When it comes to car chase scenes, the one that is always highlighted, and for good reason, is from Peter Yates’ 1968 action thriller Bullitt starring Steve McQueen. . . but some eight years later, the city of San Francisco was replaced by Montreal, Quebec in this little known Italian production with quite the epic speedy sequence of its own, Shadows in an Empty Room (1976), directed by Alberto De Martino.
Fusing this touch of Bullitt with a Dirty Harry style storyline – hence why it is called Blazing Magnum in some markets (including the UK), while also including a hint of the ever popular at the time 70s giallo for some murder mystery elements, the narrative follows gritty, hard as nails Ottawa cop Capt. Tony Saitta (Stuart Whitman) as he dispatches some bank robbers in his own city. . . before getting the tragic call that his much younger sister, Louise (Carole Laure – Sweet Movie), who lives in Montreal, has died under very suspicious circumstances.
Uprooting his life from the Canadian capital to the historic metropolis for only one reason – to get to the bottom of this, he learns that his sister seems to have been drugged while at a college party. . . and one of the prime suspects is the well respected Dr. George Tracer (Martin Landau – Ed Wood) – who not only had a fight with her earlier in the day and may have been having an affair with her, but was also the one who administered the medicine to her right before she died.
At her funeral, the persistent Captain meets numerous suspicious twenty-somethings, including Louise’s ex, Fred (Jean Leclerc), the Doctor’s rather sleazy son Robert (Anthony Forrest), friend and witness to her death Margie Cohn (Gayle Hunnicutt), and her blind roommate Julie Foster (Tisa Farrow – sister of Mia) – perhaps rather odd, as she is a music teacher at the school and the professor of Louise.
After several other murders relating to Louise occur and some photographs of her are discovered showing her wearing a rare and expensive necklace that has disappeared, the mystery only deepens. It doesn’t help that fellow student Terrence (Jean Marchand) is constantly seen hobbling around campus near where all the deadly action is happening.
Working with Sgt. Ned Matthews (John Saxon – Black Christmas) while in Montreal, they scour the city, attempting to track down each and every lead, from suspicious acquaintances to locals who fence stolen jewelry. Will the no nonsense team be able to get to the bottom of things? Might that expensive necklace simply be a MacGuffin aimed at leading the detectives in the wrong direction? Could the doctor simply be too obvious a suspect?
Delving into themes of anti-establishmentarianism, grief, obsessive vengeance, and violent revenge, it also takes a dark look into never truly knowing the people you are close to and love. Capt. Tony Saitta is always living on the utter edge. . . case in point, the aforementioned car chase. Utilizing muscle cars, for almost ten minutes the Captain chases down a possible suspect through the city (a much shorter version of a similar moment seen in Ottawa). Featuring impressive jumps, wild crashes, dodging pedestrians, squealing drifts, and even a train, it will certainly catch some people off-guard when learning that they’ve never even heard of or seen this wild sequence before.
Capturing the rough and tough action of the 1970s, Shadows in an Empty Room is certainly not as polished story-wise when compared to the movies it was inspired by, but, like many of the Italian crime productions (or more accurately poliziotteschi) from this era, the fast paced action certainly packs a vigorous punch. . . plus the added authenticity of having an all English cast provides a more realistic accuracy to the piece. The touches of gialli will also please many. It is also worth noting that it beautifully captures both of the iconic Canadian cities, where you’ll see the Canadian parliament buildings, the Rideau Canal, the iconic Habitat 67 apartment building in Montreal, McGill campus, Old Montreal, and so much more. So, don’t try to fly away from this hidden gem, instead it’s most certainly worth chasing it down.