Bloody Friday (1972) Blu-Ray

One of the Twentieth Century’s premiere examples of Krautsploitation, the German-Italian co-production BLOODY FRIDAY (BLUTIGER FREITAG; 1972) is an exuberantly trashy, sordid and exploitive film that revels in violence and sleaze.  The writer-director was Rolf Olsen, best known on these shores for the notorious Mondo classic SHOCKING ASIA and its sequel.

A “True” story?  The opening credits take plains to make that claim, and BLOODY FRIDAY was indeed based on an actual 1971 hostage incident that occurred at a German bank.  I’m guessing, however, that the film’s sordid details were heavily fictionalized.

It begins with the dangerously charismatic Heinz (Raimund Harmstorf) staging a daring escape from prison, during which two guards are brutally beaten.  From there Heinz and Luigi (Gianni Macchia), an Italian colleague, hide out in a shack where they plot an elaborate bank heist.  Their plan involves stealing guns from an American army detachment stationed in Germany, followed by an intricately detailed escape to Australia.

Luigi’s working stiff girlfriend Heidi (Christine Bohm) doesn’t agree with the plan but meekly goes along with it.  It helps that her brother Christian (Amadeus August), who has just deserted the military, is inducted into the crew by Heinz.

The heist, as you might guess, does not go off as planned.  The first portion, involving the robbery of the guns, comes to involve a dangerous car chase and an innocent bystander beaten nearly to death.  The heist itself is even more calamitous, quickly turning into a DOG DAY AFTERNOON-esque showdown after several hostages are taken during the robbery, a cop is killed and a large crowd forms outside the bank.  More madness follows, including a dog killing, a (not-entirely-unwilling) rape and multiple killings.

This is an enhanced Blu-Ray BD-R disc which comes with a colour cover.