Outlaw Johnny Black (2023)

I’m not sure when I first saw this teased, but I believe it was around the release of director/star Michael Jai White’s Black Dynamite. I loved that movie and was super excited to see his Blaxploitation Western. I’m a huge fan of Fred Williamson, Jim Brown, and Woody Strode and they made some great flicks in the sixties and seventies. Truth be told I sort of forgot about this one until I saw one of my friends talking about it online. That same day I had a copy in my possession and dropped everything to watch it.

The movie opens with Johnny Black riding into a town. He is there to find and kill a man named Brett Clayton. While Johnny is an outlaw Clayton is a murderer who is there to rob the bank. We see in the first of a series of flashbacks that when Johnny was a boy his father, a gun toting preacher, was shot by Clayton. Since then he has been on a mission to get revenge. But Johnny is also a decent guy and when he sees the locals beating up on some Indians he stops them but accidentally gives the sheriff a heart attack. That leads to him being convicted, saved from the gallows, and spending the rest of the movie on the run from the law.

Along the way Johnny meets up with a preacher named Reverend Percy, steals his identity (to be fair the thought he died in another Indian attack) and falls in love with a lovely lady while waiting to steal money from a church. I mean he is an outlaw after all… Though something happens to him when he is forced to preach to keep his cover. His father’s words come pouring out of his mouth and suddenly make sense. Now instead of wanting to make off with the loot he now wants to save his lady friend, Jessie Lee, and protect the community from the evil rancher Tom Sheally. Don’t worry though as guess who shows up to burn the town to the ground on behalf of the bad guy? Yep, old Brett Clayton is going to get what is coming to him.

Outlaw Johnny Black isn’t what I had expected it to be. I was anticipating an over the top violent homage to the Spaghetti westerns common in the old exploitation days of the Grindhouse and Drive-ins. We do get some of that but most of the movie is about reminding us what is so great about the movies that inspired this one.

There are some clever homages to the exploitation classics westerns or not. Early on we get a Billy Jack reference about a foot meeting someone’s head and there not being anything they can do about it. Jai White also channels his inner Eastwood when he lets the undertaker know how many coffins to get ready when he rides into town. There is a last minute rescue from the gallows that will seem familiar to fans. Toss in a big saloon fight with all the highlights you would expect like a guy sliding down the bar, someone going over the railing, and that sort of thing.

The humor is also spot on. Whether in the spirit of the non PC culture with white guys playing many of the Indians as well as the shall we say… manly Indian lady that Percy is forced to marry many of the jokes do feel like those we would get in the seventies. There is also a reference to the classic Mel Brooks flick Blazing Saddles. Yeah, a horse gets punched and knocked out! Though instead of Mongo it is the previously mentioned Indian lady. We even get a funny gag when Johnny Black is dying of thirst in the desert and his horse kicks the bucket. It literally kicks the bucket! Maybe it is just me, but I found that very funny. We also get some great dialogue with the following line being one of my favorites. “I’m Crackshot Bob…” “Now you just shot.” Not sure if that works out of context well but trust me it is hilarious.

White is channeling his inner Hammer

The cast that Michael Jai White has assembled is great. Byron Minns, who was awesome in Black Dynamite is equally as good here as the Reverend Percy. He brings some over the top comedic delivery to his character that works well with the deadpan deliver that White brings to the lead role of Johnny Black. He is an excellent sidekick and the pair of them have chemistry that makes the story work. Barry Bostwick is good as the bad guy Tom Sheally though he isn’t asked to do much. Randy Couture, Tommy Davidson, Kevin Chapman, and Chris Browning all shine in supporting roles. Michael Madsen shows up in a blink and you’ll miss it bit part too. Those names might not be familiar to you, but I guarantee the faces will ring a bell.

Director/Actor/Writer Michael Jai White is clearly a fan of the movies that he is parodying with Outlaw Johnny Black. To that end I wasn’t surprised with the cameos. While we never see him as he only does a voiceover, I instantly recognized Louis Gossett Jr.’s voice. He does a voiceover as the preacher who was gunned down by the bad guys in a letter. There is also a very cool moment at the end of the movie where the main cast members toast a couple of fellas sitting on a balcony. Those men? Fred “the Hammer” Williamson and the late great Jim Brown. I loved the fact that respect was paid to the men who worked on and inspired a movie like this. It is that sort of attention to detail that made me dig Black Dynamite and Outlaw Johnny Black.

