The Mack (1973, Michael Campus)

A key element to most Blaxploitation films are Pimps. Either Cops (usually White) vs. Pimps, Pimps vs. Pimps or a Black Man's ascension from poverty to pimpin'. The Mack is a mixture of all three, plus a good amount of sex and violence. This film was recommended to me a couple years ago and I just never got around to watching it until now. The one thing that I was told about the film that made it a must see was a Pimp convention, which I'll admit made me very curious.

Goldie (Max Julien) just got out of jail. He goes back to his old neighborhood with the dream of becoming the biggest pimp around. His brother, who has been working to make a change while Goldie was in the joint, disapproves of his brother's new venture. Goldie is determined to follow through with his plans and soon enough he becomes the top pimp around. Unfortunately, the current big pimp, Pretty Tony, thinks Goldie is getting to be too big and tries to stop him. Two racist cops also get in the mix and try to bring down "The Mack".

The Mack was a fine film with a good mix of drama, action and pimpin'. Max Julien does a great job as Goldie, with the toughness and coolness that the role demands. The rest of the cast do a great job and (as I was told) the "Playa's Convention" was awesome. The costumes, haircuts and attitudes brought the perfect amount of outrageousness to the film. Richard Pryor is also great as Goldie's right hand man.

RATING: 7/10

Black Mama, White Mama (1973, Eddie Romero)

Though technically not a Blaxploitation film per se, it (ironically) has probably the greatest Blaxploitation title in film history. Directed by low budget Filipino film maker/producer Eddie Romero (infamous for his Beast of Blood films), Black Mama, White Mama is a cross between a WIP film and a Chase film. Starring Pam Grier and Margaret Markov, who starred together again in The Arena, a WIP/Gladiator (!?!) film, I had been looking for this film for awhile and finally found a copy, a two disc set with Foxy Brown.

Two women on an island prison, revolutionary Karen Brent (Margaret Markov) and prostitute Lee Daniels (Pam Grier) are chained together and are being sent to another facility. Karen's revolutionary friends try to rescue her but are stopped by the cops. Karen and Lee manage to escape into the woods though and then become the targets of a manhunt. Despite their dislike for each other, they have to work together to either find Karen's friends or Lee's Pimp's headquarters.

Black Mama, White Mama has all the elements to make a decent action/exploitation film. The interplay between Markov and Grier is fun but the film itself could be better. Sid Haig is great (as always) as bounty hunter cowboy Ruben, but the rest of the characters are forgettable. There are some nice n' sleazy WIP scenes involving showers and lesbian prison guards but that's only in the first half hour of the film. Worth a watch and definitely a nice story (co-written by Jonathan Demme no less) but nothing to write home about.

RATING: 6/10

Foxy Brown (1974, Jack Hill)

Originally conceived as a sequel to Coffy entitled Burn Coffy Burn!, the producers were against sequels so Hill rewrote it as a new character, Foxy Brown. Basically the same character as in Coffy, but there are a few small differences. Easily Hill's most well known film, which is kind of surprising it being an almost grittier version of it's predecessor. Continuing on with my Jack Hill and Blax reviews....Heeeeeere's Foxy.

Foxy Brown (Pam Grier) has a brother Link (Antonio Fargas) who can't seem to keep himself out of trouble. A drug dealer and user, Link is in trouble with his dealers because of some money that he owes them. Foxy helps him out, but after Foxy's undercover agent boyfriend Michael (Terry Carter) undergoes plastic surgery to hide his identity, Link sells him out to save himself. Foxy then goes undercover as a prostitute to get revenge on those responsible for Michael's death.

Foxy Brown is another Jack Hill, Blaxploitation and Action film classic. Pam Grier kicks major ass as Foxy and with a similar plot to Coffy, Hill actually manages to add in even more sleaziness. There are many shocking scenes in the film, especially when Grier is raped and shot up with heroin, not to mention the "present" that she delivers in a glass jar. Though not as tight as Coffy, Foxy Brown still delivers and has lots of action and great characters (especially Antonio Fargas as Link) to keep viewers more than entertained.

RATING: 8/10

Coffy (1973, Jack Hill)

Black History Month has begun and I decided to start with Jack Hill's Coffy and Foxy Brown to simultaneously start a month's worth of Blaxploitation reviews and finish out my Jack Hill reviews (Sorceress coming eventually). Coffy was the first Jack Hill film I saw. I forget exactly why I watched Coffy the first time, but it began my interest in Blax films, Jack Hill and Pam Grier. For that, I owe Coffy a lot.

Pam Grier plays Miss Coffin, a young nurse who goes by the name Coffy. Her 11 year old sister is in a hospital after shooting up some bad smack and Coffy makes it her personal goal in life to rid the world of dope dealers.

