BOSS NIGGER (1975) (The Sprocket Vault Blu-ray Review)

BOSS NIGGER  (1975) 

Label: The Sprocket Vault
Region Code: A
Rating: PG
Duration: 93 Minutes
Audio: English 2.0 PCM Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 
Director: Jack Arnold
Cast: Fred Williamson, D’Urville Martin, William Smith, R. G. Armstrong, Don “Red” Barry

Blaxploitation western Boss Nigger (1975) stars former pro-footballer turned bad-ass black cinema hero Fred Williamson (1990: The Bronx Warriors) as "Boss" and comic sidekick Amos (D'Urville Martin, Sheba Baby), a pair of black-skinned bounty hunters in the Old West. After years of being enslaved by whitey they've turned the tables and have begun hunting down bad white men for a change! At the top of the film the pair gun down a group of bank robbers and find a note from the Mayor of a nearby town offering one of the crooks a position as the town's sheriff, which seems odd but it turns out the Mayor, played by R.G. Armstrong (The Car), is in the back pocket of notorious outlaw Jed Clayton (William Smith, Invasion of the Bee Girls). Boss uses this bit of information to blackmail the mayor into giving him the vacant Sheriff position, making his sidekick Amos deputy, much to the dismay of the local white-folks who don't take kindly to a black sheriff in a white town! 

Amos begins posting notices around town laying down the new law, fining the not-so-good folk for racial slurs and general impoliteness, humorously jailing the bank president for using the n-word to the consternation of the befuddled Mayor. The film is a ragged bit of cinema that's poorly shot and edited but it has some charms, namely the presence of Fred "The Hammer" Williamson and D'Urville Martin as the gun-slinging bounty hunters turned local lawmen, plus a cast of fun side characters like Armstrong, and Carmen Hayward (Father of the Bride) as an ebony love-interest for Boss, and white-lady Barbara Leigh (Terminal Island) as a real-thirsty for lovin' schoolteacher! 

The film is filled with a typical western tropes with a blaxploitation slant, scripted by Williamson the film is loaded with bad dialogue, but some of it as uttered by Williamson is pretty cool, the guy is just bad-ass clad in all black leather from head to toe, plus Martin offers up loads of laughs as the sidekick. The film struggles a bit to find and maintain a tone though, at first it delivers the humor in force but then goes for some pervy leering and rape (via Armstrong's Mayor character) and then we have the death of a small Mexican child who is trampled by a baddie on a galloping horse, coming to a close with the torture of out hero and some grim revenge. That said, all the key players are a blast to watch and I found the technical shortcomings of the film forgivable. Director Jack Arnold made some iconic sci-fi and horror films in the fifties with Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Tarantula, (1955) and The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) before moving onto Westerns and TV fare in the sixties, this is not his best film by any means but it is entertaining slice of blaxploitation featuring Fred Williamson kicking ass and taking names in the old west, it's schlocky but fun.

Audio/Video: Boss Nigger (1975) arrives on Blu-ray from MVD Visual and The Sprocket Vault in 1080p HD framed in 2.35:1 widescreen. The flat murky image leaves a lot to be desired in regard to contemporary HD viewing with lots of softness, anemic blacks than leans towards dark green, and the color temps are all over the place. There's some print damage evident throughout but it's mostly minor white speckling, but it does look like it's been put through the proverbial DNR-wringer, it's just a shame this didn't get more love for it's Blu-ray debut. The mono PCM audio sounds okay, it's flat with some crackling and hiss in places but it does the job, the main theme song sounds good, optional English subtitles are provided. 

Onto the extras we get carry-overs from the previous DVD by way of an 8-min interview with Associate Producer Myrl Schrelbman who discusses his mentor and friend Jack Arnold, he speaks about how Arnold struggled to film the death of the little boy by horse trampling, and the difficulty casting an appropriate villain to go up against the imposing Fred Williamson. He also gives a brief tribute to the director , recalling Arnold's entry in the military where he made documentaries before going on to make horror, sci-fi and western films.

We also get a 27-min interview with star Fred Williams who discusses his career as a footballer before turning to TV and film, and how he earned "The Hammer" nickname, the disc is buttoned-up with a trailer for the film. The 2-disc DVD/Blu-ray release comes housed in a stylish clear Blu-ray keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork, the a-side is a sanitized "Boss"-titled variant, the b-side featuring the original illustrated one-sheet baring the Boss Nigger title. The Blu-ray disc features the Boss artwork, while the DVD disc, which features the same film and extras, has a sepia tone image of Williamson on a white background. 