If you haven’t figured it out yet I’m going to recommend this movie. I hope that it does well because I’d love to see what Michael Jai White can do next. I certainly hope it doesn’t take another fourteen years for someone to give him the resources to make a follow-up.

 

© Copyright 2023 John Shatzer

Black Samson (1974)

This is an entry into the Blaxploitation genre that no one seems to ever talk about. That is a damn shame because it stars Carol Speed of Abby and The Mack fame as well as one of the got to bad guys from seventies cinema William Smith. I’m getting ahead of myself here so before I go much further let’s talk Black Samson. 

Things kick off with a couple of white guys wandering into Samson’s bar. They are clearly up to no good as one of them keeps propositioning one of the dancing girls like she is a hooker. That annoys the proprietor, and he warns Johnny Nappa, William Smith’s character, that his buddy needs to cool it. He doesn’t so a proper beat down occurs, and the man is tossed out of the bar. That isn’t a good thing because they were mobsters and were scoping things out. It seems that they want to move into the neighborhood with their smack, but Samson keeps his street clean. Everyone seems to respect that except for hotshot Johnny Nappa. 

The rest of the movie plays out with escalating violence as Nappa keeps trying to buy off and then kill off Samson who won’t let his people or neighborhood down. Ladies get smacked around, bars get blow up, cars get crashed, and much justice is meted out with Samson’s weapon of choice an impressive staff. Finally, the mobsters get tricked into the neighborhood so that everyone can let them know just how they feel about their attempts to flood their home with drugs. Spoilers it involves kitchen appliances getting tossed off buildings. 

This is a fun movie with a great story that while not groundbreaking is executed in a way that makes it entertaining. Things kick off with a bang as Samson tosses the gangsters out of his bar. We get a little bit of character building with the homeless guy acting as a night watchman for the bar before more butt kicking occurs. This is one of those flicks that manage to tell you a decent story with characters that you will like all while keeping things moving along briskly. It is never boring, even on a fourth or fifth watch. 

This is a very seventies experience filled with all sorts of odd fashions and groovy dialogue. Really its beautiful baby just beautiful. We get some quality seventies nudity with a lot of the ladies showing some skin. Not trying to be creepy but this is a drive-in movie, so such things are expected. Black Samson delivers the goods in this category. We also have a decent car chase, fight scenes that are pretty good, and a fun soundtrack. Everything that I expect when I sit down to watch a Blaxploitation movie is on display and I dig it. 

I should mention one thing. While I’m not in support of judging a movie that is nearly fifty years old by today’s standards, I will say that William Smith’s character is a racists asshole. Because of that he uses a particular slur a lot in the movie. Given that he is the bad guy and that we are supposed to hate him and root for Samson I’m okay with it. But I also equally understand if that might bother a viewer, so I wanted to mention it. Since I’m going to recommend this one and I don’t want anyone to sit down and be traumatized by the language. 

Like I just said I’m going to recommend Black Samson. This movie is a lot of fun and checks a lot of boxes. I watch it every few years and always enjoy it. If you haven’t seen it I encourage you to track down a copy. You won’t be disappointed. 

© Copyright 2023 John Shatzer

Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde (1976)

Blaxploitation movies dipped a lot into the horror genre putting their own unique takes on them. This is the first one that I’ve covered for the site, but it won’t be the last. Here we have a doctor named Henry Pryde. He is a successful doctor and researcher who still takes time to volunteer at a free clinic. Though one of his regular patients, Linda, accuses him of just feeling guilty about being so rich. We also see that Pryde is working on a formula to regenerate liver tissue. His mother drank herself to death and he hasn’t gotten over that. 

You can probably guess what happens next. Pryde’s formula has side effects. The worst one is that it turns you white and homicidal! As the story plays out we are told that Pryde’s mother was a cleaning lady at a brothel and when she collapsed he went looking for help but none of the ladies would open their door to him. So, when he gets all crazed killer, he targets working girls and their pimps for his wrath. Did I mention that Linda is a working girl? She ends up on his list but the cops show up in the nick of time to save the day. 

