Cooley High (1975, Michael Schultz)

Remember Boyz II Men? I sure do. I always wondered where the album name Cooleyhighharmony came from? Now I know. They even covered a song from the soundtrack (It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday by G. C. Cameron). Anyway, they were obviously fans of the film which has been described as a black version of American Graffiti, and fittingly so. I'll admit that Cooley High was never high on my "to watch" list, I kind of just threw it in hoping for something at least watchable.

Cooley High follows Leroy "Preach" Jackson (Glynn Turman) and his friend Richard "Cochise" Morris (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs aka Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington from Welcome Back, Kotter). They are high school students who care more about having fun and getting chicks then school. After cutting class to go to the zoo, the boys get in trouble with their teacher Mr. Mason (Garrett Morris). Soon after, they get in trouble again, this time with the law when they are falsely accused for stealing a car. The unlikely ally Mr. Morris comes to their rescue, but the boys find themselves in trouble when the real criminals think they were ratted out.

I was pleasantly surprised by Cooley High. The film deserves the praise it has received over the years as one of the best films about the many ups and downs of teenage life. The film is frequently funny but is also at times dramatic and sad. The characters are well developed and are easy to identify with. All of the actors are excellent, especially Turman who completely immerses himself in his role of Preach with a broad range of emotions. Cynthia Davis, who plays Preach's love interest Brenda is also noteworthy (and super hot).

RATING: 8/10

Goodbye Uncle Tom (1971, Gualtiero Jacopetti & Franco Prosperi)

"Makes Roots look like an episode of The Jeffersons" so states one of the quotes on this DVD cover. If those aren't strong words then I don't know what are. The title alone makes it pretty obvious that the film has something to do with slavery, a very touchy subject for most people. The fact anyone could enslave another human being, not to mention treat a whole race of people as if they are inferior is disgusting and seems so hard to believe in this day and age. This film is one of those "I dare you to watch it" types, though unlike many of other films lumped into that category, this film is based on true events. It's hard to tell how much of the film was embellished by the pseudo-documentary style and previous exploits of the film makers, but it is obvious there is a lot of truth displayed in this film. Displayed being a very soft term. More like thrown in your face. The film I am talking about is the last of the Mondo films by Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi - Goodbye Uncle Tom.

Goodbye Uncle Tom begins at a 1800s renaissance-y dinner party featuring a conversation on Black people. The guests consider them unintelligent and inferior to whites. Next thing you know, we are on board a ship transporting hundreds of black slaves from Africa to the United States. The treatment of the people as being no more than animals is very hard to watch. The film focuses heavily on how the slaves were "cleaned up" when they were brought over and sold off. The film also shows how all of this is seen through the eyes of a black man today.

Goodbye Uncle Tom is one of the hardest movies I've ever sat through. I actually almost turned it off after about 20 minutes but decided to stick with it. Seeing other humans treated with such degradation is infuriating, not to mention sickening. Slaves are shown being pulled along on chain leashes and forced to breed like dogs. As I stated before, it's hard to tell what facts were stretched to enrage the viewer but it doesn't really matter. The fact slavery occurred at all is really enough to anger me. Without reading too much into it, it would seem that Jacopetti and Prosperi obviously attempted to make a film so outrageous and explicit that it would really make people see how severe the injustices were that the slaves endured. Unfortunately, the film goes way overboard to nauseating extremes and sort of loses the viewers in exploitation territory. The film makers have been called "devious" and "irresponsible" documentarians. Though there are parts of the film that are fascinating, I agree that the way the film is presented muddles the film makers' intentions, causing the audience uncertainty as to whether they are passionate about getting their point across or just exploiting their subject. The final scenes in the film, set in the present day, really insult the viewer and almost nullify the message of the film makers' (assumed) intentions. I can't say I would recommend this film to anyone, nor would I tell people to stay away from it. Those who would want to see it know who they are.