Special Features: 
- “A Conversation with Fred ‘The Hammer’ Williamson” with Joel Blumberg (27 min) 
- “A Boss Memory” with Producer Myrl Schrelbman (8 min) 
Jack Arnold Tribute by producer Myrl Schrelbman (4 min) 
- Original Theatrical Trailer (3 min) 

Boss Nigger (1975) is a bit on the shabby side of Western film making but it entertaining and fun, I love seeing Fred Williamson do his thing in an Old West setting, and D'Urville Martin threatens throughout to run away with the show, still managing to be decked out in velvety pimping threads as the wisecracking deputy.

HELL UP IN HARLEM (1973) (Olive Films Blu-ray Review)

HELL UP IN HARLEM (1973)

Label: Olive Films
Region Code: A
Rating: R
Duration: 95 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: Larry Cohen 
Cast: Bobby Ramsen, D’urville Martin, Fred Williamson, Gerald Gordon, Gloria Hendry, Julius W. Harris, Margaret Avery, Tony King

Tommy Gibbs (Fred Williamson, 1990: The Bronx Warriors), the "Godfather of Harlem," returns in this amped-up sequel to Black Caesar (1973), coming out just a scant 10 months after the first film was a huge hit for distributor AIP. Director Larry Cohen (Q The Winged Serpent) ramps up the violence and the lunacy in this sequel right from the get-go, we have a crooked District Attorney DiAngelo (Gerald Gordon, Ants!) gunning to take-down Gibbs because he's is in possession of a ledger full of dirty secrets. Gibbs is gunned-down in broad daylight, he escapes but is bleeding out fast, desperately he calls his estranged father Papa Gibbs (Julius Harris, Live And Let Die) who comes to the rescue along with members of Gibbs gang who take him to a nearby hospital and hold the docs there hostage while they save his life, also holding off the NYPD in a tense stand-off, the only reason they don't blow a hole in the whole gang is that Gibbs is in possession of the ledger and the crooked D.A. doesn't want to be exposed for the scumbag that he is.

After surviving Gibbs discovers that his kid's mother Helen (Gloria Hendry, Diamonds Are Forever) was the one who set him up, he takes the kid away from her, and she resorts to hooking on the streets, until she is later murdered, which plays into the final stretch of the film. Gibbs and his father rule the streets, reigning supreme in other criminal enterprises while at the same time working hard to eradicate drugs from the streets of Harlem. 

The assault on the drug-peddlers are pretty awesome in a kitschy sort of way, there's a clumsily choreographed kung-fu fight with some Asians and an amphibious frog-men assault on a beach front home with a rather awesome gunfight ensuing after they've beached - it's good stuff, it might not all be executed to the best-degree but it is certainly entertaining, especially when Gibbs and the gang force some super-white dudes to eat soul-food at gunpoint!  

Eventually Gibbs and his father have a falling out when his enforcer Zach (Tony King, Cannibal Apocalypse) inform Gibbs that it was his father who had his former girlfriend Helen murdered. In disgust Gibbs hands his East Coast empire over to his father, who in turn takes out his enemies with brute-force, with Gibbs moving to L.A. with his new gal pal Sister Jennifer (Margaret Avery, TV's Being Mary Jane). However, when Papa Gibbs is betrayed and murdered back in New York by Zach Tommy Gibbs returns to the East Coast to dole out some dynamite revenge, but his murder spree puts his son Jason's life on the line, and we get a sweet murder-montage of Gibbs taking out associates of Zach and DiAngelo, including a sniper kill on a busy street and a particularly fun kill with Gibbs plunging the business end of a beach umbrella into the chest of a sunbather on the beach with a fun animated bloodletting that has to be seen to be believed, an image that deserves to only be seen in a drive-in, it's crazy!  

Fred Williamson offers loads of the effortless charm we love him for, a black criminal with a heart, but ruthless and a skilled killer, his scenes are always a lot of fun, whether he's kicking ass or just looking cool as Hell. Not all the acting is great though, at times both Hendry and Harris are straight up awful, but I love the fist fight with Big Papa and Zach, a street brawl to rule them all! There's also a wild coast to coast chase involving Gibbs and Zach that culminated on a luggage conveyor belt at the airport, total kick-ass awesomeness. Also keep an eye-out for D'Urville Martin (Dolemite, Sheba Baby)as a pimp turned pulpit-pounder, Reverend Rufus! 