This movie has an interesting take on the story that I rather liked. The motivation for Pryde going after prostitutes didn’t make much sense as he went from wanting to experiment with is drug to lets just kill people. But then the movie, in an excellent bit of writing, lets you in on why when he loses control, he targets them. Unfortunately, the writing also is very flawed. First up there isn’t a whole lot of story to fill up the runtime. So, there is a lot of talky bits as Pryde does science stuff with his assistant. There is also a lot of Linda and her friend’s kids that doesn’t do anything to serve the actual plot. 

It also bugged me that they do their best to setup Pryde as a smart guy. But then after seeing the serum turn a rat into a killer that wipes out everything in its cage as well as turning a very sick woman nuts and having her attack a nurse, he still injects himself. I’m pretty sure that he would have realized there were issues. Toss in the fact that at sometimes he is bulletproof and other times when it serves the plot he suddenly isn’t! They had the makings of a cool movie here but just failed to deliver on it. 

Bernie Casey seems like a good choice to cast as the lead. He normally is good in whatever role he was cast in. I’m not sure if it was just a poor choice on how to portray the character or if he was just phoning it in but he isn’t very good. There isn’t much effort put into bringing Pryde to the screen and the performance feels flat. The one exception to this is when he is relating to Linda what happened to his mother. He nails that scene which makes the rest of his performance rather disappointing. The rest of the cast is decent, but nothing terribly memorable. 

The makeup on Casey when he turns into Hyde is simple but very effective. We get some pale skin, contacts to make the eyes weird looking, and a dusting of white in his hair. Again, it is very simple, but also creepy. He is also a large man so when he is all “monstered” out it is intimidating and effective. It wasn’t until I was watching the credits that I realized this makeup was the handywork of the late great Stan Winston! 

Dr. Black Mr. Hyde isn’t a terrible movie, but it is disappointing. There was potential here but they somehow missed the boat. Still if you are a fan of Blaxploitation movies, especially horror ones, this is probably worth a watch. Though unlike Blacula or Abby, I can’t see myself in a hurry to watch it again. With that lukewarm recommendation I’m out. 

© Copyright 2023 John Shatzer

Soul Brothers of Kung Fu (1977)

This is one of those movies that the title alone stopped me in my tracks. I mean Soul Brothers of Kung Fu. I must watch this! When I realized that it also starred Bruce Li (note the spelling) that only made it even more of a must watch. In case you were uninformed after the death of Bruce Lee there were a lot of knock offs that paid “homage” to the man. Bruce Li was one of the if not the best of them. Toss in some Blaxploitation vibes and I’m sold.

The movie opens with a couple of men and a woman on a raft at sea. They are stranded and in dire need of help. The next scene is them on a boat rescued. Then later they are living in Hong Kong and Wong, the Bruce Li character, keeps getting in fights and losing his job. But all the fights are righteous because he is just trying to do right. This includes saving a young black man named Tom from a beating. He becomes the fourth friend, and they train him in Kung Fu. I’m thinking that is how they got the title.

Wong ends up annoying a crime boss or maybe just a Kung Fu guy, I’m not sure. Regardless that man sends his three best after Wong. During the fight they kill his wife and cripple him. Tom sticks with him and helps him rehab while the other man from the boat, Chin, becomes a bad guy. This leads to some Kung Fu revenge as Wong puts everything right. Heh… yeah, I did that on purpose. In the end there is only one man standing and he has lost everything. That is kind of a bummer ending that I didn’t see coming.

Other than the inclusion of the Tom character and some racist bad guys this movie isn’t as much of a Blaxploitation movie as it is a Kung Fu flick made to appeal to the urban grindhouses. But then to be fair there isn’t much to this story to fit it into any specific category. The plot is paper thin and there are no explanations as to character motivations. Not only that but there are characters that drop in and out as needed including one that just sort of disappears never to be seen again. At best the story and those non-Kung Fu fighting parts are there just to bridge the many scenes of ass kicking. I think that I’m okay with that.

