Kidnap Syndicate may not be the all action thrill ride that describes many of the Polizi flicks, but this is still an excellent example of the genre, and one that delivers a little more than just car chases and shootouts. As the title suggests, the film focus on the profitable business of kidnapping, and director Fernando Di Leo does an excellent job of showing the horror of the effect that this can have on the victim's families, as well as delivering another excellent slice of Italian crime drama. The film stars Luc Merenda as a mechanic and poor father of a kidnapped boy. An Italian crime syndicate kidnap the child of a wealthy businessman; as well as the mechanic's son. They make their ransom demands, but the wealthy father refuses to pay and decides instead to negotiate with the kidnappers. This enrages them; so to prove they're serious, they decide to kill the mechanic's son. Distraught at his loss, the father then sets out on a mission of revenge, with the organisation behind the kidnappings firmly in his crosshairs...

Kidnap Syndicate is a film of two halves. The first half focuses on the kidnapping itself and the effect on the families involved, while the second half follows Merenda as he seeks out and takes revenge on the perpetrators. The structure of the film works well; the director allows us to get into the situation and characters in the first half of the film, before launching into a revenge thriller; and by then, every audience member is likely to want to see the kidnappers pay! You don't really expect to see much emotion in Polizi flicks, and indeed more could have been made of the situation that the lead finds himself in; but overall, I have to say that the film does a good job of making you feel for Merenda's character and his plight. The acting is good also, with Merenda providing an excellent performance that works well with both parts of the film. Seeing him tear around on his motorcycle is good fun to watch and the film provides all the car chases and shootouts that you would expect from this sort of film in the second half. Overall, Kidnap Syndicate is undoubtedly a highlight of the Polizi genre and comes highly recommended!

This is a really great Italian crime/revenge movie. Two kids are kidnapped: a rich man's child and a poor man's child. The rich man decides to try and haggle over the ransom, which causes the kidnappers to kill the poor man's child to make their point. From then on, I was rooting for the dad to go get those jerks!!! Great chases and action, totally entertaining.

Of all the multi-talented Italian cult directors of the 60's and 70's, Fernando Di Leo was the one who pleased us with the best and most adrenalin-rushing crime thrillers. His most famous "Italian organized crime" trilogy (existing of "Caliber 9", "Manhunt" and "The Boss") is downright brilliant, but Di Leo also made a number of flicks that are a lot less acclaimed but at least equally terrific and revolutionary. This "Kidnap Syndicate" is arguably his biggest hidden gem and I'm enormously grateful to the good people over at the Nocturno label for releasing the film in a splendid DVD-format. Cult collectors all around the world: if you come across ANY movie released by this label, never hesitate for one second to pick up a copy!!

"Kidnap Syndicate" is a lot less turbulent and 'in-your-face' explosive than the average Italian crime flick (usually revolving on rough unorthodox coppers chasing relentless criminals), but there's a strong focus on character drawing and story elaboration. Colella is a hard working but struggling mechanic who solely raises his son Fabrizio ever since the wife passed away. The boy is friends with Antonio, son of the extremely rich but incredibly repugnant businessman Filippini. When criminals kidnap Antonio in front of school, the brave Fabrizio tries to prevent this and the nervous kidnappers pull him into the car as well. They demand a huge ransom for the boys, but the pigheaded Filippini refuses to give in to criminals and put the lives of the boys at stake, whilst Colella and even the police commissioner can't do anything. The kidnappers eventually prove their seriousness, and the statement is obviously made via the "poor" child. Colella goes after them, but soon stumbles upon a very complex and well-protected network. The first half is, as to be expected, very talkative and with a vast emphasis on melodrama. There are some truly powerful sequences, most notably when practically the entire cast of characters literally begs Filippini (magnificent, though extremely ungrateful role of the brilliant James Mason) to stop playing with the lives of innocent children and just pay the damn ransom. The second half offers some bona fide Italian hard- boiled action, with wild car chases and grim, graphically shown executions. It's terrific how Colella purchases his targets, but also simultaneously humiliates and provokes them. His character is probably the vigilante/avenger that you sympathize with the most. The climax could have been a bit better and more imaginative, according to me at least, and I'm missing a more memorable soundtrack. Other than those minor remarks, "Kidnap Syndicate" is a truly exhilarating Italian cult film that I'm glad and proud to have seen.