Slaughter (1972)

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.

Jim Brown is Slaughter, a guy whose parents are killed in the beginning for no real reason except for brown to become a little vexed and head off to an exotic location.He kills a few people along the way, and then gets to cahoots with Rip Torns woman, who also happen to be the one responsible for killing his parents.Torn is evil through and through, because he treats women like mud, and drinks a lot and gets other people to shoot their friends.....naughty.So slaughter, and a comedy policeman try and take out the mob, while attracting the ladies, and having a funky soundtrack follow them wherever they may go....A pretty straight forward action movie, with a soul cinema twist, Slaughter isn't original in the slightest, but it's so clichéd and hilarious, that it's impossible not to like.Brown is great in his role and Torn does a good bad guy, although he does look like he's on drugs the majority of the time.There are car chases that go on a bit too long, gunfights where the bad guys always miss, and balls that bounce for no reason at all.Some of the camera angles are a little odd, but it all adds to the campness and the cheese of a good action movie.Plus it's the best film ever to feature a scene where the hero knows someone has gone missing just by picking up a towel.

I'm all for 1970s low-budget exploitation films but Slaughter failed to satisfy. The plot, if there is one, is confused, as if the first reel was missing. After Billy Preston's lame theme song you are dropped into the middle of a confusing story about the mafia, or maybe Mexican mobsters, who kill star Brown's parents in the first 10 seconds. Why? I still don't know. Something about a computer. From there the tale meanders with little action and some really bad acting. That can be forgiven if the film is at least a little fun but there's not much of that either.Brown's 'Hell Up in Harlem" is a lot more fun and makes a lot more sense.

Rip Torn makes for a good heavy, but the action sequences are poorly choreographed (sic?) . I've always liked Jim Brown as an actor, but this is not one of his best. Bad guys get shot on rooftops and they seemingly jump off when hit. All kinds of gunfire come from the mobsters but our "heroes" never get shot.............and on the other hand, our heroes never miss. And what happens to Jim Brown's female friend and Cameron Mitchell towards the end of the movie? It seems the screenwriter forgot about them..........watch it and see what I mean. Good enough for one viewing, especially if you want to see Stella Stevens in a rare nude scene and that's it.