Speaking of Blaxploitation movies, I must admit I've never seen ANY of them - though I own a couple soundtracks or just know some kuts here and there, I just never took the time to rent one or buy one. So strutters, is there any you would recommend, like a top 5 of blaxploitation movies.......
Eric,
You needs to talk to me about this if your serious about learning on this genre. I got a pretty nice library of this stuff at home and could definitly open your eyes to some of the better stuff, or even some of the really bad stuff thats so bad its good.
One of my alltime favorite films, regardless of genre, is Cooley High. Not exactly a blaxploitation film but it does come from that era. as far as textbook blaxploitation goes I'd reccomend the Tommy Gibbs films (Black Caesar & Hell Up In Harlem). Superfly is dope, as is Detroit 9000, and for Pam Grier her pinnacle is Foxy Brown.
I think Coffy is the superior Pam Grier flick, personally, though only by a nose. It's just a more gritty film, and has a better story. But Foxy is a very close second. Detroit 9000 is great, but I take issue with Hell Up in Harlem. This was a quickie hack job by all accounts(and it shows in the film) and it just doesn't hold up as anything near as good as Black Caesar. Granted it has it's moments, but I wouldn't bother tarnishing Black Caesar with watching HUIH.
Recommended flicks that have yet to be mentioned:
Trouble Man[/b](if you can find it--runs on Fox Movie Channel every Blue Moon) Cleopatra Jones[/b](probably the most FUN movie in the genre, lots of action, not as mean spirited as some flicks in the genre) Candy Tangerine Man[/b] (for those of you who DIG mean spirited, it doesn't get much more gully than this) Black Belt Jones[/b](silly but charismatic performance by Jim Kelly and the fine-as-wine Gloria Hendry) The Black Baron[/b](aka The Baron-Calvin Lockheart as an independent filmmaker who deals with shady mafia and thug types to get his flick made...kinda low budget, but a more interesting plot than most in the genre)
Trouble Man[/b](if you can find it--runs on Fox Movie Channel every Blue Moon)
no joke. This movie has been another impossible one for me to find. Got a VHS of it waaaay back when but the quality was shit
Candy Tangerine Man[/b] (for those of you who DIG mean spirited, it doesn't get much more gully than this)
seconded!
Black Belt Jones[/b](silly but charismatic performance by Jim Kelly and the fine-as-wine Gloria Hendry)
seconded again. Also for pure campiness check out the sequel (available on DVD) and the 3rd installment "Hot Potato"
The Black Baron[/b](aka The Baron-Calvin Lockheart as an independent filmmaker who deals with shady mafia and thug types to get his flick made...kinda low budget, but a more interesting plot than most in the genre)
The Black Baron[/b](aka The Baron-Calvinc as an independent filmmaker who deals with shady mafia and thug types to get his flick made...kinda low budget, but a more interesting plot than most in the genre)
i picked this up at a flea market last week, i was gonna post about it an update in my what i'm watching thread in announcments, but i figure now's as good a time as any (plus since i don't think anyones reading that shit).
Black Cue (aka The Baron)
Written and directed by Phillip Fenty, who also wrote Superfly, This is a pretty non traditional later era blaxploitation, as the protagonist doesn't have any lofty goals like cleaning up the streets, dude's just trying to make a movie about a black race car driver Baron Wolfgang Von Tripps. When his financial partner, the appropriately named "Coke Man" cuts his funding shit goes down the drain when lockhart needs to get his $300,000 back, but he's still intent on making a movie. Coke Man sicks his dogs on him and just genuinely fucks with him for the first half of the movie, but Coke Man is just the bottom of the totem pole, cause he borrowed the money from some mafia affiliated white dude who's pretty funny.
Mostly the movie consists of lockhart prostituting himself to some fat white suger mommy, but I'm oversimplifying, I really enjoyed this and if nothing else, it does have a fork to the throat murder, which is fucking cool as hell and a pretty funny car chase scene.
This copy is a weird Canadian release from 1990 that looks like shit and retitles it Black Cue (complete with a very 80s Amiga style awkward title screen filled in) and the otherwise very dope Gil Scott Heron/Brian Jackson soundtrack (insert obligitory: "anybody know if this came out on vinyl?!") is supplemented by randomly interjected and way out of place shitty 80s synth music.