Audio/Video: Hell Up In Harlem (1973) arrives on Blu-ray from Olive Film presented in 1.85:1 widescreen in 1080p HD, the source looks solid, some white speckling here and again but nothing stands out in regard to print damage, the colors are nice and bright, depth and clarity are improved from the 2001 MGM Soul Cinema series DVD, but there's not a lot of wow-factor here either, but still a solid filmic transfer with the natural grain intact without a lot of edge sharpening or digital scrubbing. Black levels can be weak at times, more grayish, and the night scenes also show some additional graininess to them, but overall a solid presentation.  

The lone audio option is an English language DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono track, it is nicely clean and crisp, the soundtrack featuring Edwin Starr, singer of the Vietnam War protest song "War" (1970), sounds great, though I must admit I found a few of these songs a bit on the corny side, not one of my favorite blaxploitation soundtracks, but I dig the Big Papa theme. Optional English subtitles are included. 

Onto the extras we get a 2-min HD trailer for the film, and an audio commentary, not the same one from the 2001 MGM DVD either, this is a new commentary with director Larry Cohen, moderated by Steve Mitchell, director of the upcoming documentary King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen. I have always found Cohen's commentaries to me solid, every damn one of them, a spark plug who tells it like it was and is, and it's no different here! My favorite take away was Cohen telling the story of what happened to James Brown's original score for the film and why it was not used, which is too bad, this is Big Payback era James Brown!  

Special Features: 
- NEW audio commentary with director Larry Cohen, moderated by Steve Mitchell, director of the upcoming documentary King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen.
- Trailer (2 min) HD 


Hell Up In Harlem (1973) is not the most stylish blaxploitation movie you will ever see, it can be a bit corny at times with the gangster posturing and near-impossible ridiculousness, but Larry Cohen knows how to make an damn entertaining and kinetic action film, obviously stealing shots on the streets of NYC, which give the film a gritty realism and some added punch, this was a blast and a recommend for fans of action-packed, and slightly ridiculous, 70s cinema.  

DOLEMITE (1975) (Blu-ray Review)

DOLEMITE (1975) 
Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack

Label: Vinegar Syndrome
Rated: R
Region: Region-Free 
Duration: 90 Minutes 
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Video: 1080P HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 
Director: D’Urville Martin
Cast: D’Urville Martin, Jerry Jones, Rudy Ray Moore, Lady Reed 

What can I say about Dolemite that wiser and more worldly cult movie lovers have not said already? Maybe that this slice of 70's cinema is a fucking riot for starters, in all of blaxploitation there is nothing else quite like Dolemite, it is simply one of the most fun, outrageous and quotable blaxploitation movies of all time. A no-holds barred romp chock full of boobs, badassery and some of the most deliciously quotable dialogue of all time crammed into a fun, somewhat inept and completely awesome slice of 70's cult cinema. Comedian/actor Rudy Ray Moore created the Dolemite personality on his early comedy album, 'Eat Out More Often", a raunchy slice of urban humor which was an underground hit that actually made its way onto the top of the charts through his grassroots promotion. Moore was no dummy and wisely decided to further exploit the character by bringing him to the big screen with this independent production financed by sales of his won comedy albums - even if he had to do it hmself. The movie is directed by actor D’Urville Martin who was already a known character actor in blaxploitation movies like Sheba Baby with Pam Grier and Hammer and Black Caesar with Fred Williamson. Not sure why Rudy Ray Moore brought him into direct a film but I guess it could have been worse, as is the movie has a certain rough and inept charm about it and Martin gets to play another memorable character ontop of that.  

The movie centers around the mack daddy supreme Dolemite (Moore) who has just received an early release from a prison when the authorities realize that his old neighborhood has gone straight to Hell in his absence, his arch-nemesis Willie Green (played by director Martin) has not only taken over Dolemite's nightclub but also dragged the neighborhood through the mud with drugs and whores. Dolemite is greeted just outside of prison by a car full of hookers who provide him with some sweet pimp threads and a mouthful of appreciation. Also aiding him on his spree to rid the neighborhood of Willie Green is the nightclub singer Queen Bee (Lady Reed) who is a no nonsense madame who runs the multi-ethnic band of kung-fu hookers, that's right, multi-ethnic kunf-fu hookers. . 

If that sounds like a slice of '70s blaxploitation that would put a feather in your pimp cap you are probably gonna have a blast with Dolemite. On the downside... or upside, depending on your persuasion and appreciation for bad movies, the acting is mighty awful all the way around, which is not to say ruinous to the movie. In fact quite the oppsoite, the bad acting and awesome dialogue are a lot of the reason I love this movie. Moore may not be a great actor but very few actors could deliver lines like "I wanna let you know that Dolemite is my name, and fuckin' up motherfuckers is my game!" and "That rat-soup-eatin', insecure honky motherfucker!" with the charm of Moore, the guy is a goldmine of action-packed awesomeness. 