Note - the version I watched was the English version contained in Blue Underground's out of print Shockumentaries Volume 2, which is now available as a single disc. There is an extended Italian Director's Cut version on the Shockumentary: Extreme Collection, also released by Blue Underground and is readily available.

RATING: 5/10

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971, Melvin Van Peebles)

Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song is considered by many to be not only an important film for the Black community but also an inspiration for DIY film makers. The way the film was made and all of the controversies (and spreading of venereal diseases) is pretty amazing and ground breaking. The film itself? Well, that's a little more difficult.

Sweet Sweetback is the story of (you guessed it) Sweet Sweetback (Melvin Van Peebles) who got this nickname as a kid for his sexual prowess (or size of his weiner, I'm not sure). Regardless, Sweetback grows up in a whorehouse and puts on sex shows with the women there for customers. He gets framed for a crime and then gets handcuffed to another guy and then fucks some biker chick and kills some dogs. There's more to it...or is there.

Truth is, I didn't really understand this movie. Nor did I like it. It was a hallucinogenic, confusing, sexually graphic mess. The sex scenes are real and they are frequent, not to mention tasteless and uncomfortable. The film is very psychedelic, with a lot of dizzying camera work and repeated sound bites. I really had no idea what was going on for most of the film and didn't really care. I was glad when it was over and hope I never have to watch it again.

RATING: 2/10

Scream Blacula Scream (1973, Bob Kelljan)

Scream Blacula Scream. I don't think it really has anything to do with the film itself, unless I missed something, but it is definitely a great title. William Marshall returns as Blacula, despite his wormy demise in the first film. Oh well, Dracula always comes back so why not Blacula? Though I had wanted to see the two Blacula films for a long time, when I found out Pam Grier was in this one it made it even that much harder (no pun intended) to resist.

Pam Grier plays Lisa, a girl taken in by a voodoo priestess. When the priestess dies, she leaves the inheritance to Lisa, which majorly pisses off the priestess's biological son Willis (Richard Lawson). To get back at her, Willis performs a voodoo ceremony with the bones of Mamuwalde, which brings him back to life. Willis becomes his first vampire servant and they soon target Lisa, whom Mamuwalde has taken a shine to.

A fun sequel to a very original film, Scream Blacula Scream is a Blaxploitation Vampire film that continues on the legend of Mamuwalde very nicely. Marshall does a great job as the funky prince of darkness and Pam Grier does a fine job as the beautiful heroine and Blacula's prospective princess. A little slow in the middle of the film, the rest is exciting and, like the first, actually kind of scary. Those Afro'd vampires are some of the most threatening I've seen. Overall lots of fun and worth a watch for sure.

RATING: 6/10

Blacula (1972, William Crain)

What would a Blaxploitation marathon be without Blacula? Inferior, that's what. The fact that I love Horror films and my blog reviews a good amount of them made Blacula a no-brainer. Though I had never seen it before, I had heard of Blacula many times in the past. The first time I remember hearing about it was in Junior High School. A couple of my friends used to rent the worst movies they could find and many Blax films (particularly the ones with the most ridiculous titles) frequently popped up. I remember The Avenging Disco Godfather being one and Blacula was one of the other most memorable. The most ironic thing about Blacula though...well I'll get to that later.

Blacula tells the story of Mamuwalde (William Marshall), an African prince who pissed off Dracula (who happened to be a racist) a few hundred years ago and, as punishment, is turned into a vampire named Blacula and is trapped in a casket. Flash forward to the present when two gay art collectors buy an estate which includes the casket. After it is opened, out pops Blacula who turns them into vampire servants. Soon, Blacula is on the prowl and finds Tina (Vonetta McGee), the reincarnation of his love from the past, Luva. Blacula hypnotizes her and it is up to her friend Gordon (Thalmus Rasulala) to save her.

