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.

 

Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973)

Director:  Gordon Douglas

Writer:  Charles Eric Johnson

Composers:  James Brown, Fred Wesley

Starring:  Jim Brown, Ed McMahon, Don Stroud, Brock Peters, Gloria Hendry, Dick Anthony Williams, Art Metrano, Judith Brown, Scatman Crothers,

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  The mob put the finger on Slaughter...so he gave them the finger right back--curled tight around a trigger!

Plot:  When a gunman in a plane tries to pull a "fly-by" on Slaughter, he knows his battle with the mob -- and corrupt cops -- is far from over. Helped by an honest detective and a good-hearted pimp, Slaughter goes on a mission to expose a list that names every politician and policeman on the mob dole. But it won't be easy. The list is in the home safe of the big man himself (McMahon) and he'll do anything -- including kidnapping Slaughter's babe -- to keep it!

My rating:  6/10

Will I watch it again?  Nah.

I think seeing this one two times is enough.  It's an almost worthy sequel to SLAUGHTER (1972).  It's not as good but it's still better than the average Blaxploitation flick of the day.  Jim Brown's still kicking ass.  He seems more alive in this one than some of his others where it looks like he just woke up.  Having Ed McMahon as the big bad, Duncan, was great except it would've been truly amazing if he had some action.  Just having Slaughter and Duncan in a knockdown fistfight (using some good stunt doubling, camerawork and editing) would've killed.  Don Stroud is a good, dependable choice for the heavy.  It's not a bad picture.  There's enough action sprinkled here and there to hold your attention and keep you entertained.  Anyone who crosses Slaughter's path and doesn't play nice gets their asses handed to them in short order.

The Final Comedown (1972)

AKA:  Blast

Director:  Oscar Williams

Writers:  Jimmy Garrett, Oscar Williams

Composer:  Wade Marcus

Starring:  Billy Dee Williams, D'Urville Martin, Celia Milius, Ed Cambridge, Billy Durkin, Marris D. Erby, Pamela Jones, Cal Wilson, John Johnson, Raymond St. Jacques, R.G. Armstrong

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  The man got down...the brothers were ready... You must see it! It's a mother!

Plot:  In the midst of his violent rebellion against racism, a black militant is betrayed by a group of two-faced white radicals who fail to back him up when the chips are down.

My rating:  7/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

I don't know what the hell is going on with that movie poster with the alternate title, BLAST, but that looks like a different movie.  This is more social drama than some action, Blaxploitation flick.  It's a brutal slap in the face.  It's a low budget flick (with Williams & Martin as two of the producers through Williams' production company) so the acting can be below average at times but Williams shines.  He brings some heavy shit.  The picture plays with flashbacks a lot and it works very well.  Wade Marcus' score serves the film well.  Based on Jimmy Garret's play, screenwriter and director Oscar Williams does a fantastic job of bringing to the screen the problem of racism and socio-economics and the people who are affected most.  It's a powerful statement and everyone does a fine job at telling the story.  It's so well told that it was easy to overlook some of the bad acting and such.  And after all of that we get an explosive, action packed downer of an ending.

Hell Up in Harlem (1973)

Director: Larry Cohen

Writer: Larry Cohen

Composers: Fonce Mizell, Freddie Perren

Starring: Fred Williamson, Julius Harris, Gloria Hendry, Margaret Avery, D'Urville Martin, Tony King, Gerald Gordon, Bobby Ramsen, James Dixon, Esther Sutherland, Charles MacGuire, Mindi Miller, Al Kirk, Janelle Webb

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Black Godfather is back...and there's gonna be Hell up in Harlem.

Plot: A gangster in Harlem must rescue his ex-wife, who has been kidnapped by the Mafia.

My rating:  6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

BLACK CAESAR (1973) was an instant hit and the producer went to it's writer/director Larry Cohen to make the sequel ASAP.  This sequel hit theaters that same year, ten months later.  It was a rush job beyond belief and it shows.  There are a lot of inserts where it's obvious the actors aren't in the room with the others.  There's one really bad one that has Williamson, Harris and Hendry sharing a scene but each actor was filmed at a different time.  It's awful.  But we don't watch these movies for the quality of the acting, dialogue, beautiful locations and Oscar-bait monologues.  These were cheap action pictures made to make money, warts and all.  So in that sense I kind of dug it.  D'Urville Martin isn't given much to do and his time is short and not funny at all, in one of his few dramatic turns.  Williamson is alright but he's not here to pour on that charm that he often showed.  I really liked how the story brought in Tommy's (Williamson) dad, Papa (Harris).  Julian Harris is always a treat to watch and Cohen had a stroke of genius adding Papa to the story and having him go from nothing to running the operation (like son, like father but without the violent and drawn out trek from rags to riches).  Overall it's not a bad watch and it's a little less entertaining than CAESAR but it's still mandatory viewing for fans of the genre. 