The movie is loaded with fun, oddball characters who pop up including the infamous Hamburger Pimp and a horny community priest, an FBI agent, and a couple of local copswithout a clue who love to hassle Dolemite. Its raw, fun and action-packed with no shortage of nude women, Dolemite is banging women left and right in this movie, which makes you wonder how he has the energy to fight crime and save the neighborhood from Willie Green and all those corrupt white people.

Audio/Video: Dolemite (1975) arrives on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome looking pimp with a brand nw 2K scan from the recently unearthed original negative of the movie, presenting the movie in the original 1.85:1 widecreen format. Vinegar Syndrome have also included a open matte version of the movie dubbed the "boom mic" version, which presents the movie the way many of us first saw it, full of boom mics and the movie crew caught on film. This version has been around for awhile and has lead to the movie being remembered as a much worse film that it might actually be, but it is not the technical nightmare it is often remembered as, though I do love this fullscreen version, it is always good for a bad movie night get together with friends. The properly framed widescreen version of the movie with the new 2K scan looks surprisingly good on Blu-ray, far and away looking the best it ever has on home video. There's some light scratching, cigarette burns and inconsistencies throughout, but on the plus side there's a fine layer of film grain with some decent clarity and a modest amount of fine detail. In fact watching this new 2K restoration might ruin some of the movie's bad-movie reputation to a certain degree, the new transfer definitely gives some new life to this cult-classic.

Audio on the disc is handled capably with an English language DTS-HD Master 1.0 Mono presentation which handles the side-splitting dialogue and funky score nicely, obviously this is not the most robust audio source but it does the job just fine. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided. 

Vinegar Syndrome have also included some qaulity bonus content for this release, beginning with the "boom mic" version in HD which as I have said alfready is a lot of fun. Then we have the 24-minute making of featurette directed by Elijah Drenner who directed the American Grindhouse doc, featuring various interviews with Moore in addition to his biographer Mark JasonMurray, cinematographer Nicholas Von Sternberg, actor John Kerry, Lady Reed, and friend and co-star Jerry Jones, offering insight into Moore's early career and the movie. 

The disc also includes what has been dubbed a "historical commentary" by Rudy May Moore biographer Mark Jason Murray, who covers a lot of ground on the track, and edits in his own audio interviews with Moore, co-stars Jerry Jones, Lady Reed and John Kerry and cinematographer Nick Von Sternberg, which was a nice change of pace for a commentary track. 

There's also a 23-minute interview with comedian and actress Lady Reed who speaks about her own career and working the comedy circuit with Moore. There's also a brief then and now location visit, a few  of which have not changed all that much in forty years, plus the awesome original trailer for the movie, including one for the sequel, The Human Tornado, which is also coming to Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome very soon. The dual disc BD/DVD combo comes housed in a clear keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork featuring the original one-sheet illustration and a new one created by artists Jay Shaw, in a nice move the disc feature both versions of the artwork, too. 

Special Features: 
- I, Dolemite making-of documentary by Elijah Drenner (American Grindhouse) (24 Mins) 
- Lady Reed Uncut featurette (23 Mins) 
- Locations: Then and Now featurette (2 Mins) 
- Historical commentary track from Moore’s biographer Mark Jason Murray, featuring interviews with Moore as well as co-stars Jerry Jones, Lady Reed and John Kerry and cinematographer Nick Von Sternberg
- Original Theatrical Trailers (3 Mins) 
- Reversible sleeve of Cover Artwork

Dolemite is the first in a series of restored blaxploitation movie which are on the way from Vinegar Syndrome, this is a remarkable and noteworthy release, and if you're a fan of '70s blaxploitation cinema you need this one in your collection, this is essential stuff. I can gurantee that even if you're not familiar with the character of Dolemite that the character has worked his way into some form of popular culture you are familiar with, be it a send-up of 70's black cinema such as Black Dynamite, or the rap persona of Snoop Dog or the occasional refernce in a Beastie Boys song the man has made his mark on popular culture and he ain't going nowhere anytime soon. I am looking forward to Vinegar Syndrome's Blu-ray of The Human Tornado, the sequel which I have never watched, they've set the bar high so my expectations are through the roof. 