The fights are many and take up most of the runtime. They are inventive with some happening in the ring, others in a park, and yet more in a lumber mill. These are just a few of the plentiful sequences of mayhem that we are treated to. The actors are all very good martial artists and execute the solid choreography perfectly. When I watch a movie like Soul Brothers of Kung Fu I want to see a lot of punches and kicks being thrown and boy howdy do we get that with this one. Movie you had one job and you delivered the goods.

This isn’t a great movie and I’ve already stated that the plot and characters leave a lot to be desired. But I still liked it. Based on feedback from earlier reviews of Kung Fu movies I also feel the need to say the following. If you aren’t a fan of such things, then you probably won’t like this movie. Seriously I’ve had these conversations in the past. On the other hand, if you dig some Martial Arts and want to see gravity defying moves then Soul Brothers of Kung Fu is for you.

 

© Copyright 2023 John Shatzer

Slaughter (1972)

I haven’t covered many Blaxploitation movies here at the site. If you are unaware of what I’m talking about with this genre the following link will explain it better than I can. Wikipedia is our friend! I watch a lot of these flicks, so I thought it was about time to correct that. So welcome to my first ever marathon of Blaxploitation movies.

Former football star Jim Brown stars as the titular character Slaughter. He is a Green Beret who comes home after his parents were killed in a car bomb. He understands that his father had mob connections, but his mother was innocent. That means that someone is about to pay for what they did to her. Starting with his Dad’s girlfriend he works his way back to the hitman, but just as he is about to put him down things go sideways. Slaughter gets caught up with the Treasury Department, he screwed up their investigation, and ends up in South America. Not only can he fix what he screwed up, but that is also where his parent’s killer is as well. Two birds one stone sort of thing.

I figured why not start off with one of the better but sadly lesser known Blaxploitation movies. Slaughter is a kick in the butt with the action starting from the opening scene and coming non-stop most of the way until another bit of car related violence at the end. In between we get car chases including one with a plane. There are many fistfights, a knife fight, gunfights, and Jim Brown even gets physical with a car. Seriously the bad guys are fighting him with cars while he jumps around them kicking ass! We do get some character development and a subplot of Slaughter falling for the head bad guys lady, but it is paced well so that it never slows the movie down. In fact, we get just enough to root for Slaughter and against Dominic (the assassin and main villain).

The editing of the action sequences are great and it flows perfectly on screen. Jim Brown wasn’t that far removed from his football career and was still a world class athlete. It shows as he is very smooth and natural in all the physical stuff he is asked to do. What gets lost and something a lot of people don’t realize is that he was a good actor as well. Sure, he might not be an Oscar level talent, though an argument can be made he was never given those types of roles. What isn’t debatable is that he can carry a movie.

The rest of the cast is equally as good. You have Stella Stevens as Ann, the gangster’s girlfriend who falls for Slaughter. Rip Torn is Dominic, the gangster who likes to drop “N” bombs and generally make an ass of himself. Torn is really good in this movie and you can’t wait for Slaughter to kill him. Don Gordon who is normally relegated to small supporting roles has a decent part as Harry, the partner Slaughter doesn’t want. Finally, there is a small glorified cameo from Cameron Mitchell. There is a lot of talent around Brown and it only helps to make the movie that much better.

What else haven’t I mentioned? There is a great theme song and a lot of fun groovy music. The camera work is great and includes a weird “fish eye” lens that gives some of the action sequences a unique look. Honestly, I don’t have a bad thing to say about this movie. It is exactly what I want when I sit down too watch an early seventies action movie and because of that I highly recommend Slaughter. Do yourself a favor and track down a copy of the movie.

 

Ó Copyright 2023 John Shatzer

The Red, White, and Black (1970)

This western is set after the Civil War when the U.S. Army fielded all black cavalry units commonly referred to as Buffalo Soldiers. Here we follow a man named Eli who gets caught in bed with another man’s wife. To escape the gun wielding angry spouse he gets in line and joins the army. Then we watch him arrive at a fort and go thru training where we are also introduced to other soldiers as well as the seamstress Miss Julie.