--
i wholeheartedly agree with recommendations above, especially I>black caesar/I>, which i consider the finest product of the movement. as far as pam goes, i would take I>coffy/I> over [i]foxy brown/I>, foxy just doesn't have the repeat value for me. I>the spook who sat by the door/I> is also a must, imho.
Werd.... thanks strutters...... Thats a good start......
wait, not so fast man.....although all the movies strutters recommended are fine, they didn't mentioned ONE OF THE GREATEST BLAXPLOITATION FLICK OF THEM ALL (my 2 cents ).......
if you have to rent just one, then rent Truck Turner [/b]
you will see a foul-mouthed [color=red]Isaac Hayes[/b](! !!) kickin asses and
Nichelle Nichols plays the meaneast beeeeeaaaaaatch that ever walked on earth... you have to listen to her talkin to believe it.....
......exciting car chases........hospital shoot outs
and needless to say a funky sountrack worth to buy
all in all, it captures the funky, "soul power" vibe of that times and really a fast paced ,entertaining movie that you will enjoy a lot[/b] and this is quitethese days
that ghana poster book is the SHITTTTTTT. i first checked it out at my guy's video store. the whole book is facemelting. my favorites are the romantic comedies and lightweight movies like splash. they tear splash up. also they have all these weird sequels and stuff that i never heard of, like children of the corn III, which the poster shows a woman's head being split open with an axe over a cornfield. ridiculous. also in the book they show the "theaters" where these movies were shown in ghana. usually a hut with dirt floors and no ceilings. i just imagine like 50 africans piled into a hut watching "splash" or "rambo 6"
I tried to obtain this book: a friend of mine has it, and it's really great, but it was a limited french pressing. But now I just found it about this exposition of Ghana posters: 'Killers on Canvas'
If you're in the Netherlands, it lasts till the 15th of januari @ Affichemuseum, Hoorn (20 min drive from Amsterdam)
this one decorates the wall behind my turntables found it at a record show a few years ago..it's one of my favorite blaxploitation artworks and the only one I have.
Years ago I met the artist who did Shaft in Africa (as well as dozens of other 70 exploitation films). He told me that he had to redo the poster several times and that he left part of the eiffel tower sticking out near the pyramids if I remember correctly. I can't see it on the jpegs but I remember it bring there when i looked once before. I pleaded with the guy to let me check his original artwork, said no go. Currently resides on the Oregon Coast.
PS original promo idea was going to be "Guess how big Shaft's Stick is?"
This thread must come up as much as 'recommend some Kung-Fu flicks.. Ha! Always good.
I used to work in a video store & we always tracked down the rare stuff. Down here they released a lot of the Blaxplo as 2 films on one tape.
"What it is/What it Was" is fantastic. There are 2 other books worth hunting down. There's a rare hardback mid 70s book called 'From Sambo to Superspade'. A friend picked it up for a $1. Right before I did. She won't give it up though. Might see if I can find online. The other was in the early 90s. 'That's Blaxploitation' by Darius James. More a personal look at the genre. As well as the worthy 90's published fanzine by David Walker, 'Badass Mofo'. Unrelated to the website.
Darktown Stutters is a head-fuck of a film. Def wierdo cinema. Three The Hard Way, Across 110th St, Black Belt Jones are def highlights. I wish Blaxploitation.com would update soon.
They also finally released the long hidden balck-Exorcist film 'Abby' on DVD last year.
This is a trip, but the rape scenes were a bit unnerving...
Truck turner is a def winner. I like this one as well, but sequel is better.
Great poster, shitty film. aka Soul Brother. The DVD release cover is crap.
I have to give it up to the never mentioned Warhawk Tanzania. Just becasue he has the best name on the planet & was destined to be in Blaxplo. Though both looked liked they were made for about $50 each... Still good fun. Painful, but enjoyable with the crew all watching. BLACK FORCE aka FORCE FOUR or FORCE PLUS FOUR... & GANG WARS aka DEVIL's (or Death) EXPRESS. They all seemed to have dufferent names in many countries.
A good friend of mine named Charles Williams was in this film... he passed away a few years ago... We were working on a film together that never got completed. I found a copy of that soundtrack at the old Rues Records in Philly but I left it there.
A good friend of mine named Charles Williams was in this film... he passed away a few years ago... We were working on a film together that never got completed. I found a copy of that soundtrack at the old Rues Records in Philly but I left it there.
