The Emergency Squad dvd opens with a dedication to director Stelvio Massi (1929 - 2004) and includes a recent video clip of Massi addressing the camera and inviting viewers to enjoy his film. The film opens up with some zip and a good setup; a heist wherein the thieves don motorcycle helmets and use a stolen film camera as a ruse to confuse onlookers into thinking the ensuing action is part of a film shoot. From here until the third act, things settle down considerably to allow all the characters to be fleshed-out. Throughout the proceedings the camera is always a tad unstable, immediate, and quick to zoom in, and out, of the action. Adding dynamically to the story (and disorientation of the viewer) are some abrupt flashbacks to pivotal scenes that inform the characters.
Main good-guy Ravelli is more icon than character and easily distilled by his shaggy Serpico-like hair, a moustache, a scowl and his Eastwood-inspired cigar-chomping. Meanwhile, main bad-guy Marseilles (Gastone Moschin, of The Godfather, Pt. II), is far more interesting and particularly good, or "bad," as the case may be. His ruthless and nihilistic nature allow him to face death with the same shrug of a shoulder as was displayed by Robert Duvall's character of Lieutenant Colonel Bil Kilgore in Apocalypse Now (1979), albeit Marseilles is invested in the death of his own comrades as it means a bigger cut for him of the stolen money whereas Kilgore was simply tripping down his own napalm alley with casual aplomb.
Aside for some squibs here, a "f-ck-a-doodle-do" there, and some strippers, things don't really get cooking again in Emergency Squad until the third act, at which point it can be remembered that, oh yeah, right, the term "exploitation" is used to promote the film. This comes to the fore when a family is held at gunpoint and their daughter is assaulted and threatened in that shocking way that should jar the sensibilities of any normal spectator that may have found their attention wandering up until now. Although slight by modern standards, the transgressions of the third act are definitely reminiscent of that same spirit of exploitation cinema that has influenced directors like Quentin Tarantino and Rob Zombie ? two filmmakers who know how to cannibalize the past and make their own mark in the modern world. In this case it means ratcheting up the third act, sticking it to the front so that it becomes your first act, and then running wild from there. See From Dusk Till Dawn (2001) or The Devil's Rejects (2005) for templates on how this formula might play out...
NoShame Films dvd of Emergency Squad is digitally remastered from the original vault negative in its original a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, and includes a nine-minute "last interview with late director Stelvio Massi (Stelvio Massi ? The Last Round), a 13-minute interview with star Tomas Milian (Tomas' Squad), "Original Italian Theatrical Trailer," "Poster and Still Gallery," and "Stelvio Massi's Still Gallery." Also included are extensive liner notes and a Stelvio Massi bio by Chris D., a Tomas Milan bio, and a Roy Lovelock bio by Richard Harland Smith.
For more information about Emergency Squad, visit NoShame Films. To order Emergency Squad, go to TCM Shopping.
by Pablo Kjolseth