Here is where things go sideways for me. There is a brief romance and then Eli marries Miss Julie. I was expecting more shootouts and cowboy stuff, but we get this instead. Okay fine… but then there is a subplot with a local Indian leader, played by the very white Robert Dix (yikes!). He is friendly and has a treaty with the army, but that ends poorly when a local merchant guns one of his braves down and is in turn killed. Even that makes little sense because they go from friendly to let’s kill everyone without every trying to either hide the crime or explain what happened. Oh, there is also a subplot where Miss Julie hops into bed with another soldier that causes some drama but goes nowhere.

I suppose I would have enjoyed this movie if it had picked one of the storylines and stuck with it. Even if that wasn’t the action that I expected at least I could have followed and maybe had some sort of resolution. Instead what we get is a mess of plot threads that all unravel and never get resolved. Eli is supposed to be our main character, at least I think so. But after spending so much time with him and the fallout from him discovering Miss Julie’s affair he is unceremoniously killed off before the big finale involving the Indians! Yeah, the last ten minutes we are minus what has been the focus of the prior hour and fifteen minutes of plot development.

The above is further muddled with the inclusion of a brief affair and quickly forgotten violence from our main character Eli. Seriously he goes from sympathetic man who we could be rooting for to an abusive and scary husband threating to kill his wife. The entire Indian subplot is also confusing as it serves no purpose other than to maybe insinuate that the African American troops and the oppressed Native Americans should be fighting the real enemy (listen to the song that keeps playing). But then all the white officers are portrayed as at least kind towards the men they command. I’m so confused by this. It basically made it impossible for me to follow or really care about what was happening on screen.

The cast is solid with the previously mentioned Robert Dix as well as the legendary Cesar Romero, Isabel Sanford (The Jeffersons), Barbara Hale (Perry Mason), and Robert DoQuil (Robocop, Walking Tall II). There was a lot of talent in front of the camera as well as behind it with one of my personal favorites, John “Bud” Cardos, behind it directing the action. The fact that they are so let down with a terrible script that also has some very clunky and awkward dialogue makes for an extremely disappointing experience. Obviously, I’m not recommending The Red, White, and Black.

 

© Copyright 2023 John Shatzer

Badass Monster Killer (2015)

Jimmy Chevelle is the monster killer mentioned in the title. He rolls around Camaroville killing all sorts of Lovecraftian horrors while scoring with the ladies. It’s okay though because he works for the Department of Supernatural Security which gives him his badge and gun! Thru a series of flashbacks, we see that his former partner was murdered by a cult lead by the most evil of dudes the Reverend Dellamorte. Their latest plan is to summon the bride of Cthulhu while cornering the weed market so they can distribute a special blend that will encourage the citizens of Camaroville to join their cause. Jimmy and his various lovely sidekicks must stop the bride and save the day. Even if he gets kicked off the force.

There is a lot to like about Badass Monster Killer and a lot that goes sideways. The good stuff is that they totally nail the dialogue and characters. This is a blend of Blaxploitation and Mythos monsters done on a budget. There is a groovy vibe, and it is a bit repetitive but silly fun to watch Jimmy dropping the same pickup line on different ladies before killing the bad guys and taking them back to his pad for some grown up time. This isn’t being played seriously but for laughs and honestly it works well. I liked the cast, and the actors have some chemistry with one another. Plus, it is clear that they are having fun, which is a must for a flick like this. We also get many pretty women in skimpy outfits as well as some topless ladies in the few scenes set in strip clubs. Hey, the bad guys even have topless dancers, which really is a must have for any secret lair in my humble opinion.

I was shocked at how the various Mythos creatures are accurately named and the job that the filmmakers did to bring them to the screen. Who the hell knows what a Shoggoth looks like, other then a Lovecraft nerd like myself that is. They did a decent job with the creature design and by God it is latex and rubber. We also get a spine ripped out, a fun looking bride of Cthulhu complete with he “squid chin”, and some cool body melts as the “acid titties” take their toll. There are a few shots with puppets and some miniature work that I thought was a lot of fun. I dig it when a movie tries to give me some old school effects.