Pretty simple premise but like all of Jack Hill's films, there is much more to it. Coffy is filled with colorful characters, lots of action and a great story. Pam Grier gives one of her best performances here as the innocent nurse by day/vigilante by night and Sid Haig shows up too as a racist henchman named Omar. Robert DoQui also gives a fine performance as the over the top pimp/drug dealer King George. Coffy is perhaps Hill's most enjoyable, violent and over the top film, which is really saying a lot. It also made Grier one of the first female action stars, also an impressive feat, especially for a low budget blaxploitation film.

RATING: 9/10

Celebrating Black History Month

I decided that I would celebrate Black History Month this year by watching nothing but Blaxploitation films for the whole month of February. One of the coolest and funnest sub genre of exploitation films, Blaxploitation has it all. Violence, sex, comedy, floppy hats, white suits, gold chains...you name it.

Expect lots and lots of reviews this month for the best in Blaxploitation. As a crossover with my Jack Hill reviews, the first two I will be reviewing will be Coffy and Foxy Brown. Stay tuned...

Switchblade Sisters (1974, Jack Hill)

Getting sick of my Jack Hill reviews? Tough shit. Actually you are in luck because there are only a couple left (My Sorceress review will be last because I haven't actually watched my VHS copy yet due to the sheer inconvenience of the VHS format). Switchblade Sisters was released on DVD on Miramax films via Quentin Tarantino's Rolling Thunder label, pretty odd considering it is a low budget, mid 70's exploitation film about a female gang. The fact Tarantino single handedly brought this film to a wide audience is amazing and really what I love about him (besides his movies). He is in the position to get people to watch these hidden gems, which is great.

Switchblade Sisters follows the Dagger Debs, a gang of under aged girls whose boyfriends are in a gang called the Silver Daggers. They do what they want, cause trouble wherever they go and, along with the Silver Daggers, run their school. Lace (Robbie Lee), the leader of the Debs befriends Maggie (Joanne Nail), a new recruit who starts messing around with Lace's boyfriend Dominic (Asher Brauner). Lace plots against Maggie while the Silver Daggers begin a war with a new local gang, led by Crabs (Chase Newhart).

Switchblade Sisters may well be Hill's best movie. If not, I'd say it's the most representative of his career. It has pretty much everything in it that makes Hill's films so fun: violence, profanity, great characters, humor and outrageousness. The characters are definitely the highlight though. Each one is well thought out and play an integral part of the film, making it the classic that it is. The cast pull off the parts perfectly. Robbie Lee is so annoying as the ever snarling Lace, that you can't help but be amazed by her. She's like a little kid who throws a fit every time she doesn't get what she wants. Joanne Nail as Maggie is also excellent. A perfect combination of sugar and spice.

P.S. - The DVD of this film has an intro and outro by Tarantino, trailers to all of Hill's films and it even has Hill's first student film The Host (starring Sid Haig), which has been said to have inspired the last act of (Hill's classmate) Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now.

RATING: 9/10

Big Bird Cage (1972, Jack Hill)

For the longest time I would always get the titles to The Big Bird Cage and The Big Doll House mixed up. The films themselves are pretty similar (even some of the actors are the same) plus the fact they have the same director and producer. I saw The Big Bird Cage shortly after I discovered Jack Hill and I was a little disappointed by it. I was actually surprised by it in some ways too (I'll elaborate more as we go on). Coffy and Switchblade Sisters had blown me away and it wasn't until this film that I started to lose interest in Hill's films (though only temporarily). It would be over a year later that I would watch Swinging Cheerleaders and realize that I had written Mr. Hill off far too soon. Anyway, I decided to give it another chance.

The Big Bird Cage takes place in (you guessed it) a women's prison, this time it's actually more of an outdoor jungle prison. The women are made to work in the fields or in a huge structure called The Big Bird Cage, which is used to make sugar. Occasionally "accidents" happen on the Big Bird Cage so it is usually the lazy or the trouble making girls that are made to work in it. Terry (The Price is Right's Anitra Ford) is mistakenly arrested for a robbery and, despite her innocence, is sent to the women's prison, mainly because it is known that she has slept with many political leaders. Soon, a woman named Blossom (Pam Grier) and her boyfriend Django (Sid Haig), who were the real robbers that got Terry in trouble, infiltrate the prison (as a prisoner and gay guard, respectively) to plan a break out for the women.

The Big Bird Cage unfortunately does not live up to the standards of it's previous film The Big Doll House. The story is decent and the set designs are great (Hill's father actually built the Big Bird Cage). The characters are interesting but not as fun as in Big Doll House. The film is very dated and politically incorrect, which adds some comedy to the story (in the form of two gay guards and their attempts to win the affection of Django). Grier and Haig steal the show as usual, but Anitra Ford is also nice to watch. The most surprising thing about the film is its lack of seriousness. When I first read about this film (and Hill's films in general), I thought they would be more serious films, or at least take themselves seriously. This film seemed a little too tongue in cheek for it's own good. I'd recommend a watch but there are better choices out there.

RATING: 5/10