Slaughter (1972)

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Blistering performances.

After his parents are killed by the mob, a former Green Beret (Jim Brown) joins forces with "The Man" to get his revenge. An enjoyable Blaxploitation film that's not without its share of flaws. Obviously, NFL great Jim Brown's acting leaves a lot to be desired. He doesn't do well in the quieter, more emotional scenes. When he's ticked off and kicking butt, though, he's fun to watch. Cameron Mitchell is fine as a cop. Rip Torn is the villain and he spends most of the movie squinting and saying the N word. Don Gordon is amusing as a sort of comic relief sidekick. Highlight of the movie is sexy Stella Stevens, in particular her memorable nude scenes. This isn't one of my favorite Blaxploitation flicks but it's solid with some nice action and T&A. Give it a look if you're a fan of the genre or a fan of nice boobs.

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.

There are only three reasons to see this and they are Stella Stevens three nude scenes, two in bed with Jim Brown, and one in the shower. Other than Stella, there is little to recommend. All you get is plenty of meaningless action, car chases, and other nonsense. Cameron Mitchell is totally wasted, and Rip Torn unfortunately is forgettable as a Mafia boss. The revenge plot seems forced, and the government's involvement has something to do with computers, but is murky at best. One plus is the Todd AO photography, which produces several intriguing wide angle shots. "Slaughter" is nothing more than a weak mafia film, with Stella Stevens being the only attraction. - MERK

It kicks off a little slow, but by the time they get to Mexico, things pick up and get pretty smokin' in the conclusion--Jim Brown's entrance to the casino is terriffic, it's got the shock value of having a dwarf thrown through your bay window. His later entrance to the bad guys' lair from the car is also classic. Jim Brown isn't a great actor, but his ass-kicking stoicism is at it's best here, as he slaps down legions of bad guys with barely a raised eyebrow. (Did you know that, aside from his football skills, Jim Brown was supposedly the greatest Jai Lai player on earth?) Stella Stevens and Rip Torn are also very good, but even higher praise goes to Billy Preston's theme song.