The Candy Tangerine Man/Lady Cocoa Double Feature (BluRay)

The Candy Tangerine Man: The film opens with pageantry pimp Baron (John Daniels) driving his customized two tone red and yellow Rolls Royce around down town - night time L.A. His ladies have been coming up short lately and he wants to know why. Turns out that two L.A.P.D. cops - Dempsey and Gordon (who have been after Baron for some time now) have resorted to rousting his girls every chance they get. Indeed in the next scene they have set Baron up with a copper in drag to entrap him with procurement of prostitutues. Of course the Baron is wise to their ploy and ends up grabbing the ecopper

Read more »

Action, Blaxploitation, Crime,

{[['']]}

Melinda (1972)

The little-known 1972 film Melinda is a blaxploitation gem that is part romantic drama, part revenge story, part mystery, and even part afro-chopsocky flick. It has an interesting pedigree too, coming from the first black men to be nominated for Academy Awards in film editing and screenwriting. After getting the nomination for cutting Midnight Cowboy, Hugh A. Robertson reportedly made a deal that he would go on to edit Shaft for MGM on the condition that they would give him a film to direct afterward. Playwright Lonne Elder III wrote the script, which is tonally quite different from his ad

Read more »

Blaxploitation,

{[['']]}

Brotherhood of Death (1976)

A group of black Vietnam vets go up against the Ku Klux Klan. After antagonizing a Caucasian male, three black men: Raymond Moffat, Junior Moffat and Ned Tiese go on the run; join the army; fight Vietnamese; make dough selling dope; and return home to Kincaid County. They decide to assist oppressed citizens to be more assertive, and with the preacher's help, get them registered to vote. This does not auger well with minority Caucasians - who feel threatened, put on Ku Klux Klan hoods, amidst signs to 'Fight Communist and Intergration' and launch an all-out attack with impunity. Things get

Read more »

Blaxploitation, Thriller,

{[['']]}

The Black Gestapo (1975)

General Ahmed has started an inner-city People's Army to try and relieve the misery of the citizens of Watts. When the locals are put under increasing pressure by Mafia thugs, Ahmed's second-in-command Colonel Kojah asks for permission to start a protection squad to take more direct action. Ahmed fears this protection squad will just turn into a vigilante mob, and his prediction soon proves correct. Will Ahmed be able to wrest control back from the power-mad Kojah, or will he be the mob's next victim? Supposedly one of, or THE most mean-spirited/violent blaxsploitation flick. TBG initially

Read more »

1975, Blaxploitation, Exploitation,

{[['']]}

Hammer (Blu-ray)

Hammer (1972), an early Blaxploitation film that was former American Football League defense back Fred Williamson's starring debut, doesn't have a particularly great reputation. Leonard Maltin's movie guide gives it an anemic two stars (out of four), while users of the Internet Movie Database give it a similarly tepid 4.4 out of 10 rating. The movie is a cliché-ridden boxing yarn, reminiscent of ‘40s and ‘50s noir boxing movies like Robert Wise's great film starring Robert Ryan, The Set-Up (1949). But the clichés in fact jibe quite well with the struggles of its African-American characters

Read more »

Blaxploitation,

{[['']]}

Coffy (Blu-ray)

Whenever I think about the Pam Grier-starring string of female empowerment revenge fantasy blaxploitation flicks, I'm reminded of Chris Rock's line about being black in America: "It's like the uncle who paid your way through college, but molested you." The same can be applied to women and blaxploitation. Sure, films like Coffy presented a woman, of color no less, as an action hero taking down armies of pimps, drug dealers and other horribly misogynistic monsters, but they also exploited every female character's sexuality with juvenile abandon. If you see any halfway attractive woman in Cof

Read more »

Blaxploitation,

{[['']]}

4 Film Favorites: Urban Action (Black Belt Jones, Black Samson, Hot Potato, Three the Hard Way)

Thankfully none of these films star Keith Urban, but are instead some previously unavailable Blaxploitation films. Coz as we all know now, "Urban" means "Black". I found this out years ago working at a video store when reading the monthly business catalogues that advertised "urban" films like Phat Beach and Belly as being very profitable in "urban neighborhoods". But anyhow, there are fewer Blaxploitation fans as big as I(in loyalty, not body mass), and I've been waiting to get my mitts on two of these titles for some time now. Three of the four films feature martial artist, Jim Kelly, w

Read more »

Blaxploitation,

{[['']]}

Death Journey (Code Red) (Blu-Ray All Region)

Death Journey (Code Red) (Blu-Ray All Region) DEATH JOURNEY is the first of a popular theatrical series starring Fred Williamson (FROM DUSK TILL DAWN, HELL UP IN HARLEM) as Jessie Crowder, a no-nonsense ex-cop who is hired by the FBI!  Crowder has 72 hours to take an overweight accountant (Bruce Kirby) from California to New York in order to testify against a mob leader in court.  The Mob says IMPOSSIBLE.  Crowder says TRY ME.   Co-starring  D'Urville Martin (DOLEMITE).  Contains the top 40 hit song 'Do It Any Way You Wanna'!  Directed by star Fred Willi

Read more »

Blaxploitation,

{[['']]}