Soul Patrol (1976)

Original title: Death of a Snowman

Director: Christopher Rowley

Writer: Bima Stagg

Composers: Trevor Rabin, Fransua Roos, Robert Schroeder, Patric van Blerk

Starring: Nigel Davenport, Ken Gampu, Peter Dyneley, Bima Stagg, Madala Mphahlele, Morrison Gampu, Joe Lopes, Hal Orlandini, Steve Cohen, Stuart Brown

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Rougher & Tougher Than Anything You Have Seen Before

Plot: A white cop and a black reporter join forces to investigate apparent vigilante killings in the South African underworld.

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

I really wish the print I saw were better.  It was rough, dirty and dark (there's a joke there somewhere I think), the sound was rough which all made it difficult to watch.  I'm a huge fan of Davenport so there's that.  I also watched this because it's the only South African Blaxploitation picture I know of.  I hope there's more and that they're better than this.  It's OK.  The story is interesting enough and there's more to it than your typical Blaxploitation picture.  The performances are fine and what I could see of the action looked alright.  I'm almost certain I would've liked it more had I seen a good looking widescreen print (hell, I would've settled for a good looking fullscreen one).  The above trailer is in much better shape than what I saw.  Geez.  It's at least got a nice, bleak ending. 

The Black Bunch (1973)

Director: Henning Schellerup

Writer: Chester Carlfi

Composer: Jack Millman

Starring: Gladys Bunker, Betty Barton, Yvonne, Anita Cunningham, William Victory, Leo Canavan, Norman Fields, John F. Goff, Kurt Horst, Carmen Wiley, Kenneth Crisp, William Guhl, Rina Russell, Marland Proctor, Michael Pataki

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Fighting with the only weapon they had! Their bodies!

Plot: In Africa, four native women join and are hired to find a wealthy man's son who has disappeared, and use the opportunity to get revenge on a gang of mercenaries who have massacred the inhabitants of the womens' village.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

So how much fun can you have with a movie where four of the five women are topless from start to finish?  It turns out more than you think.  An African village is all but wiped out by bad guys and the surviving women vow revenge but they need weapons.  They go into town and whore themselves out.  Later, back in the jungle, they come across a small group of men who are searching for a rich man's son whose plane crashed somewhere.  The join forces and everybody's fucking.  Most of the movie from here to the end is the four women fucking the guys one by one and back again.  Really.  That's mostly the movie.  It is great seeing the chicks topless the whole time.  That doesn't get old.  You know what else doesn't get old?  Jack Millman's main theme.  It's outstanding.  Seriously.  I loved it.  As it is and then re-orchestrated for a rousing approach, it could easily find a home with the best Spaghetti Westerns ever made.  I loved it.  There's not much to this movie as far as a story goes but it is entertaining for people who dig trashy, low budget movies.  It's not until the last few minutes that shit starts to happen action-wise and it ends with a tease for a sequel which was highly unusual back then.  It's a different kind of exploitation action flick and it's worth checking out.

The Slams (1973)

Director: Jonathan Kaplan

Writer: Richard DeLong Adams

Composer: Luther Henderson

Starring: Jim Brown, Judy Pace, Roland Bob Harris, Paul Harris, Frank DeKova, Ted Cassidy, Frenchia Guizon, John Dennis, Jac Emel, Quinn K. Redeker, Dick Miller

More info: IMDb

Tagline: JIM BROWN goes over the wall to flash with a million $ stash.

Plot:  Everybody is after the $1.5 M Hook (Brown) stole from the mob and now he's inside.  All he has to do is wait out his 1-5 years but can he survive it?

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

Here's a fun movie that would've been great seeing at a drive-in forty five years ago.  It looks good, the acting is good (you know, for what it is) and there's enough action to keep the kids satisfied.  There's even a little nudity for us adults.  Oh, goody!  It's great seeing Ted Cassidy in a bigger role than usual.  He's a blast as the big bad in prison.  The ending is great and they purposefully keep you out of the loop so it comes as a big surprise as it unfolds.  I've only seen one other of director Kaplan's films from the 70s but it's one of the great ones, TRUCK TURNER (1974), being my favorite Blaxploitation picture ever.  