As I was saying, the ironic thing about Blacula is that it's a straight up horror film. The only real silliness is its name and how dated it is. It's really nothing more than a vampire story taking place in the present time (well present for when it was released). I half expected the film to be an over the top spoof (see Love at First Bite) but it is actually a solid vampire film. The story is interesting, the characters have more to them than expected and probably the biggest surprise for me, it's kind of scary. The vampire slaves have a terrifying look to them and seem to pop out when you least expect. William Marshall proves to be one of the most charismatic Draculas to grace the silver screen and pulls off the role with much success. His voice is what really does it, sounding oddly enough, just like Christopher Lee. Also of note is Vonetta McGee, who was in one of my favorite movies of all time (The Great Silence), a beautiful and fitting partner for Blacula.

RATING: 7/10

Bucktown (1975, Arthur Marks)

Fred "The Hammer" Williamson, one of the major stars of the Blaxploitation genre, made many a film in many different genres. From Blaxploitation to Spaghetti Western to Futuristic Italian Gladiator, The Hammer has done it all. When I read about Bucktown, and how it featured The Hammer AND Pam Grier, I knew I had to see it.

The Hammer plays Duke Johnson who shows up in Bucktown, a small southern town, to bury his brother. Bucktown is run by a Police force consisting of a bunch of corrupt, racist cops who make local businesses pay them protection money. Duke doesn't like the corruption and makes a stand by bringing in some friends from back home. His friends, led by Roy (Thalmus Rasulala) come to Duke's aid but it turns out that they have some other plans for the town, to help benefit their own needs.

Bucktown is a fun, kind of silly film. The Hammer brings it but unfortunately Pam Grier (who plays his deceased brother's girlfriend who eventually falls for Duke himself) is nothing more than wallpaper in the film (though very sexy wallpaper). Duke's friends (including a young, afro'd Carl Weathers) who come to save the day but also stir up some trouble of their own are convincing as a nasty bunch of mofos. The corrupt cops also do a good job at being bad. The story is fun and entertaining and there are some really good shoot outs and action scenes. The main problem is just the over the top silliness of the film.

RATING: 6/10

Truck Turner (1974, Jonathan Kaplan)

Isaac Hayes I've known about for a long time, though not as an actor. Unless you include his voice talents for the character Chef on the animated South Park television series, I knew him as "the guy who sang the Shaft theme song". I think the first time I saw Hayes as an actor was either in the William Lustig film Uncle Sam or in Keenan Ivory Wayans' I'm Gonna Git You Sucka. The first time I heard of the film Truck Turner was actually on a movie poster in the Brattle Theater in Cambridge, MA. I had no idea what the film was and soon after read that it was a Blaxploitation film. Still not knowing or thinking much about the film, I just decided to throw it on for the Blax marathon and all I have to say is "WHOA!"

"Mack" Truck Turner (Isaac Hayes) is an ex football player turned Bail Bondsman/Bounty Hunter. He and his partner Jerry (Alan Weeks) are hired to bring in a Pimp named Gator (Paul Harris). After a long chase, they finally kill Gator in self defense but (in a surprisingly scary scene) one of his bitches stabs Jerry. Though Jerry survives, He and Truck soon find themselves being hunted after a hit is put out for Truck by Gator's woman, who is now in charge of his "stable".

As far as urban action/exploitation films go, Truck Turner is a revelation. It had some of the best car chases I've seen, frantic gun and fist fights, beautiful women, kick ass heroes, and a good story. Of course there are also the pimps (they are the bad guys in this one), the lead being played excellently by Blaxploitation regular Yaphet Kotto. I'll also give a shout out to the pimp who had a different eye patch to match each of his pimp suits. One of the other things that really surprised (and delighted) me about the film was its humor. Truck's foul mouthed wisecracks (some of the funniest of which are to his cat) had me in hysterics. The direction is also well done and the film was directed by Johnathan Kaplan, who also directed one of my favorite films Over the Edge. Overall this film was a very pleasant surprise and delivered on many different levels. I could really find no fault in this film. I'd go so far as to call it pretty much perfect.

RATING: 10/10