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Released by: Arrow Video
Released on: December 7th, 2015.
Directed by: Carlo Lizzani
Cast: Robert Hoffmann, Lisa Gastoni, Gian Maria Volonté
Year: 1966
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The Movie:
Director Carlo Lizzani's Wake Up And Kill (also known as Wake Up And Die) follows Luciano Lutring (Robert Hoffman), a small time crook who, when almost nabbed by the fuzz, jumps out a window and runs to freedom…. for now. The cops don't miss the stolen assault rifle that he leaves behind and when the local newspaper finds out what happened, the run a story on the incident on the front page of their latest edition. When this happens, like it or not, Luciano's star begins to rise and soon he's got a pretty serious reputation even if he doesn't necessarily deserve it. Other crimes that happen in Milan are pegged on him and the media starts referring to him as 'The Elusive Shadow.'
Meanwhile, the cops, led by Inspector Moroni (Gian Maria Volonté), and the newspapers use this to their advantage and launch a collaborative campaign that leads the local criminal population to believe that the only thing they care about these days it bringing in Lutring. At the same time, this new found fame goes to Luciano's head and he starts believing his own hype, literally becoming the murderer that the papers have made him out to be. Yvonne (Lisa Gastoni), his wife, feels that the only way she can keep her husband from going completely off the deep end is to rat him out to the cops and so she offers to help them bring him in before he winds up dead. When Luciano leaves Italy for France, the Italian cops cooperate with their French cohorts and set a trap that not even he should be able to escape from…
Not as intense or as exploitative as the films that would follow in its wake, Wake Up And Kill nevertheless deserves credit for laying the ground work for the poliziotteschi pictures that a few years later would follow in its wake. Lizzani directs this crime picture with plenty of style, it's all quite nicely shot and makes very good use of some slick European locations, though occasionally the pacing does lag a bit. Interestingly enough, the film was based on the exploits of the real life Luciano Lutring, who was quite an accomplished criminal until he was nabbed in Paris in 1965. This would have made Wake Up And Kill a pretty topical film when it first hit theaters roughly a year after Lutring was sentenced to more than two decades behind bars for his efforts.
The movie benefits from an impressive score courtesy of the iconic Ennio Morricone and it features some pretty solid performances from all involved. Hoffman is very good in the lead role, particularly once his character becomes the man that the papers have made him out to be. There's an element of danger to his take on Luciano that is impressive and wholly fitting. Gian Maria Volonté is as reliable as ever, playing the top cop working Lutring's case. He's a bit gruff, but you want him to be and he's convincing as both an intelligent and serious man, the kind that has no problem doing what he needs to do in order to get the job done. Lisa Gastoni is also very good as Luciano's wife. When she feels she has no choice but to turn to the cops, her performance is pretty convincing.
Note that this release from Arrow Video includes both the original full-length Italian release as well as the shorter English language version of the movie (which uses a title card reading Wake Up And Die). The English version is twenty-six minutes shorter than the two hour Italian cut of the movie and it loses a fair bit of character development and dialogue. That said, it's also a faster moving more action oriented film. Opinions will vary as to which version is better, but that doesn't matter because Arrow has wisely included both versions so you can pick whichever one you like best!
Video/Audio/Extras:
Arrow presents Wake Up And Kill in AVC encoded 1080p high definition in a transfer framed at 1.85.1 and taken from a 'brand new 2K restoration of the film from the original camera negative.' Both versions looks very similar, though they get separate encodes on this 50GB disc and the English version looks just ever so slightly brighter than its longer Italian counterpart. Detail is very strong throughout and colors are nicely reproduced. There's a good bit of natural looking film grain present throughout but very little in the way of actual print damage to discuss, both transfers are clean, sharp and they boast nice colors, good skin tones and solid black levels.
LPCM Mono tracks are provided in Italian and English language options for their respective versions of the film. Optional English subtitles are provided for the Italian cut of the movie while English closed captioning is offered for the English cut of the film. Both tracks sound quite good with a reasonable amount of depth to them. There are no problems to note with any hiss or distortion and the levels are consistently well balanced.
Aside from the two versions of the movie, the disc includes the film's original theatrical trailer, menus and chapter selection.
The Final Word:
Arrow's Blu-ray release of Wake Up And Kill isn't stacked with extras but it does give us both cuts of the film in impressive presentations. As to the movie itself? This is a solid Italian crime thriller with some strong performances and enough in the way of stand-out set pieces to more than make up for the occasional lag in pacing. It's going to appeal to genre fans and Euro-cult enthusiasts more than your average viewer, but if you fall into either of those areas, consider this disc recommended based on the strength of the feature and the presentation.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