Coonskin (1975)

Director: Ralph Bakshi

Writer: Ralph Bakshi

Composer: Chico Hamilton

Starring: Barry White, Charles Gordone, Scatman Crothers, Philip Michael Thomas, Danny Rees, Buddy Douglas, Jim Moore, Ralph Bakshi, Ben Gage, Al Lewis, Richard Paul

More info: IMDb

Tagline: BARRY WHITE and his men are bustin' out to win! They'll stop the man from calling them "Coonskin"

Plot: Rabbit, a country-born trickster, takes over the organized crime racket in Harlem, facing opposition from the institutionalized racism of the Mafia and corrupt police.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Bakshi pitched this as a sequel of sorts to Disney's SONG OF THE SOUTH (1946) in an effort to get financial backing.  It worked.  The similarities are easily found.  He mixes live action and animation in some neat (and some awful) ways.  I dig Scatman Crothers in this picture.  I get some of the social commentary Bakshi put in about racial injustice and so on.  I'm not black but I'm certain this would resonate a lot more if I were or, to a lesser degree, if I were an adult in 70s.  Regardless, it's still worth checking out.  There's a little animated nudity if it helps.   That man sure knew how to make boobs bounce, I'll say that much.  There are a few laughs but today this feels more like an experimental curiosity.  It's probably the only animated Blaxploitation picture ever made.  If it's not then I needs to see what else there is.  I dig the genre.

Soul Soldier (1970)

Original title: The Red, White, and Black


Director: John 'Bud' Cardos

Composer: Stu Phillips

Starring: Robert DoQui, Issac Fields, Barbara Hale, Rafer Johnson, Lincoln Kilpatrick, Isabel Sanford, Janee Michelle, Robert Dix, Byrd Holland, Cesar Romero

More info: IMDb

Tagline: SABER CHARGE was the cry of the Black Cavalry

Plot: They were black troopers who fought and killed the red man for a white government that didn't give a damn about either one!

My rating: 3/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Jesus this movie is dreadful.  The trailer actually looks great compared to the movie.  It's bad, from the acting, script, pacing and on and on.  It doesn't take long at all to notice how amateurish this is.  What surprised me most is how Cesar Romero got roped into this.  I was hoping for something historical but it's nothing but a cheap, shoddy production that ruins an opportunity to show audiences what the real men faced.  Director Cardos wasn't known for quality pictures.  This was his first film.  I submit to the court exhibit A.

The Candy Tangerine Man (1975)

Director: Matt Cimber

Writer: Mike Angel

Composer: Smoke

Starring: John Daniels, Eli Haines, Tom Hankason, Marva Farmer, Richard Kennedy, George 'Buck' Flower, Meri McDonald, George Pelster, Marilyn Joi, Tallie Cochrane, Patrick Wright, Mike Angel

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Git Back JACK--Give him no JIVE...He is the BAAAD'EST Cat in '75

Plot: Sunset Boulevard is a lucrative place to work for the Black Baron, a pimp with a distinctive red and yellow Rolls Royce and plenty of girls on his books. He don't take no mess from his girls, his madam or his competitors and viciously defends his patch. First, he clobbers the Mob who attempt to move in on his patch. Second, he tracks down one of his girls who runs off with a suitcase full of his cash. Third, he disposes of two policemen. But by now he knows his pimping days are numbered, so after a final explosive gun battle he switches to being his alter ego, mild-mannered businessman Ron who lives out in the leafy suburbs with an unsuspecting wife and family.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

This minor Blaxploitation classic stands out in a couple of ways.  The protagonist, a pimp (The Baron played by Daniels), is being pushed out of the business by a rival and that person is a woman whom The Baron did wrong years earlier.  The other thing is that The Baron is leading a double life having a family in the suburbs and pretending to be a salesman for IBM.  From the start you can tell it's a low budget affair but the lack of money doesn't hurt the picture that much.  It's a slow go at times but that last twenty minutes makes up for a lot of it.  That last act moves faster than the rest of the movie and it's also where most of the action, comedy and drama plays out.  That much is a blast.  I just wish I had a better print than a lousy fullscreen VHS copy.  This would've been a lot more fun seeing it in a theater forty years ago.

Across 110th Street (1972)

Director: Barry Shear

Writers: Luther Davis, Wally Ferris

Composer: J.J. Johnson

Starring: Anthony Quinn, Yaphet Kotto, Anthony Franciosa, Antonio Fargas, Burt Young, Gloria Hendry, Richard Ward, Gilbert Lewis

More info: IMDb

Tagline: If you steal $300,000 from the mob, it's not robbery. It's suicide.

Plot: Two New York City cops go after amateur crooks who are trying to rip off the Mafia and start a gang war.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Probably not.