Sadly, there is also a lot of badly done CGI here as well. Giant monsters stomping around, heads popping off, and many kills are cringeworthy. I get the lack of budget and can forgive the above but then they double down. Most of the movie is shot on a green screen with a comic bookish looking city scape behind them. Hell, most of the movie was likely show with a green screen and a few bits of furniture used to dress the different “sets” which are again just green screen and not actual locations. This feels like a flick that was shot completely in a warehouse. I can forgive some bad effects work but at least have some sort of gritty locations to shoot scenes in. The damn movie is almost completely set in a sketchy strip club/cultists hideout and in an alley. Would that have been too terribly difficult?

Too much greenscreen for me

The other thing that sort of bugged me was the length of the movie. This is a fun gimmick, but it will wear out its welcome sooner rather than later. This flick clocks in at a surprising hour and thirty-six minutes! Why? There are a few characters that could have been deleted and jokes that didn’t need to be revisited. For example, the dumb investigators that keep popping up only to get their noggins ripped off aren’t necessary. Same goes for his inspector who brings nothing to the story. One of the things that I notice with a lot of low budget filmmakers is that they either edit the movie themselves or hire someone as equally invested in everything they shot. You could have told this story with a lot tighter runtime, which would have helped immensely. Cut fifteen minutes and this is a way more fun experience.

Now I didn’t hate Badass Monster Killer. It was a fun mashup that treats both the subgenres (Blaxploitation and Lovecraftian Mythos) with respect. But perhaps they were a bit too ambitious with their available resources and needed an editor to cut things down. Still, I’ve seen much worse and think that there enough going for it to check out the movie.

 

© Copyright 2022 John Shatzer

Throwback Thursday - Blacula Blu-Ray Article

note: I had a column in Grindhouse Purgatory where I would cover new Blu-Ray releases with a focus on special features and if it was worth double dipping aka. replacing your DVD copy. Blacula is a favorite of mine so when I saw it get released on Blu-Ray I knew I had to check it out. 

The Blu-Ray report: The Blacula Series

by

John Shatzer

Every time that we get a new home video format I watch as the companies putting out movies run out of material. They end up digging up all sorts of obscure films to fill their inventories and when that fails they start to re-release stuff we already have. As a movie fan this can be both fun and overwhelming. Do I double dip on a Blu-Ray, or don’t I? What about the releases I’ve never heard of? Well fear not good readers I’m back again to help you out with the Blu-Ray report.        

Last time I did Spaghetti Westerns so I thought I’d stay in the Drive-In but check out some classic Exploitation, specifically Blaxploitation. Seeing the new Blu-Ray double feature of Blacula and Scream Blacula Scream sitting in my to watch pile was all the inspiration that I needed for this decision. Time to dive back in and see if the efforts by Shout Factory has made the purchase worth it. Be warned that my review will contain spoilers. If you don’t like that sort of thing stop reading now!

            It makes sense that I would watch the movies in order so the first that I popped in was Blacula, released in 1972. If you haven’t seen this movie shame on you! Things start off with an African Prince visiting the powerful aristocrats of Europe in an effort to get the slave trade stopped. He and his beautiful wife have the misfortune of having supper with Count Dracula! Things go sideways and Dracula makes the prince a vampire solely it seems to lock him in a coffin and have him suffer hunger for all eternity without being able to feed. He also tosses the prince’s wife in to die a slow death locked in the tomb unable to help herself or him. Dracula is kind of a jerk!

            Years later a couple of interior directors buy the contents of the castle and ship it back to the states. Sure enough they crack open the coffin and Blacula gets loose. He goes off feeding and creating his own little army of vampires. Eventually he sees a woman that looks like his long dead wife and decides that she has been reincarnated. The rest of the movie is him pursuing her while being hunting by a doctor that has figured out vampires are running around town. Not going to spoil the ending, but I will say it doesn’t end well for our vampire prince.

            I’ve always been rather annoyed with how Blacula and its sequel get treated by many horror fans. Maybe it is because the title implies that this is just a gimmick that plays on the name of Dracula, or perhaps the lack of quality of some of the movies that were “inspired” by Blacula. That said people really need to give this movie a chance. It has a great cast, some good scares, and the makeup effects are decent for the limited budget. William Marshall is amazing in the lead role of Blacula. The guy has the sort of screen presence that allows him to not only carry the movie, but command his scenes in such a way that makes the character seem larger than life. Considering he is the lead in a horror movie this is key to making the movie work. Marshall is also the sort of actor that can make his monster sympathetic. There is a beast inside him that takes over, one that exists because of what was done to him and not because of his choices. This is a theme that is dealt with more in the sequel.

