TNT Jackson (1974)

Director:  Cirio H. Santiago

Writers:  Dick Miller, Ken Metcalfe

Composer:  Tito Sotto

Starring:  Jeannie Bell, Stan Shaw, Pat Anderson, Ken Metcalfe, Max Alvarado, Chiquito, Percy Gordon, Imelda Ilanan, Chris Cruz, Leo Martinez, Joonee Gamboa

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  Spine Shattering. Bone Blasting. She's a One Mama Massacre Squad!

Plot:  A young karate expert searches for her brother's killer in Hong Kong.

My rating:   6.5/10

Will I watch it again?   Maybe.

This Blaxploitation flick, co-written by Dick Miller (!), has some clumsy but fun fights, bad acting, nudity and a short enough run time (72 minutes) that it's a no-brainer when looking for a cheesy double feature to watch with your friends.  This movie isn't made by slouches.  The crew behind the camera are professionals and, at the very least, the director and cinematographer had dozens of credits under their belt before taking this assignment.  Even with this being a mid-level B movie, there are moments where it looks better than it should.  The standout scene for me is when Diana (Bell) is watching an exotic dancer at the club and the camera slowly moves closer to her, cutting in between what her eyes are fixed upon.  It was so nice of a shot that it took me out of the picture for a moment, which was not a bad thing.

The color of the room plus the slow pull-in was a really nice touch.  

 

Stan Shaw (as Charlie), who I recognized from HARLEM NIGHTS (1989), was the only actor I knew until I saw this guy 

who played one of the main villains from the Filipino classic, FOR Y'UR HEIGHT ONLY (1980).  It's no surprise that you're not going to get anyone earning an MVP for acting in this picture.  It's largely below average but that's not necessarily a bad thing.  Most of the lead actors' acting is just bad enough that you can enjoy it.  It also helps that the pacing in this movie is pretty fast.  There's barely a dull moment.

The fighting is clumsy and you can tell the actors are fighting with little-to-no knowledge of martial arts or they're being too careful and slow to look like they do.  The camera only sometimes finds proper angles to hide that fact and it does most cleverly in the final showdown between Diana and Charlie.  There's a batshit funny scene where the bad guys show up to put the beat down on Ms. TNT.   She says something like

"You can't see black!"

and then she turns out the light, throws her robe off

and proceeds to kick everybody's ass in the room nearly naked!  

Except the bad guys get the idea to turn the light on...

until she turns it off again (rinse and repeat).

One thing I really liked is the technique of the slight speeding up of  certain bits of the fights as well as removing a frame here and there to give the hits more impact.  Most people probably think those things are dumb and clumsy but I love 'em when they're used well.  I'm pretty sure that Jeannie Bell had a stunt double for most of her more difficult work.  She goes from amateur kung fu to some kick ass flips and flying kicks and the difference in skill is stark.  But that's just one more thing that adds to the fun.  It's an odd combination of competence and amateurishness that works well together to form a fun movie for a Saturday night with friends and liquor.