This gritty, down and dirty crime picture feels more grounded in reality than a lot of this genre from the early 70s and for that, it's worth seeing.  The cast does a wonderful job Kotto and Quinn make a good adversarial team that eventually come around and work together well.  The supporting cast is great, too.  The location shooting is the best.  It felt like I was getting to know the seedy streets of NYC.  I don't know how common it was back then for an A-picture but this one made us of hand held cameras to a nice effect.  The ending almost felt unnecessary but I liked it and it just adds to the cynical 70s vibe.  The MGM DVD has a great looking, grainy anamorphic widescreen print and the same goes for the only extra with the theatrical trailer.  I've seen this a few times over the past twenty five years so I'll probably put this one out to pasture in favor for all of the other 70s crime films that I have yet to see.

Black Sister's Revenge (1976)

Original title: Emma Mae

Director: Jamaa Fanaka

Writer: Jamaa Fanaka

Composer: H.B. Barnum

Starring: Jerri Hayes, Ernest Williams II, Charles D. Brooks III, Leopooldo Mandeville, Malik Carter, Eddie Allen, Gammy Burdett, Teri Taylor, Synthia Saint James, Robert Slaughter, Eddy C. Dyer, Laetitia Burdett

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Mess with her man and she'll bust your face.

Plot: A naive young girl from the South moves in with her relatives in a Los Angeles ghetto. At first she is made fun of, but eventually she is accepted and plots to rob a bank to raise bail money for her new boyfriend, who is a jailed drug dealer.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Maybe.

Well raise my rent!  I went into this expecting some Blaxploitation action and came out the other end thrilled that instead I got a great urban drama.  I'm guessing this was re-titled as BLACK SISTER'S REVENGE for the video market to jump on the Blaxploitation bandwagon and sex this up as a funky action flick but it's far from it.  It's a down to Earth drama about this poor young girl moving from the Deep South to urban Los Angeles and getting mixed up with the wrong man.  She transforms from this shy girl to a strong woman by the end of the film and it's a great ride from one to the other.  Jerri Hayes plays Emma and she owns it.  This is her only IMDb credit and you can tell she's not experienced actor but that helps this film so much.  Her performance is natural and that's how it is for a lot of the cast.  It's got that rawness about it that makes this feel much more like the genuine article.  Probably my favorite performance from her costars is Malik Carter who plays 'Big Daddy' Johnson.  He's got the goods, going from funny as shit to shit getting real and real fast.  I'm shocked he's only been in five movies.  This film might be on YouTube in full.  Check it out.  This really is a great flick.  It's fun but it's also a powerful statement on inner city life in the black community.  The Xenon DVD sports a good looking fullscreen print and trailers for six other Blaxploitation classics.

Sheba Baby (1975)

Director: William Girdler

Writers: William Girdler, David Sheldon

Composers: Alex Brown, Monk Higgins

Starring: Pam Grier, Austin Stoker, D'Urville Martin, Rudy Challenger, Richard Merrifield, Christopher Joy, Charles Kissinger, Charles Broaddus

More info: IMDb

Tagline: She's One Mean Mama!

Plot: A Chicago private detective returns back home to Louisville, Kentucky, to help her father fight mobsters.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  Sadly, no.

I loves me some Pam Grier and I'm a big fan of a lot of her 70s Blaxploitation pictures.  This one doesn't hold up as well as the others but it's still worth watching.  There's a lot to like and it starts with Pam.  There's not much action but the chase at the carnival was fun.  It's a tamer Blaxploitation flick than her earlier entries and there's a reason.  I was surprised at the lack of nudity and the things that make some of the other pictures in the genre more fun.  After it was over I saw that it was rated PG.  That was it.  Now I know that's not the only problem the film has but it didn't help that the filmmakers had to tone everything down because of it.  The biggest problem is the story.  The first half of the movie, while not all that exciting, has lots of scenes, spending time with some interesting and colorful characters.  D'Urville Martin is always fun to watch.  His speech to his crew is a gas.  But it's the second half of the film where the problem lies.  It's almost entirely on a yacht.  Sheba (Grier) gets on board for the bad guy's big party so she can bring him down.  She gets caught, escapes and chases the baddies down on a speedboat and then it's over.  There's little variety to the setting and scenery and that's a big part of what's wrong with the film.  The music is groovy and fun.  I could see slapping this album on for some great background music.  So if you haven't seen this, just go in with lower expectations, understand that the most you're going to see of Pam is some side boob and have a good movie lined up to follow this with. 

The Six Thousand Dollar Nigger (1978)

AKA: Supersoul Brother

Director: Rene Martinez Jr.

Writers: Laura S. Diaz, Rene Martinez Jr.

