Drum (1976)

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Simply Perfect

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

I shared Michael Elliott's opinion of MANDINGO (1975) but I can't say that I do the same for his take on its sequel, DRUM (1976). While I concede that it's a (slightly) better film - it's not as dull as its predecessor, nor does it take itself so seriously - I feel that the exploitation elements are even more pronounced this time around. There is a lot more nudity in DRUM (its sexual perversions extending to both male and female homosexuality!), for instance, and the plot is even tawdrier: John Colicos is a campy gay French trader who wants to bed black stud Ken Norton - unbeknownst to him, the son of a white woman who just happens to be the madam of the most popular brothel in the area, and where all the various parties converge: including Warren Oates as the elder version of the character played by Perry King in MANDINGO, his puritanical(!) future wife Fiona Lewis and Colicos himself, whose unruly slave Yaphet Kotto is made to fight Norton but subsequently becomes his pal. Besides, there's Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith as Oates' horny teenage daughter who's after every colored male in the household! The version I watched (from the R2 DVD) featured a somewhat faded pan-and-scan print: again, being 100 minutes long, the film seems to have suffered some edits - even when taking into consideration the NTSC to PAL conversion factor - from the official length of 110 minutes; in fact, Mike's description of the climax - which I didn't find excessively violent - suggests that it may have been trimmed somewhat.

This film was supposedly based on the book of the same name by Lance Horner and Kyle Onstott. So much of it is far from the text. For starters, Blaise was never owned by Hammond Maxwell (in the book, he was owned by the mistress, who was Madame Alix, not Marianna). It was Drum's son, Drumson, that was purchased by Hammond Maxwell, not Drum (Drum had died sometime back from an attack by Blaise). Also there was a Chauvet family in the book, but they were the ones who owned Meg and Alph (Augusta's name was not Chauvet, but Devereaux (later mentioned as Delavan)). The book actually starts out in the very early 1800s, quite a bit before the movie. Drumson was killed in the uprising in the book (but not in the movie). This would have been a better movie if the screenwriters had followed the text more closely.

This was one of the worst films of 1976,and the sequel to one of the most successful,if not eyeopening and explicitly violent films of 1975 was basically in a class by itself. Since it is very hard to top the original,since in this installment it is more deliriously fever-pitched than the ending of Mandingo--in which a plantation master is shot and his main slave gets boiled in oil--but the sequel,"Drum",the mangy installment to Mandingo certainly tries. This is in fact a sort-of-a sequel to 'Mandingo',a movie that tried to walk a fine line between being a "serious" drama and a silly but fun exploitation movie that really pushed the envelope with its extreme subject matter. "Drum",went beyond the expectations of what its precessdor did and even went farther that its limits could go. Again,producer Dino DeLaurentiis is behind the second installment,but this time instead of director Richard Fleischer(who directed "Mandingo"),the man behind the director's helm this time around is none other than the king of the "B" movie/drive-in trash flicks,Steve Carver. This was in fact the same director who made the trash flicks which consisted of action dramas("The Arena",1972),("Big Bad Mama",1974), biographical dramas("Capone",1975),tales based on the works of Edgar Allen Poe("The Tall Tale Heart",1971),the action flicks starring Chuck Norris("An Eye For An Eye",1981),("Lone Wolf McQuade",1983),the Lee Majors action/espionage flick("Steel",1980),works based on the novels by Alistair McLean("River Of Death",1989),teen comedies("Jocks",1987), and horror flicks("The Wolves",1994),in which all can be viewed with a acquired taste. In all sheer entertainment value. In "Drum"(1976),the film has a disguise for being a Drive-In feel but it doesn't act like one,and it shows in some of the outrageous scenes. Again,Ken Norton returns as the son of Mandingo,and plays a different sort of character than he did in the first one. Also on board in this installment is Warren Oates,who plays Hammond Maxwell,who Perry King played in the first one. As the story goes,the late slave-owner's son follows in his father's footsteps and purchases Drum(Ken Norton),and Blaise(Yaphet Kotto) from bordella hostess Marianna(Isela Vega). Marianna is actually Drum's mother,although her slave-mistress and lesbian lover Rachel(Paula Kelly) in fact brought up the boy. Thrown into the package to Hammond is Drum's girlfriend Regine(Pam Grier),who was purchased to satisfy the the carnal urges of Mr. Hammond. However, Augusta Chauvet(Fiona Lewis)setting her sites on Hammond has other plans. Drum is such a perfect specimen of slave that neither man nor women cannot keep their hands off of him. And rest of it gets really ridiculous and in other words,unbelievable in some of the scenes which pushes the envelope more further into detail than its precessdor. Its looks very stoic until the climactic slave revolt breaks out towards the end of the film,guaranteeing more blood and carnage than 'Mandingo' ever hope to provide. This is pure exploitative trash and it is very proud of not turning away from the material. The main reasons to see this film is due to the starring presence of Warren Oates in his most enjoyable and underrated performances. A must for all die-hard fans of Warren Oates.

Ha ha ha ha .....this movie was out there. Okay i'm a 31 year black male and a movie buff.I like movies good and bad, but a really love campy movies. Drum is now my favorite movie on all time!!!! The acting was terrible, the direction was worst,but i loved it!!! The plantation owner and his slutty daughter were the most outrageous characters in the entire movie...i love slavery movies or any movie set in the antibellum south..i saw mandingo and loved it!!!...i didn't even know drum existed until i saw it on late night cable tv. It was explicit,funny and probaly insulted half the viewing population! It was WILD and most of all POLITICALLY INCORRECT..WHICH IS WHAT FILMMAKING SHOULD BE!!!!!Most black people who watch this movie will probally laugh there ass off, I did! Those people who were offended, cool out. Its just really a fun movie.