R.I.P. Charles
That's weird...an old friend of mine also worked on this film when she was a young gal, and has a brief cameo in the scene where the club is listening to the fight.
She said she got the job when she rolled into Texas and checked with the local Urban League for jobs. They were shooting the film in town(sorry I forgot which town) and the Production team was looking for folks so she was hired as an assistant. She dropped that Freda Payne and Phillip Michael Thomas were canoodling constantly and it lead to some trouble with his wife, evidently a lot of tension on the set.
I looked forever for a copy of the film for her and have not seen one since. Wish they would re-release on DVD proper.
Did you know that Emma Mae AKA Black sister's revenge has a soundtrack by ................................................................................................................................................. ...........................................................................Frankie GAYE ?????? ..........AKA the younger brother of the Man himself
A good friend of mine named Charles Williams was in this film... he passed away a few years ago... We were working on a film together that never got completed. I found a copy of that soundtrack at the old Rues Records in Philly but I left it there.
R.I.P. Charles
That's weird...an old friend of mine also worked on this film when she was a young gal, and has a brief cameo in the scene where the club is listening to the fight.
She said she got the job when she rolled into Texas and checked with the local Urban League for jobs. They were shooting the film in town(sorry I forgot which town) and the Production team was looking for folks so she was hired as an assistant. She dropped that Freda Payne and Phillip Michael Thomas were canoodling constantly and it lead to some trouble with his wife, evidently a lot of tension on the set.
I looked forever for a copy of the film for her and have not seen one since. Wish they would re-release on DVD proper.
We gotta find it Bird!... whoever gets it first, get two and send the other one a copy... start..., NOW!
Comments
I think Coffy is the superior Pam Grier flick, personally, though only by a nose.
It's just a more gritty film, and has a better story. But Foxy is a very close second. Detroit 9000 is great, but I take issue with Hell Up in Harlem. This was a quickie hack job by all accounts(and it shows in the film) and it just doesn't hold up as anything near as good as Black Caesar. Granted it has it's moments, but I wouldn't bother tarnishing Black Caesar with watching HUIH.
Recommended flicks that have yet to be mentioned:
Trouble Man[/b](if you can find it--runs on Fox Movie Channel every Blue Moon)
Cleopatra Jones[/b](probably the most FUN movie in the genre, lots of action, not as mean spirited as some flicks in the genre)
Candy Tangerine Man[/b] (for those of you who DIG mean spirited, it doesn't get much more gully than this)
Black Belt Jones[/b](silly but charismatic performance by Jim Kelly and the fine-as-wine Gloria Hendry)
The Black Baron[/b](aka The Baron-Calvin Lockheart as an independent filmmaker who deals with shady mafia and thug types to get his flick made...kinda low budget, but a more interesting plot than most in the genre)
seconded!
seconded again. Also for pure campiness check out the sequel (available on DVD) and the 3rd installment "Hot Potato"
yet another film I want to see but haven't found
i picked this up at a flea market last week, i was gonna post about it an update in my what i'm watching thread in announcments, but i figure now's as good a time as any (plus since i don't think anyones reading that shit).
Black Cue (aka The Baron)
Written and directed by Phillip Fenty, who also wrote Superfly, This is a pretty non traditional later era blaxploitation, as the protagonist doesn't have any lofty goals like cleaning up the streets, dude's just trying to make a movie about a black race car driver Baron Wolfgang Von Tripps. When his financial partner, the appropriately named "Coke Man" cuts his funding shit goes down the drain when lockhart needs to get his $300,000 back, but he's still intent on making a movie. Coke Man sicks his dogs on him and just genuinely fucks with him for the first half of the movie, but Coke Man is just the bottom of the totem pole, cause he borrowed the money from some mafia affiliated white dude who's pretty funny.
Mostly the movie consists of lockhart prostituting himself to some fat white suger mommy, but I'm oversimplifying, I really enjoyed this and if nothing else, it does have a fork to the throat murder, which is fucking cool as hell and a pretty funny car chase scene.
This copy is a weird Canadian release from 1990 that looks like shit and retitles it Black Cue (complete with a very 80s Amiga style awkward title screen filled in) and the otherwise very dope Gil Scott Heron/Brian Jackson soundtrack (insert obligitory: "anybody know if this came out on vinyl?!") is supplemented by randomly interjected and way out of place shitty 80s synth music.