            There are some decent scares and creepy bits in the movie. The first is when Blacula slowly stalks up on the decorators after they have let him loose. This could have been silly but it is shot in such a way that it works. This is also a prime example of Marshall owning the screen and being intimidating. A couple more highlights are a sequence in the morgue that I liked a lot. It is stylized with a vampire bursting from a door and has always been a treat for me. Finally, there is a bit with them digging up a corpse to prove the vampire theory. Best jump scare of the film right there.

            While the makeup in a vampire movie isn’t as important as say a werewolf or zombie movie it can still wreck things if it isn’t done well. Blacula has very simple look with the expected fangs, grayish skin, and in a neat twist more hair. When Blacula or any vampire is about to feed they get really hairy and bestial in appearance. When Blacula gets angry he gets very animalistic and damn near growls at his victims. It plays into the idea that there is a wild creature inside the vampires that escapes and takes over when they feed or get angry. I’ve always thought that this was a neat idea and wonder why more vampire movies don’t do it. Way better than the sparkly teen heartthrobs…

            Okay so now time to get to what you were all waiting for. Is this worth a double dip? First thing that I noticed before I even popped the movie in is that both are on one disc. That made me wonder how many special features we were getting. Truth is for Blacula not much. By now I don’t think that anyone considers the trailer and a photo gallery to be special features, though they are listed as such. The only other item is a commentary track with film historian David F. Walker. Honestly, he doesn’t bring much to the table. Everything that he talks about is easily found on the web and probably already known by the fans. There are also a couple of spots where he gets a bit “snarky” that annoyed me. The best thing going for this release of Blacula is the transfer. It isn’t perfect but it is noticeably better than my Midnite Movies double feature.

My final thoughts on Blacula is that from start to finish it is a solid horror flick that holds up really well more than forty years after it was made. If you have the same Midnite Movies DVD that I do this one is worth picking up for how much better the movie looks. But then this isn’t only about Blacula so let us take a look at the sequel.

The success of Blacula lead to Scream Blacula Scream in 1973. Given how final the ending of Blacula was I wondered how they were going to bring him back. I mean the ending was satisfying and in some ways sort of redeemed the character. Thankfully instead of the oops someone pulled the stake from Dracula’s heart bit that we always seem to get in the “other” classic vampire franchise the writers here are far cleverer.

Things kick off with a power struggle in a voodoo cult. The leader dies and she passes over her son in favor of a woman that she took in and trained. Her son, Willis, decides to get some revenge and is given some bones by a mysterious man. Using his magical powers, he brings Blacula back to life to use against cult. Only right away Blacula turns the tables and makes Willis his servant. If that isn’t humiliating enough for poor old Willis he has to watch as Blacula befriends his rival and asks her to use her power to free him from his curse. All he wants to do is return to his people after being rid of the beast within him.

The more I watch these movies the more I feel like Scream Blacula Scream is superior to the original. The story is even tighter and doesn’t have to spend any of its time explaining the origins of the vampire. Marshall is even better the second time around adding more depth to the character of Blacula. Between his performance and the writing, the audience gets the impression that again he is trying to fight his curse and wants to be free of it. But then again there are other times where he seems to revel in his power over his minions. There is a duality to the character that is more noticeable in this second outing. When the ritual is interrupted by the heroes coming to save the day Blacula becomes so angry that the woman he has recruited rejects him as being beyond her help.

I mentioned minions in the above paragraph and wanted to elaborate some on that. One of the highlights of this sequel is seeing Blacula interact more with the vampires that he creates. We get a brief bit in a warehouse in the first movie but here the other vampires get more screen time, especially Willis who is Blacula’s first snack after being brought back. I liked seeing these interactions because they reinforce the conflict within Marshall’s portrayal of the vampire. At times he is brutal and at other times he shows mercy. Though in the end he basically uses them all as sacrificial lambs to shield him from those trying to stop the ritual. Even in trying to redeem himself he damns himself. There is a lot of depth and thought put into the script and performances which is why these are such great movies.

