Drum (1976)

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Directed by Steve Carver, based on the Kyle Onstott novel the cinematography was by Lucien Ballard and the music was by Charlie Smalls. The film was released by United Artists and is a sequel to the film Mandingo (which I've never seen either), released in 1975. The film stars Warren Oates, Isela Vega, Pam Grier, Ken Norton, Yaphet Kotto. Drum (Norton) has been born to a white prostitute (Vega), who raises him with her black lesbian lover. Drum grows up as whorehouse servant but is forced to bare-knuckle-box another slave Blaise (Kotto) for the entertainment of a white effeminate/gay slaveholder, a Frenchman named Bernard DeMarigny (Colicos). DeMarigny wants to sleep with Drum, but his advances are rejected and during the ensuing scuffle Drum's "mammy" is shot. Drum and his friend Blaise are eventually sold to plantation owner Hammond Maxwell (Oates) and are both taken to his plantation to work. Regine (Grier) is purchased by Maxwell as well and is taken to the plantation for his own personal desires as a bed wench. He also purchases a white **** Augusta Chauvel (Lewis) to be his housekeeper,/fiancéMaxwells plantation is a stud farm he doesn't grow cotton he breeds slaves. The film is a hoot. Maxwell's got an out of control daughter Sophie (Smith) with raging hormones who like to run around the "farm" making the male slaves let her unbutton their breeches and "play" with their snakes. Sophie also tries to force Blaise to sleep with her, and after being rejected, tells her father that Blaise has raped her. Blaise is put in chains and Maxwell decides that he must be nutted for the alleged rape. Blaise is chained up in the barn and while helpless Sophie comes in lifts her hoop skirts and flashes Blaise, but Maxwell see's her do it, so he not quite as inclined to really believe Sophie.Meanwhile, a dinner party has been arranged to celebrate the engagement of Maxwell and Chauvel. Casual round the dining table dinner conversations includes the best way to castrate a slave.Drum frees his friend Blaise from his chains and it all ends up turning into a slave revolt led by Blaise, with the slaves burning down the out buildings. During the storming of the main house fighting Drum grabs hold of DeMarigny's Johnson & balls and rips them off by the roots, that method wasn't mentioned in the dinner conversation.Maxwell and Chauvel are all saved by Drum. In appreciation for saving his family and also knowing that if Drum stays the prevailing sentiment of the white slaveholders would demand that he kill him, Maxwell sets Drum free and tells him to run into the night.A much better written and choreographed ending than somewhat similar Django Unchained, it's a better film. 9/10 The whole cast is excellent, entertaining and well made, check it out currently on Youtube while you can.

I found Drum a much more entertaining movie than Mandingo. It's got tasty nudity, saucy women, and an oversexed spoilt teen girl, where yes we see her.... It is unintentionally funny, where a lot of it, we owe to robotic Ken Norton, where again, casting people, producers, have made the mistake of putting him in the lead. He's a poor performer, surrounded by good ones, no one better than Oates, where I also liked the ruthless homosexual slaver, while Grier was really good, as was Oates's wife. Yes Drum, has sleaze slipping in, as it comes across as a cheap movie, and brief telling tale of the heartlessness of the cold hearted slavers, which on the video cover, it actually says as for selling purposes, it makes no attempt to show what the slavery trade was really like. The slavers are not any less heartless, than the ones depicted in other films. Tarantino really cut the apple to the truth with Django Unchained. Later on in the film we really meet a nasty slaver. And yes, we have two bucks, Norton and Kotto fighting, who become friends until the wicked teen daughter tries to put the hots on Kotto, where soon, yes, another castration is in the waiting. I'll be honest, Drum, is not a good film, but it is bloody entertaining to hell, with a climax I must say, I appreciated, but more so at the fact, that Oates let Drum go. I must say, Oates adds amusement as much as Norton, only the latter can't act. He's better suited in a ring, than in front of camera. Don't let there be a third lead for such a limited Norton, if only to add amusement. But on the other hand....

Drum (1976) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Considering how much I hated Mandingo I was really expecting to hate this sequel but it actually wasn't too bad. A white woman has an affair with a slave and gets pregnant. Twenty years later the child, Drum (Ken Norton), is sold to a slave owner (Warren Oates) where he trains other slaves to do various jobs. Everything is going fine until the slave owner's young daughter starts exposing herself to the slaves and eventually she cries rape even though she's the one doing the stuff. This here leads to an incredibly violent ending where the slaves stand up against their white owners. Director Steve Carver is best known for his exploitation films like Big Bad Mama and various other blaxploitation flicks but he does a very good job here and unlike the previous film, this one here actually tries to tell a story and manages to get some good performances by Norton, Oates and Pam Grier who plays one of the bed whores. The exploitation level is trimmed down in this film, which is one reason why it works better, although the ending crosses a very close line but thankfully doesn't cross it. Lesser direction would have probably gone for cheers when the slaves revolted but Carver does a great job in keeping things low and doesn't go for the cheap exploitation.

I personally enjoyed this film quite a bit. It is a rare classic and a gem of all gems. Before you view this, I suggest that you come in expecting pure camp and over the top scenes. None of it should be taken seriously.I can watch this one over and over. Ken Norton gives a performance only Ken Norton can give. Yappet Kotto is a genius in this one. The fight scenes are better than the original. This film is actually on a completely different level than it's predecessor, Mandingo. Where Mandingo is more serious in tone, this film does not take itself seriously. It's one laugh after another. It is a shame that we don't have an official release in the US. Guess Hollywood is too PC these days. Bunch of wimps if you ask me.