Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Death Squad Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 13, 2024

Max Pecas' "Death Squad" a.k.a. "Brigade of Death" (1985) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Mondo Macabro. The supplemental features on the release include new program with star Thierry de Carbonnieres; new program with director of photography Jean-Claude Couty; new program with actress Olivia Dutron; and restored trailer. In French or English, with optional English subtitles. Region-A "locked".

In the shadow

In America, Max Pecas’ films have always been very difficult to track down and see. Even during the DVD era, when independent distributors brought a lot of very diverse but poor-looking content to the home video market, Pecas’ films remained elusive. The few that snuck in, like Daniella by Night and Sweet Violence, always had a recognizable name, which is understandable but unfortunate because some of the most interesting of these films were done with ‘small’ actors. The other and undoubtedly much more consequential reason Pecas’ films had a very difficult time reaching America had a lot to do with the fact that the people who could distribute them struggled to profile them. Why? Because virtually every single Pecas film refuses to stay in the playground that one would consider to be the right one for a particular genre. For example, a period melodrama would enthusiastically evolve into an erotic film, while a conventional comedy would suddenly reset itself into a psychedelic trip. As a result, the majority of Pecas’ films remained niche and elusive.

Death Squad is the most violent film Pecas directed. It is something of an anomaly because, without its graphic visuals, it is essentially a straightforward mainstream project of the kind that Jean-Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon would have been eager to appear in during the 1980s. In fact, just two years before Pecas directed Death Squad, Belmondo and Jacques Deray made The Outsider which is not as graphic but offers the exact same cinematic thrills. Of course, this resemblance is hardly surprising because in the 1980s, while sharing many common themes and characters, French crime films had the same mass resurgence American crime films had in the 1990s. (In America, this was the great neo-noir Renaissance that produced such cult films as Blue Velvet, The Hot Spot, Red Rock West, and Blood Simple). In other words, while an anomaly in Pecas’ oeuvre, Death Squad is a product of its time that exists for a very good reason.

During a complex police operation involving several informers making ends meet as prostitutes, Parisian vice cop Gerard Lattuada (Thierry de Carbonnieres) loses a trusted partner and shortly after goes on the warpath to avenge her death. While gathering information, Lattuada discovers that a group of rogue criminals led by a homosexual maniac named Costa (Jean-Marc Maurel) is sabotaging the prominent drug tsar and souteneur The Greek (Jean-Pierre Bernard), who has a business relationship with them but has become distracted by troubles at his biggest sex club. When Lattuada identifies the rogue criminals, they target his girlfriend, Sylvie (Gabrielle Forest), a clueless doctor, and force him to begin improvising, completely unaware that The Greek and his executioners have also connected the dots and are looking to take his targets.

The graphic visuals are of the kind one would expect to see in an over-the-top poliziotteschi conceived by an Italian director like Umberto Lenzi or Fernando di Leo. As a result, Death Squad is easier to profile as a French exploitation film -- which it most definitely is not. Indeed, it is another Pecas film that refuses to stay in the playground where one would discover conventional crime films to go, and this is essentially what makes it interesting.

In America, the closest relative of Death Squad is Abel Ferrara’s Ms .45, which also comes from the early 1980s and can easily be confused for an exploitation film. However, while both have some genuinely disturbing visuals, Death Squad feels slightly more unhinged.

Before the opening credits appear, there is a short disclaimer clarifying that Death Squad is a work of fiction and that any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. This is only partially true. Lattuada’s cleanup is fictional, but the many prostitutes that appear in Death Squad are real.

Pecas’ director of photography was Jean-Claude Couty, who lensed Jean Rollin’s atmospheric mind-bender The Night of the Hunted. The star of The Night of the Hunted, future adult performer Brigitte Lahaie, has a tiny part in Death Squad as well.

Death Squad Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Death Squad arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Mondo Macabro.

The release introduces a very good new 4K restoration of the film. Aside from a few areas that look a tad too warm, mostly because they emphasize light brown, the rest looks either very good or excellent. Indeed, delineation, clarity, and depth are always very pleasing, while image stability is outstanding. Grain exposure is very good, too. A few optimizations could have been introduced to strengthen indoor footage, but even on a very large screen the visuals are wonderful. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. Also, I did not encounter any age-related imperfections to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Death Squad Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The French track is the original track for Death Squad. I thought that it was excellent. Clarity, sharpness, and balance were great. During the action footage, dynamic intensity is as good as I expected it to be as well. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report. The English dub track is a pretty awful. It has a lot of useless mumbling and terrible dynamic amplitude.

Death Squad Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Shock Cop - in this recent program, Thierry de Carbonnieres, who plays the main character in Death Squad, vice cop Gerard Lattuada, recalls how he landed his part and what it was like to work with Max Pecas. Carbonnieres also explains how his carer evolved in the years that followed. In French, with English subtitles. (34 min).

• Beautiful, Blonde and Tanned - in this recent program, actress Olivia Dutron recalls her first encounter with Max Pecas and discusses their professional relationship, including their collaboration on Death Squad. In French, with English subtitles. (23 min).

• Photographer of Morals - in this recent program, director of photography Jean-Claude Couty discusses the early stages of his career in the film industry and work with Max Pecas on Death Squad in Paris. Also, there are some quite interesting comments about Pecas' famous Saint-Tropez comedies. In French, with English subtitles. (25 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a newly restored trailer for Death Squad. In French, with English subtitles. (3 min).

Death Squad Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mondo Macabro is the perfect home for Max Pecas' films in America, so hopefully we will see many of his comedies and erotic films released on Blu-ray as well. Death Squad is Pecas' most violent film. It fits somewhere between Jacques Deray's The Outsider and Abel Ferrara's Ms .45, but it feels like the creation of an Italian master that specialized in exploitative poliziotteschi, like Umberto Lenzi or Fernando Di Leo. It has been properly restored in 4K and looks great on Blu-ray. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.