Composer: Saxton Kari

Starring: 'Wildman' Steve Gallon, Joycelyn Norris, Benny Latimore, Peter Conrad, Lee Cross, Wild Savage, Addie Williams, John A. Jacobs, Larry Hannah, Eric Gregory Gallon, Herbert Murray, Janine Cracchiolo, L. Dea Towers

More info: IMDb

Tagline: He's Sexy! He's Bionic! He's a Stud!

Plot: A bum agrees to allow an experimental drug to be administered to him. What he doesn't realize is that the doctor who's doing the experiment is a criminal, trying to create an unstoppable thief that's immune to bullets. Steve gains all the powers that Superman has, and after getting his revenge against all those who harassed him on the street, discovers the truth about the doctor's plans for him.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  Probably not.

Years ago I watched THE GUY FROM HARLEM (1977) and I was so taken with actor 'Wildman' Steve Gallon that I looked up his credits and found THE SIX THOUSAND DOLLAR NIGGER.  With a title like that, I just had to watch it.  I'm just surprised it took me as long as it did and I've watched it twice now (which I think is enough).  It's just as low budget as HARLEM (also directed by Martinez - this being his third and final film) and it's just as likeable, thanks to Gallon.  He's got a motormouth that just won't quit.  It's like Martinez told him he has to fill every second talking random shit.  He's pretty damn funny and I bet he was a hoot to hang around with.  The acting from everyone is pretty bad but it's fun bad.  There are some funny jokes and some really bad ones but that adds to the charm.  It's a cheesy, low budget Blaxploitation flick that's fun enough to not feel like you wasted your time.  And by 'you' I mean anyone who doesn't mind watching low budget stuff like this.  It's also got one of the strangest (if not THE strangest) theme songs in the Blaxpolitation genre.  It sounds like it's sung by a 5 year old.    I've got one more of Martinez's movies to see, a biker flick called ROAD OF DEATH (1973), and I really hope it doesn't take me long to getting around to it.

The Black 6 (1973)

AKA: The Black Six

Director: Matt Cimber

Writers: Matt Cimber, Mikel Angel

Composer: David Moscoe

Starring: Robert Howard, Cindy Daly, Mikel Angel, John Isenbarger, Gene Washington, Carl Eller, Lem Barney, Mercury Morris, Willie Lanier, Joe Greene, Garnett Higgens, Bill King, Marilyn McArthurs

More info: IMDb

Tagline: See the 6 biggest, baddest and best waste 150 motorcycle dudes!

Plot:  A gang of six black Vietnam veterans fight white racists in a Southern town to avenge their dead friend.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Maybe.

On paper, this sounds like a great revenge, action-filled, Blaxploitation picture that would be awesome to see as a drive-in double feature.  While it does have those elements, there's a lot more attention paid to the social race aspect than anything else.  It's half exploitation and half social issues and, to a large degree, it works.  The Black 6 are made up of real life NFL players, many of whom made their acting debut here.  I like them and I dig that they're not seasoned actors because they bring something authentic to the role that you wouldn't get otherwise.  That also means it gets a little amateurish but it's in a good way.  If I had to single out my favorite performance it would be Hannah Dean who plays the lead's mother.  She's about as genuine as it gets and this is only her first of four films she made.  The low budget nature suits this film just fine.  I wasn't once bored, even if there's very little action (which most of it was saved for the big fight at the end).  The plot moves nicely even if it doesn't fit a conventional mold.  For instance, we're a long ways into the picture when Bubba (Washington) investigates his brother's unsolved murder which doesn't take as long as you'd think before the big fight at the end.  There's not much time spent with the bad guys.  But then we don't have to hang with them long.  We know from the opening of the picture that these guys are bad and they need to be dealt with.  This isn't Shakespeare.  I've seen this twice now and it's one of the better low budget Blaxploitation pictures to come out of the 70s.  It's a fun ride that has be benefit of inexperience from different aspects to the cast and crew.

One Down, Two to Go (1982)

Director: Fred Williamson

Writer: Fred Williamson

Composers: Herb Hetzer, Joe Trunzo

Starring: Fred Williamson, Jim Brown, Jim Kelly, Richard Roundtree, Paula Sills, Laura Loftus, Joe Spinell, Tom Signorelli, John Guitz, Richard Noyce, Peter Dane, Victoria Hale, Warrington Winters


More info: IMDb

Tagline:  Forget the A-team. This is the kick-ass team!

Plot:  During a high-stakes east-west karate tournament, coach Chuck suspects the match is rigged against him. When looking around the other team's locker room gets him shot, he calls in Cal and J, his partners from California. After exercising a little persuasion and a lot of brute force, they discover who's behind it all. Now the only problem is getting back the money Chuck is owed.

