HIT MAN (1972)
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 91 Minutes 12 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: George Armitage
Cast: Bernie Casey, Pam Grier, Bhetty Waldron, Candy All, Christopher Joy, Sam Laws, Don Diamond, Bob Harris, Edmund Cambridge, Roger E. Mosley, Rudy Challenger
In the blaxploitation remake of Get Carter, Hit Man (1971), directed by George Armitage (Gross Pointe Blank) and produced by Roger Corman's brother Gene Corman, Tyrone Tackett (Bernie Casey, Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde) a former cop, gets word that his brother Cornell has died in drunken car accident, and he just knows deep down in his soul that his brother wasn't the kind of man to throw his life away like that. To get to the bottom of what really happened he makes the trip from Oakland to Los Angeles and starts putting together the pieces, because someone is going to pay.
As soon as her arrives in L.A. he's got people either coming after him or telling him to get back to Oakland. He interrogates Cornell's girlfriend Irvelle (Bhetty Waldron) and his teenage daughter, Rochelle (Candy All, Friday Foster), but the answers are not coming easily for him. He' finds himself followed and harassed by low-rent thugs Baby Huey (Roger E. Mosley, Terminal Island) and Leon (Christopher Joy, Up in Smoke) who tell him he has overstayed his welcome and he might get hurt or worse if he sticks around much longer. Not one to scare easily Tyrone teams-up with Cornell's business partner Sherwood Epps (Sam Laws, The Fury) to get to the bottom of it all, along the way finding himself at odds with white crime boss Nano Zito (Don Diamond, The Toolbox Murders) and his hired-thug chauffeur Shag (Bob Harris, The Student Teachers) and porno theater entrepreneur Theotis Oliver (Edmund Cambridge, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey)
Bernie Casey as Tyrone is a total bad-ass, always keeping it cool and smooth, and loving up the ladies, including a porn-actress Gozelda, played by a very sexy Pam Grier (Foxy Brown), and a horny hotel manager Laural Garfoot (Lisa Moore, Act of Vengeance), and even squeezing in time to talk dirty to his foxy girlfriend Nita Biggs (Tracy Ann-King, Mansion of the Doomed) back in Oakland over the phone while she plays with herself.
The end result is a truth that is pretty hard to stomach for Tyrone, dealing with not only the death of Cornell but also finding his young niece Rochelle has been involved with some seedy dealings and is found dead. Tyrone turns one crime boss against another, ensuring a bloody revenge, as well as handling a few of the guilty parties himself in a more personal matter, literally feeding one to the lions! It starts off a bit slow, but there is a pleasant abundance of nudity with stud Tyrone having little trouble bedding the ladies, but the final leg of it gets plenty bloody with some excellent action sequences that kicks things up a notch
For me this was not top-tier blaxploitation, but I tell you that I had a Hell of a good time watching Bernie Casey as the always cool, constantly bad-ass Tyrone as he seeks justice for his dead brother. That we get foxy-ass Pam Grier and a bevy other other fine-looking women nude onscreen also does not hurt even a little. I also love the porno theater scene, early 70s neon lit L.A. streets, and the fly outfits that Bernie Casey wore, love seeing this lost version of L.A. preserved on celluloid. There's also some decent humor to it and a few one-liner nuggets, like when Tyrone tells Little Huey that he's going to "kick the black off you", it's not a comedy but there's some humor to it for sure.
Audio/Video: Hit Man (1972) gets a region-free Blu-ray from Warner Archive in 1080p HD framed in 1.85:1 widescreen. The source looks good, very clean, there are some signs of restoration of vertical lines that I could see, but generally a very filmic and pleasing HD presentation with strong black levels and with skin tones and colors that look accurate. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. Dialogue sounded just fine, moments of action are handled well and the score by H.B. Barnum (Five on the Black Hand Side) sounded excellent. The single-disc Blu-ray arrives in a standard keepcase with the original illustrated movie poster artwork on the wrap. The only extras is a rough-looking fullscreen Trailer.
Special Features:
- Original Theatrical Trailer (1:17)
Screenshots from the Warner Archive Blu-ray:
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