BLACK EYE (1974)
Label: Warner Archive
Region Code: Region Code
Rating: R
Duration: 97 Minutes 48 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Jack Arnold
Cast: Fred Williamson, Rosemary Forsyth, Teresa Graves, Nancy Fisher, Frank Ashmore, Rosemary Forsyth, Brett Morrison, Theodore Wilson, Cyril Delevanti, Richard Anderson, Susan Arnold, Richard X. Slattery
In the Jack Arnold (Tarantula!) directed blaxploitation-tinged noirish detective story Black Eye (1974) former pro-footballer turned bas-ass action star Fred 'The Hammer' Williamson (1990: The Bronx Warriors) plays Private Eye Shep Stone, a former L.A. cop who after the O.D. death of his sister was kicked off the LAPD for strangling a drug dealer. At the start of the film he gets caught up in a case pertaining to a gold-tipped walking cane with a wolf's head handle that was stolen from the grave of a silent film star. He gets caught up in it when while visiting his foxy bi-sexual girlfriend Cynthia's (Teresa Graves, That Man Bolt) apartment and happens upon the murder scene of her neighbor Vera Brownmiller (Nancy Fisher), an adult film actress, where he is attacked by her killer Chess (Frank Ashmore, TVs V: The Final Battle), who is still in the room. After a knock-down, drag-out fight with splintering of tables, chairs and broken glass the killer escapes with the cane, but Stone starts investigating the murder, leading to the lesbian socialite lover of his girlfriend, Miss Francis (Rosemary Forsyth, What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice?), which leads him further into a spider-web of murder and drugs. He encounters a cast of seedy characters including aging pornographer Max Majors (Brett Morrison, TVs The Edge of Night), the proprietor of soul food joint The Pooh House, Lindy (Theodore Wilson, Cleopatra Jones), and fortune teller/movie memorabilia collector Talbot (Cyril Delevanti, Night of the Iguana). At the same time he's hired by desperate father Dole (Richard Anderson, Oscar Goldman from the The Six Million Dollar Man!) to track down his missing hop-head daughter Amy (Susan Arnold, The Female Bunch), which leads him to a Jesus freak congregation run by Avery (Larry Man, the voice of Yukon Cornelius from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!), and eventually comes to realize that both cases are connected. Occasionally Stone's former partner Bowen (Richard X. Slattery, The Boston Strangler) show's up to attempt to chide the PI into coming back onto the force and rib him about the sad state of his life and hygiene ever since he was let go from the force.
This is not one of Arnold's or Williamson's finest moments but it was their first team-up and it's still an entertaining flick, even though it feels low-budget at every turn and has the veneer of a made-for-TV movie of the era - perhaps because it was shot by cinematographer Ralph Woolsey (Fire Sale, The Pack) who did a lot of TV work on series like Maverick and 77 Sunset Strip, it's still got some charms and should appeal to anyone who was a fan of Williamson's 70s action and blaxploitation flicks. We get a decent amped-up car-chase and that hotel room knife fight at the beginning is really quite well done, but there are too many static detours that stilt the momentum, including scenes of Stone daydreaming about playing nerf-football on the beach with his lady friend. That said, not awful by any means, Fred 'The Hammer' Williamson has charisma to spare, and the seemingly endless parade of seedy characters is intriguing, an the handful of action/violent scenes kept it plenty entertaining for me. Also, the scene of Stone sneaking onto the set of a porno shoot is fun stuff, we don't see any of the sex-acting, but Williamson's face and eye-acting in response to what he is seeing might be worth the price of admission on it;s own! I also loved how totally ridiculous it wraps up as well, ending with Stone tossing the big-bad, with a twisty revelation, off a pier to the chagrin of his former partner Bowen who looks on bemused.
Audio/Video: Previously issued on DVD back in 2011 Black Eye (1974) makes it's Blu-ray debut on region-free Blu-ray from the Warner Archive, presented in 1080p HD 1.85:1 widescreen. It's a striking 4K restoration sourced from the OCN, grain is intact and nicely resolved, detail and textures look fantastic, and colors and skin tones look wonderful. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. The track is clean, and the music and dialogue are well-balanced, there are no issues with hiss or distortion, just a very solid audio track.
Sadly, we get zero extras for this one, just a static menu with the option to view with or without subtitles. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring the original movie poster artwork.
Special Features:
- None
Screenshots from the Warner Archive Blu-ray:
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