser known Italian poliziesco film movement is currently in production.  The producers of the (hopefully) forthcoming documentary Eurocrime have run in to funding problems.  Even though they have received interest in the documentary from some outlets they have been struggling to find money to complete production.  The main issue they are having is finding money to license clips from films so that they can be used in the documentary.  Those who have expressed interest in financing product have no been willing to give money up front, instead wanting to see the finished documentary first before committing.

So, with some suggestions from Jonny, the head honcho over at Lovelockandload, Mike Malloy, one of the producers of the documentary, is asking Euro-Cult fans to contribute funds to help finish the project.  A page has been setup on the project funding website Kickstarter which offers different levels ranging from $5 to $5000.  For each level of donation there is a reward.  For example, $5000 earns an executive producer credit, whilst a $5 donation will give the funder access to project updates.  The aim is to reach $10,000 dollars by January 26 2010.  The pledges will not leave the funder's account if the target is not reached by this date.  Any Euro-Cult fans reading this are encouraged to contribute whatever they can to this worthwhile project. 

Using a platform such as Kickstarter, which is currently being used to fund many multimedia projects, and relying on contributions from fans demonstrates the changing nature of fandom and independent production.  This will be something I will be giving attention to in future research.  It will be interesting to see whether the full amount of funding can achieved through Kickstarter.  Fingers crossed.

The excellent advance trailer which features excerpts from some of completed interviews can be found below.  This promises to be something special.