Slaughter (1972)

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Blaxploitation copped a lot of grief. White people called it subversive, a lot of black folks considered it self-abusive. Those who loved it, and still do, took it on its own terms, as simple, trashy fun.Sadly, it's fun that is sorely missing from this lame Jim Brown vehicle. Brown plays the titular ex-Marine and all-round bad-ass whose father is murdered by some Latin American gangsters. Whatever Slaughter actually does for a living is obviously not so important that he can't drop it in a heartbeat to and work for some CIA-esque law agency who are trying to shut the gangsters down. With all the money and equipment they have at their disposal, they haven't been able to do this, so they recruit Slaughter to do it for them because... well, presumably, for some reason, they think he can. Sound silly? It is.Unlike many of the lighter Blaxploitation films, there are no winks to the audience here. No, the film-makers seem to actually want us to take them seriously. This is the film's downfall.Jim Brown is charismatic enough, though he's no Richard Roundtree or Fred Williamson. Stella Stevens genuinely shines as his "love" interest and a young Rip Torn is positively loony (and totally out-of-place) as the goon-turned-boss out to get Slaughter. The rest is padding. The action sequences are barely worth watching and the script is not a patch on the films it clearly tries to emulate.All things considered, Slaughter is really one for die-hard Blaxploitation fans and/or completists. All others proceed with caution.

Slaughter (1972) ** (out of 4)Ex Green Beret Slaughter (Jim Brown) seeks vengeance against the Mob who killed his father and soon teams up with some Feds to track down the gang and take them out one by one including the head guy (Rip Torn). This AIP blaxploitation flick has a lot going for it but I found the direction to be all over the place and there were a few too many slow spots to be a complete winner, which is a shame because there's a terrific cast on display here. The screenplay is your typical revenge tale but I think the film could have benefited from a small re-write because what we have here isn't all that interesting because the script really lets us down in terms of the bad guys. We have a couple different bad guys but neither of them are very interesting and I think the film would have benefited by touching them up a tad bit more especially since you have an actor like Torn eating up the scenery and turning in a fine performance. Brown, not the greatest actor out there, but he still manages to be quite cool in the role and he's got some funny comic timing as well. The sequence where he crashes into a party and the servant asks if he has an invitation and Brown slowly pulls out his gun and says "yep" is certainly one of the highlights of the film. We also get Cameron Mitchell in a couple brief scenes and it's always fun seeing him. Even though all the guys do a good job it's the beautiful Stella Stevens who steals the film. It's not her acting that steals the movie but her chest, which is constantly coming out of no matter what type of outfit she's wearing.

Yes, the film stars Jim Brown and yes he kicks a lot of butt. However, I don't think I'd classify this as a 'blaxsploitation film'. That's because the film is mostly set in Mexico and the good guys are the government. This is definitely NOT a battle between Black and White America, but our hero, Brown, is solidly on the side of 'the Man'; i.e., the government.The film begins with the family of former Green Beret, Brown, being killed by mobsters. As a result, he goes on a one-man mission to kill mobsters. However, this ends up causing problems because he blunders into a covert government operation and the real bad guy gets away. So, Brown agrees to go to Mexico and work with the feds to settle the score. The plot ends up being rather mindless--with Brown shooting and punching as well as mobsters killing each other off like mad. However, it's enjoyable and time-passing mindless.This film is blessed with a very good supporting cast. The seldom recognized Don Gordon (star of countless TV shows), Cameron Mitchell, Stella Stevens and Rip Torn are all on hand to give the film some good acting, so that all the weight of the film doesn't rest on Brown just killing people! Worth watching but not life changing.

Ridiculous to be sure, but also extremely entertaining. Jim Brown is the title character, a former Green Beret who, after his "connected" father is blown up by a car bomb, exacts his revenge of the mobsters responsible. This being Jim Brown and a war hero, he has the blessing of the US government. Brown is his usual robotic self (read that as dullard), but the supporting cast is a real treat. Rip Torn is a really creepy mobster, Stella Stevens his put upon moll who, naturally, ends up in bed with Brown. Cameron Mitchell is the government man who ropes Brown in and he wears a really obvious toupee. The direction by Jack Starrett is pretty erratic...there's a pretty blurry chase on a runaway between a car and an airplane. Starrett would improve his drive-in cred a few years later with the likes of RACE WITH THE DEVIL and A SMALL TOWN IN Texas. Aping SHAFT and SUPERFLY, SLAUGHTER does have a pretty wacky title song (written and performed by the great Billy Preston).