My rating:  5/10

Will I watch it again?  Nope.

It's a shame this wasn't made a decade earlier.  It might've had the added benefit of that great 70s look and feel when it came to Blaxploitation flicks.  You don't need a great story to make a fun movie.  You don't have to have great acting or any number of things.  Sometimes it boils down to charm, sometimes innocence, budget and so on.  Besides looking good, this film, though, suffers from a lot of things, the most of which is fun.  It's just not fun.  It's neat seeing these Blaxploitation icons all in the same movie but it's too bad it's not a better vehicle.  It feels different, the action is OK and the music is below average.  It plays more like an 80s action movie that went direct to video.  There should be a better sense of camaraderie from these guys.  I realize the story isn't a fun one for the characters but the picture mostly sits there.  I was bored but I really wanted to like it.  If it was made 8 years earlier with a fraction of the budget and with a rag-tag bunch of film makers, this could have been a hoot.  I would say that this great bunch of guys deserved a better movie than this but then one of them wrote, directed and starred in it.  The Anchor Bay DVD presents this with a nice anamorphic widescreen print.  For extras you get a commentary track from Fred Williamson and the theatrical trailer (anamorphic widescreen).  On the flipside of the disc is BROTHERHOOD OF DEATH (1976) which was a lot more fun despite being in shitty fullscreen.  As an aside, a couple of years ago I met Williamson at a ComicCon and he was cool as shit.  I don't know who is smoother, him or Billy Dee Williams but Williamson has charisma to spare.  And his autographs were only twenty bucks.  What a guy. 

Brotherhood of Death (1976)

Director:  Bill Berry

Writers:  Bill Berry, Ronald Goldman\

Composer: ?

Starring:  Roy Jefferson, Le Tari, Haskell V. Anderson III, Mike Thomas, Michael Hodge, Ron David, Rick Ellis, Brian Donahue, Ed Heath, Mike Bass, Bryan Clark, Kandy Hooker, Henry Pankey

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Watch the brothers stick it to the Klan!

Plot:  A group of black Vietnam vets go up against the Ku Klux Klan.

My rating:  6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes, but only if I get that sweet looking widescreen Blu-ray.

The only print I had access to was fullscreen but I'm willing to bet that if I saw the excellent widescreen print from the pricey Blu-ray I'd probably dig it a little more.  I guess it's a testament to the film that even with a shitty VHS looking copy, it holds up as a fun Blaxploitation action/revenge flick.  The IMDb trivia says that the lead actors were NFL players hired because they would do it on the cheap.  I cut non-actors a lot of slack whenever they're even remotely good and these guys are.  They're fun and they've got charisma (mostly).  I wouldn't dare cast them in Hamlet but this is a low budget B-picture from the 70s, riding a wave of black-themed action drive-in pictures and it totally succeeds.  And the white bad guys?  Fucking nasty fuckers.  Some of them are a little too good at being hateful.  There's a good deal of action and lots of folks doing some really bad things to each other but what I took away most from it was the sincerity from the actors and presumably the folks you didn't see who made this possible.  If this had a multi-million dollar budget I'd trash the shit out of it but, considering where it came from, it's pretty good.  I dug it.  I have it on an Anchor Bay double feature DVD with Fred Williamson's ONE DOWN, TWO TO GO (1982).  I'm watching that one now as I write this.  This film has no extras unlike the other picture.

Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970)

Director: Ossie Davis

Writers: Chester Himes, Arnold Perl, Ossie Davis

Composer: Galt MacDermot

Starring: Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques, Calvin Lockhart, Judy Pace, Redd Foxx, Emily Yancy, John Anderson, Lou Jacobi, Eugene Roche, J.D. Cannon, Mabel Robinson, Dick Sabol, Cleavon Little

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Introducing COFFIN ED and GRAVEDIGGER, two detectives only a mother could love.

Plot: Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson are two black cops with a reputation for breaking the odd head. Both are annoyed at the success of the Reverend Deke O'Mailey who is selling trips back to Africa to the poor on the installment plan. When his truck is hijacked and a bale of cotton stuffed with money is lost in the chase, Harlem is turned upside down by Gravedigger and Coffin Ed, the Reverend, and the hijackers.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again? No.

I don't care what it is, if Redd Foxx or Godfrey Cambridge are in it, I'll watch it.  Cambridge is having a blast from start to finish and he's a lot of fun but sadly Foxx's role is pretty brief...but classic!   

