I love ‘70s kung fu films. I love ‘70s horror films. But I will admit – outside of a brief obsession with Dolemite – that I know little or nothing about the ‘70s Blaxploitation genre. Sure, I’m familiar with the street level stuff: Shaft, Superfly, The Mack. But then there’s the subway level, where we head downstairs into the truly earthy material. Basic requirements: A little skin, a lot of violence and a Grade-A slammin’ soundtrack. Academy contenders these movies were not, but who freakin’ cares?!? They were entertaining as all get-out, and that's what matters.

 

Enter Shout Factory!’s Blaxploitation Classics Volumes 1 & 2, an epic collection of 12 urban crime thrillers from American International Pictures (AIP), gloriously remastered in 4K UHD. We’ve got superstars from the era such as Pam Grier and Fred “The Hammer” Williamson ripping and tearing through the streets of Harlem, Los Angeles, and “Bucktown” (a.k.a. Kansas City). Pushers, pimps, corrupt cops, even the mob... they all get served.

 

The first thing I noticed about the films in these collections is the video quality, which is to say they are absolutely stellar, remastered from original source materials in 4K with HDR grading. The results can be hit-or-miss with older films, but these particular films look stunning: vibrant ‘70s color palettes, deep shadows, crisp and sharp with plenty of film grain throughout. As far as film restorations go, this is about as good as I’ve seen.

 

Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the audio quality, which was uneven on my setup. Most movies sounded fine and the soundtrack music was solid, but there were films like Bucktown where the dialogue sounded muted and compressed. Whether this is a limitation of the source material or my own audio equipment I cannot say.

 

Now onto the films themselves, of which I’ve seen most but not all in their entirety. First we have Across 110th Street, starring Anthony Quinn and Yaphet Lotto as a couple of NYC cops trying to crack a heist that has gone fatally wrong. Anthony Francesca is brilliant as the psycho mob lackey who doesn’t know when to quit and having Antonio “Huggy Bear” Fargas in any movie is a plus in my book. This film leans more toward hard-boiled detective thriller then pure Blaxploitation, but it’s one of the better movies in the collection no matter how you slice it.

 

Next up we have NFL legend Fred Williamson in Black Caesar, a twist on the noir classic Little Caesar starring Edward G. Robinson. Williamson was a pioneer in the genre, and after watching this film it’s evident why. Like Pacino’s Tony Montana, Williamson portrays a ruthless and brutal gangster who lets nothing stand in the way of his quest to rule his world, but his undeniable charisma and screen presence had me rooting for him regardless.

 

For my money, there is no better setting for Blaxploitation than 1970s Harlem; the city is as powerful as any character in the movie. I also must mention the James Brown tunes that accompany the Black Caesar soundtrack; they are literally perfect. This is Soul Brother #1 at the peak of his game, and watching Williamson strut past the Apollo on 125th Street to the tune of “Paid The Cost To Be The Boss” is a highlight of the entire collection.

 

Black Caesar was immensely enjoyable and is definitely a movie I'll be coming back to every now and then. It was successful enough to spawn a sequel, Hell Up In Harlem, which is also in this collection. Sadly this film captures little of the magic of the original, but it’s great to have it in this collection nonetheless.

 

Next up we have several films from the undisputed first lady of Blaxploitation, Pam Grier. Of these, Coffy and Foxy Brown are the most popular and definitely the best of the bunch. I can easily imagine Tarantino salivating while screenwriting Jackie Brown with these two movies on repeat. The other Pam Grier vehicles – Friday Foster and Sheba Baby – aren’t quite as entertaining (the latter gets criticism as the weakest film of the bunch), but Bucktown (co-starring Grier and Williamson) does make a nice comeback, even if Grier takes a backseat to let Williamson handle most of the ass kicking.

 

One film that really caught me by surprise is Truck Turner, featuring soul icon Isaac Hayes as a bounty hunter living life on the edge. I had never heard of this movie before picking up this set, yet it ended up being one of my very favorites. Hayes has so much charisma that it’s a small wonder he didn’t land the starring role more often (his IMDB credits are extensive but rarely is he the main attraction). Meanwhile, ‘70s downtown Los Angeles provides the perfect backdrop to this highly entertaining action flick, which successfully straddles the line between comedy and suspense. Of the movies included in this collection, Truck Turner and Black Caesar ended up being my two favorites.

 

Blaxploitation Classics Vols. 1 & 2 are becoming increasingly hard to find at a decent price, which hopefully means (a) these releases were a success for Shout, (b) we’ll get at least one more volume in the future. Apparently there are enough AIP Blaxploitation flicks to fill out a third volume, including Blacula and Scream Blacula Scream. Now I can dig that!!! - BW

 

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