 

SHEBA, BABY (1975) (Arrow Video Blu-ray Review)

SHEBA, BABY (1975)

Label: Arrow Video
Region Code: Region FREE
Duration: 90 Minutes
Rating: PG
Audio: English LPCM Mono 1.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: William Girdler
Cast: Pam Grier, D’Urville Martin, Austin Stoker

No woman was more badass in the '70s than Pam Grier, a fierce black woman who dripped sensuality and kicked some major baddie-ass. She started off in a string of AIP women-in-prison flicks with director Jack Hill before becoming the AIP action-queen in a series of sweet blaxploitation movies which are still adored by cult-cinema lovers. Unfortunately Pam never did attain the leading lady status she deserved outside of the American International Pictures b-movie grinder, it wouldn't be until her turn in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown that she received the proper leading role deserved by someone of her caliber, but her seventies movies with AIP as an ass-kicking woman of the '70s were pretty badass and are a blast to re-visit. Even some of the lesser entries manage to entertain despite weak material - the lady had class, charisma and was drop-dead gorgeous.

Sheba, Baby is one of the lesser entries, it stars Grier as a Chicago private eye returning home to Louisville, KY to help defend her father's loan business against a group of low down racketeers who are trying to force him to sell. The story is hackneyed, and it does not help that the movie lacks style and substance. However, Pam Grier is always magnetic and she does her best to carry it through to the end, and for me that's enough to keep me plugged, though the prohibitive PG-rating means it lacks a visceral edge to the violence and no there's an absence nudity.

Like the story the cast of characters are cookie cutter and somewhat stereotypical, we get a selection of roughies and hustlers, including the main villain, a comical D'Urville Martin who is working for a white-devil in the neighborhood. All the baddies just seem silly, each having their asses handed to them by our woman Sheba. Classing up the movie to a degree is the appearance of Austin Stoker from John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 as Brick, the good-guy business partner of Sheba's father. Stoker has some real presence and provides a love interest for Sheba, both he and Grier deserved a better movie. 

There are some decent action sequences, including a car-bombing at the start of the movie and a speed boat chase finale that has an alright harpooning, but the staging of the action is pedestrian and poorly assembled, making this a decent watch for fans of '70s black action cinema, but on the lower-end of the spectrum.

Audio/Video: Sheba, Baby arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Arrow Video in 1080p HD looking very nice, framed in 1.85:1 widescreen. The source was in good shape, a few white specks here and there but otherwise no print damage. There's a nicely managed layer of fine film grain, some modest depth and decent clarity to the image. The Mono LPCM audio is clean and crisp, the funky score sounds nice, and there are optional English subtitles included. 

Onto the extras we start with two audio commentaries, the first from producer-screenwriter David Sheldon, moderated by critic Nathaniel Thompson from Mondo Digital, plus a second one from Patty Breen, the webmaster of WilliamGirdler.com. 

Arrow Video have also included a pair featurettes, beginning with "Sheldon: Baby" a new interview with David Sheldon, who is always a great interview, and he's no different here. The producer speaks about the genesis of the project, the original working titles, his split from AIP and the dissolution of his partnership with director William Girdler following the release of Sheba, Baby. The second is "Pam Grier: The AIP Years" with film historian Chris Poggiali who walks us through the AIP years of Grier. Additionally we have a image gallery, theatrical trailer for the movie, and a booklet  new writing on the film by Patty Breen, illustrated with archive stills and posters. While I don't think that Sheba Baby is a top tier Pam Grier movie I do love all the work that Arrow Video have put into each of the Grier movies they've brought to Blu-ray these past few years, collectors and fans need this one in their collection.

 Special Features:
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
- Original mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary with producer-screenwriter David Sheldon, moderated by critic Nathaniel Thompson 
- Audio commentary with Patty Breen, webmaster of WilliamGirdler.com
 - Sheldon: Baby – a brand new interview with David Sheldon (15 Mins) HD
- Pam Grier: The AIP Years – a look over the wonder years of the Blaxploitation queen with film historian Chris Poggiali (12 Mins) HD
- Trailer (2 Mins) HD
- Gallery featuring rare publicity images and Lobby Cards (18 Images) HD
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sean Phillips
- Booklet featuring brand new writing on the film by Patty Breen, webmaster of WilliamGirdler.com, illustrated with archive stills and posters 

A hackneyed story and lack of style do hurt Sheba, Baby (1975), and while it might be on the lower end of Pam Grier's filmography for me this Blu-ray release from Arrow Video is top-notch with a great selection of bonus content, and well-worth the upgrade.