It's pretty standard crime/action/Blaxploitation fare with a few laughs here and there.  It's over-the-top and goofy sometimes but it's the cast that makes this watchable.  The striptease on the bale of cotton has got to be seen to be believed.  Unfortunately every release of this is fullscreen.  The MGM DVD I've got (make that had after this weekend's garage sale) only has the theatrical trailer as an extra.  Hell, even the Blu-ray that's coming out on 9/9/14 is listed as being fullscreen.  The fuck?

Sweet Jesus, Preacherman (1973)

Director: Henning Schellerup

Writers: John Cerullo, M. Stuart Madden, Abbey Leitch

Composer: Horace Tapscott

Starring: Roger E. Mosley, William Smith, Michael Pataki, Tom Johnigarn, Joe Tornatore, Damu King, Marla Gibbs, Sam Laws, Phil Hoover, Paul Silliman, Chuck Lyles, Norman Fields, Della Thomas

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Amen, Brother!

Plot: A Black hit man poses as a Baptist preacher in a ghetto church. He decides to take over the local rackets.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? Nah.

Roger E. Mosley is great as the Preacherman.  His best moment is when he's delivering his first sermon and he goes from a horribly dry read from his notes to going off the cuff and unloading all of the charisma and passion he's got in a great sequence.  He nailed it.  And I loved that the camera slowly moved up the middle of the aisle toward the pulpit as he's struggling and near the end it pulls back, from where it began. 

It's pretty much a given that if you've got the great Williams Smith, he's going to be the villain, ESPECIALLY in a Blaxploitation flick.

 

He's fun but he doesn't have much to do and his scenes are mostly confined to that office and the back seat of a car.  Still, I'll take any William Smith over no William Smith any day.

SWEET!!! It didn't further the plot but it sure helped the film to have some groovy dancing!

I have no idea what the budget was but it had to be be fairly low.  It's not so much that the budget hurt the film, it didn't actually.  It's the amateurish film making that hurts it (or helps, depending on how much fun you want out of it).  For example...

What a difference a day makes, huh?  There are other things, too, like the items on a desk changing places from scene to scene.  Personally, shit like this made it more fun but then I watched it with a bunch of friends.  That helps.  Ooh, I almost forgot.  Marla (the maid from THE JEFFERSONS) Gibbs is in it.  She freshened up the picture. This is almost good enough for me to say I'll watch it again but there are far too many Blaxploitation pictures I haven't seen yet that I'll need to until I get back around to this one.  It's definitely worth seeking out, though. I dug it.

Stephen Romano Presents Shock Festival (2010)

Director: Stephen Romano

Writer: Victor Bonacore

Composer: Mars Homeworld

Starring: Diana Baisley, Jessica Baisley, Alexandra Cipolla, Jennifer English, Alan Rowe Kelly, Mike Lane, Ruby Larocca, Jamie Mayhem, Mike Mistake, Sarah Nicklin, Chi Orengo, Jude Pucillo, Michael Reed, Sybelle Silverphoenix, Joey Smack, Brenna Gwyn Snowe

More info: IMDb

Tagline: if you think you've seen it all...

Plot: Take a wild journey through the exploitation movie scenes of the 1970s and 1980s with this collection of hundreds of actual previews of coming attractions, television commercials and radio spots for the sleaziest, sexiest most off-the-wall films ever made - all digitally re-mastered from original film elements. This is the ultimate collection of classic exploitation and horror trailers, TV ads and radio spots. This 3-disc set includes new audio and video tribute media, collectable poster and full-color liner notes.

My rating: 10/10

Will I watch it again? It's a trailer compilation, of coures!

This trailer comp is different than any other in that it's got 34 minutes of made up trailer for movies that don't exist.  Nearly all of them strive to look like 60s/70s grindhouse trailers in the way they look and feel but you soon discover that it takes a lot more than adding scratches, cutting frames and grading to achieve that.  Some are pretty good and others not so much but they're all worthy efforts.  This is the kind of thing I've been wanting to do myself for many years.  Someday I guess...  Each fake trailer has it's own movie poster (and they look fantastic!) and optional audio commentary. Here's a breakdown of the new trailers on disc 1.