--
i wholeheartedly agree with recommendations above, especially I>black caesar/I>, which i consider the finest product of the movement. as far as pam goes, i would take I>coffy/I> over [i]foxy brown/I>, foxy just doesn't have the repeat value for me. I>the spook who sat by the door/I> is also a must, imho.
If those thighs catch you in a headlock, it's all over
wait, not so fast man.....although all the movies strutters recommended are fine, they didn't mentioned ONE OF THE GREATEST BLAXPLOITATION FLICK OF THEM ALL (my 2 cents
if you have to rent just one, then rent Truck Turner [/b]
you will see a
Nichelle Nichols plays the meaneast beeeeeaaaaaatch that ever walked on earth...
you have to listen to her
......exciting car chases........hospital shoot outs
and needless to say a funky sountrack worth to buy
all in all, it captures the funky, "soul power" vibe of that times and really a fast paced ,entertaining movie that you will enjoy a lot[/b]
and this is quite
I tried to obtain this book: a friend of mine has it, and it's really great, but it was a limited french pressing. But now I just found it about this exposition of Ghana posters: 'Killers on Canvas'
If you're in the Netherlands, it lasts till the 15th of januari @ Affichemuseum, Hoorn (20 min drive from Amsterdam)
or look at some of them on this site:Killers on Canvas
PS original promo idea was going to be "Guess how big Shaft's Stick is?"
Spinatra, you dont accept PMs
Dress
I used to work in a video store & we always tracked down the rare stuff. Down here they released a lot of the Blaxplo as 2 films on one tape.
"What it is/What it Was" is fantastic. There are 2 other books worth hunting down. There's a rare hardback mid 70s book called 'From Sambo to Superspade'. A friend picked it up for a $1. Right before I did. She won't give it up though. Might see if I can find online. The other was in the early 90s. 'That's Blaxploitation' by Darius James. More a personal look at the genre. As well as the worthy 90's published fanzine by David Walker, 'Badass Mofo'. Unrelated to the website.
Darktown Stutters is a head-fuck of a film. Def wierdo cinema. Three The Hard Way, Across 110th St, Black Belt Jones are def highlights. I wish Blaxploitation.com would update soon.
One film I've never seen is ">ABAR: The Black Superman[/b] from 1977.
They also finally released the long hidden balck-Exorcist film 'Abby' on DVD last year.
This is a trip, but the rape scenes were a bit unnerving...
Truck turner is a def winner. I like this one as well, but sequel is better.
Great poster, shitty film. aka Soul Brother. The DVD release cover is crap.
I have to give it up to the never mentioned Warhawk Tanzania.
Just becasue he has the best name on the planet & was destined to be in Blaxplo.
Though both looked liked they were made for about $50 each... Still good fun. Painful, but enjoyable with the crew all watching.
BLACK FORCE aka FORCE FOUR or FORCE PLUS FOUR...
& GANG WARS aka DEVIL's (or Death) EXPRESS. They all seemed to have dufferent names in many countries.
A good friend of mine named Charles Williams was in this film... he passed away a few years ago... We were working on a film together that never got completed. I found a copy of that soundtrack at the old Rues Records in Philly but I left it there.
R.I.P. Charles
English title would be...?
I've got an OG poster of this that is so big, it won't even fit on my wall!:
This was the one-sheet:
I would like to see... Anyone seen it?
Didn't realise it was on DVD either. Thanks for the heads up.
http://www.dvddrive-in.com/reviews/n-s/soulvengeance757476.htm
That's weird...an old friend of mine also worked on this film when she was a young gal, and has a brief cameo in the scene where the club is listening to the fight.
She said she got the job when she rolled into Texas and checked with the local Urban League for jobs. They were shooting the film in town(sorry I forgot which town) and the Production team was looking for folks so she was hired as an assistant. She dropped that Freda Payne and Phillip Michael Thomas were canoodling constantly and it lead to some trouble with his wife, evidently a lot of tension on the set.
I looked forever for a copy of the film for her and have not seen one since. Wish they would re-release on DVD proper.
"You wanna go to that big watermelon patch in the sky?"[/b]
We gotta find it Bird!... whoever gets it first, get two and send the other one a copy... start..., NOW!