Marshall is again brilliant in the role of Blacula for the reasons I’ve already mentioned above. This time they doubled down on the cast by adding familiar faces like Pam Grier who plays Lisa, the woman trying to help him rid himself of the curse. She gives her normal solid performance and is an asset to the cast. I also liked Richard Lawson as Willis whose jealousy gets the ball rolling.

I clearly enjoy Scream Blacula Scream. But what about the special features? Again, we get photos and a trailer. Though this time around there isn’t a commentary track. Instead we get a decent interview with Richard Lawson. It is less than fifteen minutes long but I thought it was a much better bonus than the commentary. He actually worked on the movie and could speak about the cast, director, and what the set was generally like. When I think about special features this is what I’m expecting and while there is only the one interview I’ll take it. I’d also like to note that the transfer is again an improvement over my old Midnite Movies double feature.

Finishing up this installment of the Blu-Ray report I’d recommend picking up the new Blacula double feature disc from Shout Factory. While I wished they had more interviews and other goodies the transfers are likely an improvement over what most of us already have. And of course, we get the Richard Lawson interview which is a nice extra. Best of all the Blu-Ray is cheap at around fifteen bucks. Worth the investment I’d say.

Well that is it for this installment of the Blu-Ray report. I hope that I was able to steer you away from wasting your money by pointing you towards the good buys. If you enjoyed this please check out my blog at horrordude.blogspot.com for more of my musings on all things movie related. As always please feel free to email me at gutmunchers@gmail.com with any complaints or compliments! I’m always eager and ready to converse with another movie fan.

 

© Copyright 2021 John Shatzer

Devil’s Express (aka. Gang Wars) (1976)

I’ve been an avid consumer of bad and cheesy movies for most of my nearly fifty years on this planet. After all that time you would think that I’ve seen them all, but you’d be wrong. I stumbled over this one while digging deep on Amazon and was intrigued by the brief synopsis. A martial artist has to do battle with a demon in the subways of New York City… Sign me up!

Things get kicked off in China in 200 BC. Some monks are taking a crate and hiding it in a cave. After that they are killed, by one of the guards who kills himself after everyone else is dead. I suppose this is to keep some terrible secret safe. Which we find out later was a demon locked in the crate by a magic talisman.

Flash forward to the groovy seventies and we meet Luke and his buddy Rodan practicing martial arts in New York City. After talking about the neighborhood and the gangs that infest it they head to China for some training. Rodan isn’t that into it and stumbles on the cave, accidentally letting out what was in the box when he picks up the talisman that was keeping the demon contained! It follows the pair home and starts to hunt in the subways of the city. After the bodies pile up a bit Luke eventually has a showdown with the demon.

I can’t say that this is a good movie. It has no budget, which is apparent as it tries to pass off various parks in New York as rural China. There is a distinct feel of guerilla filmmaking as many of the street scenes are filled with people who appear surprised by the camera and actors walking down the street. Also, many of the exterior scenes in the movie have no dialogue as all we get is loud music playing. This is a common trick when you either don’t have the proper gear to capture sound or can’t loop the actors in later. Devil’s Express clearly has some technical issues, most of which can certainly be blamed on the budget.

I can forgive money related deficiencies. What is difficult is when I see problems that more money wouldn’t fix. While some of the actors have martial arts skills the fight choreography isn’t up to what you would get from a Kung Fu movie that was actually made in China rather than this one that was clearly inspired by them. If you are making a movie like this, you really need the fights to pop and be interesting. Another problem plaguing Devil’s Express is the pacing. The story plods along with a few interesting bits here and there. Most of the parts that I liked had to do with the gang war between the African Americans and the Asians. Sadly, this is relegated to filler as the slow as molasses demon in the subway plot line gets most of the attention.

In the end I think that I liked the idea of Devil’s Express more than I liked the movie itself. Unless you are obsessed with checking out every Kung Fu or Blaxploitation movie you can find, like I am, this movie is one you should skip. Not recommended.

  © Copyright 2018 John Shatzer