Attack of the Sadistic Killer
Tentacles in a Twisted Death Dream
Toolshed of the Livind Dead
Girl Killer
The Ghost of the Raven
Evolver
Devil Sister
Dark Night of the Demonhouse
Warpmonster
Dead Bugs On the Carpet
I Hate Your Guts!
Dead Bugs On the Carpet 2
They Made Me
Thinking Man's Gun

The rest of disc 1 has real trailers and there are some beauts, too.  My favorite is probably Gone with the Pope.  I loved that movie.  Where's the fucking DVD, guys?  All of these have an option commentary with Stephen Romano and another with "Uncle Creepy"

Treasure of the 4 Crowns
Vice Squad (1982)
Cornbread, Earl and Me
Black Samurai (1977)
Grimm's Fairytales
Flesh Gordon (1974)
Conquest
Delirium
Amazon Jail
Beyond Atlantis
Sadomania
Challenge to Be Free
Venom
Raw Force
Gone with the Pope (1976/2010)
Black Heat
Starstruck
Last Days of Man On Earth
1990: The Bronx Warriors (1982)
The Late, Great Planet Earth
Avalanche Express
Cinderella 2000
Titillation
Flesh and Lace
Mysterious Island
Circle of Iron (1978)
Smithereens
Fantastic Planet
The Loveless
The Sexy Dozen
2069: A Sex Odyssey
Raiders of Letye Gulf
Scum of the Earth
Venus In Furs
The Female Animal
7 Dwarves to the Rescue
The Fighting Rats of Tobruk
Fight for Your Life
Fast Company
Grand Slam (1967)
Space Raiders
The Final Countdown
Captain America
Cannonball
Killer Force
King Kong vs. Godzilla
Africa Blood and Guts

Disc 2 offers up more trailers but in the horror genre. Each trailer has optional commentaries as on disc 1.

The Stuff (1985)
Pieces (1982)
Snuff (1976)
Beyond the Gate
Pranks
Burnt Offerings (1976)
Dead and Buried
Blood Spattered Bride (1972)
The House By the Cemetery
Great White (1981)
Cat O 9 Tails
Saturn 3 (1980)
God Told Me To (1976)
The Crazies (1973)
Toolbox Murders (1978)
Q
Grizzly
Don't Look In the Basement
Hell Night
Satan's Black Wedding
Black Belly of the Tarantula
Invasion of the Bee Girls
Maniac (1980)
Banana Monster
Dead of Night
Carnival of Blood
Curse of the Headless Horseman
Mark of the Devil (1970)
Bloodsucking Freaks
Deep Red (1975)
The Curse
Autopsy
Daughters of Darkness
Shock Waves (1977)
The Illustrated Man
The 5th Cord
7 Doors of Death
Blood of Ghastly Horror

Disc 2 continues with a section called TELEVISION SPECTACULAR which is tons of trailers made to air on TV. 

Cry of a Prostitute
The Wrestler
Seven Blows of the Dragon
Don't Open the Window
The Pyx
Mondo Cane
The Killing Machine
Dracula vs. Frankenstein
Old Dracula
The Last Survivor
Angel's Wild Women
The Last Man On Earth
The Crimson Cult
Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971)
The Shape of Things to Come
And Now the Screaming Starts
Four Flies on Grey Velvet
Eye of the Cat
The House That Dripped Blood (1971)
Berserk
The Devil's Rain (1975)
Rollerball
Massacre at Central High
JD's Revenge
Evil In the Deep
Rabid (1977)
Tentacles
Suspiria
Beyond the Door 2
Shock Waves (1977)
Slithis
The 5th Floor
The Brood
The Changeling (1980)
Comin' At Ya!

The trailers keep on comin' with The Trailers of Independant International Pictures which includes an interview with IIP President Sam Sherman.

Mad Doctor of Blood Island
Brides of Blood
Blood-O-Rama Shock Festival
Satan's Sadists
Angel's Wild Women
Horror of the Blood Monsters
Girls for Rent
Naughty Stewardesses
Brain of Blood
Blazing Stewardesses
Blood Drinkers

The disc is rounded out with an image gallery featureing all-new images with music by Dead House Music.  This 7 minute slideshow has the mock posters to the new trailers on disc one plus a whole lot more.  The retro style of the posters is fantastic.  None of these movies exist but I'll be damned if I didn't want to see every one of them.  This is really good stuff.

The third and final disc is nothing but audio; 312 MP3s of 30 and 60 second radio spots.  I haven't had a chance to go through these yet but I've heard some of them before.  It's the kind of thing you'd want to listen to on a trip.  There is a shitload of great titles on this disc that will have you in stitches with laughter.  Some of them get really creative when you don't have the visual to connect to and they're usually loaded with great taglines.

This is a great set and it's obvious the folks behind this have a true love for 70s/80s era genre trailers plus they've added so much more than any other compilation I've ever seen and I've got over 200 DVD of just trailers!  Right now you can get it on Amazon for $12.96 and free shipping (for Prime members).  It's a no brainer.  Even if you don't like the fake trailers, there are still hours and hours of fun in this set.  Simply outstanding.