Black Gunn (1972)

Black Gunn (1972)-* *1\2

Directed By: Robert Hartford-Davis

Starring: Jim Brown, Martin Landau, Bernie Casey, Jeannie Bell, Herbert Jefferson Jr., and Luciana Paluzzi












Tom (possibly Tim, not really sure) Gunn (Brown) is the coolest, smoothest club owner in town. All the hippest people are seen at his Gunn Club, the cleverness of the name alone surely drawing them in. While Gunn is content to run his business and be the life of the party, his brother Scottie Gunn (Jefferson Jr.) is involved with weightier issues. He joins a Black Panthers-style revolutionary organization known as BAG, or, the Black Action Group. It seems BAG has stolen some “payoff books” and money from the mob, notably Russ Capelli (Landau), who most people know as a used car salesman whose TV commercials show him as a trustworthy guy. When tragedy befalls Scottie, the elder Gunn must wage a one-man war against Capelli’s gang. Will he ever get answers, with cops and politicians dogging his every move?

Black Gunn is a typical example of the Blaxploitation of the time, so much so, it seems to be one of the main templates for parodies such as I’m Gonna Git You Sucka (1988), which also starred Bernie Casey, and Black Dynamite (2009). Jim Brown is beyond low-key as our hero Gunn. He whispers all his lines, but he always looks cool in his fly threads. He even makes bowties look stylish and not nerdy. Martin Landau should have been in the movie more, because Black Gunn as a whole needed a strong, central villain. He’s more than capable of filling that role, but for most of the movie, we actually forgot Landau was on board! He kind of shows up, then goes away and shows back up at the end. Landau should have gotten more screen time.

Highlights include the funky soundtrack by Tony Osborne, the classic evil whiteys, its total lack of political correctness, including racial slurs you could never do today, and some cultural references: there are numerous allusions to Vietnam, and certain characters coming back from that conflict. Additionally, there’s the line “It’ll make Watts look like a Saturday night in Disneyland!” - indicating some of the tensions of the time. But the problem is the movie as a whole is too long and has too many extended, pointless scenes. Yes, it does have some gunplay and explosions, and maybe a few fights, but Black Gunn could have reached a much higher level if the whole thing had been streamlined: shorter running time, more action. Not that the movie is bad, really, but there’s a bit too much fat. And the ending is lame.

Interestingly, and correct us if we’re wrong here, but Black Gunn never received a VHS release during the Golden Age era of the video store, at least here in America. Its cult Blaxploitation status had to grow from other means, such as foreign releases, poster and film prints, and write-ups in such books as That’s Blaxploitation! by Darius James and others. It did get a DVD release in the 00’s, so stateside Blaxploitation fans could finally see it. The results...are mixed. It has a lot of things fans of the sub-genre love, but it’s a bit bloated for its own good.

Fans of Blaxploitation, Jim Brown, Bernie Casey, and even the briefly seen Jeannie Bell (known for TNT Jackson, 1974), and even Luciana Paluzzi will want to check out Black Gunn. Casual viewers might not be as into it. After all, as great as Martin Landau is, as a Blaxploitation baddie, he’s no Monroe Feather.

Comeuppance Review by: Brett and Ty

Bad Blood (1994)

Bad Blood (1994)-* * *1\2

Directed by: Tibor Takacs

Starring: Lorenzo Lamas, Joe Son, Hank Cheyne, Kimberly Kates, Frankie Thorn, Chuck Zito, Sigal Diamant, Cole S. McKay and Simon Rhee



"It's Killing Time."







Travis Blackstone (Lamas) is a man whose name tells you he means business.  He works in a salvage yard working on trucks and being as manly as humanly possible. Because he has a sweet side, he coaches little league in his spare time. The problem is, he used to be a cop, but when he destroyed evidence to protect his annoying brother Franklin (Cheyne), he went to prison and was kicked off the force. 

Now that pesky Franklin is at it again, owing five million dollars to an underground criminal syndicate populated by baddies Jimmy Chang (Son), Baggy (McKay), Lee (Rhee), and the sadistic enforcer Toots (Zito). As if all this wasn’t enough, Travis’ girlfriend Lindee (Kates) believes he is cheating on her with former love Rhonda (Thorn) so Lindee, in an unjustified act of female revenge, works with the baddies and helps them find Blackstone. Now the stage is set for the ultimate confrontation. Will Travis Blackstone clear up all the BAD BLOOD?

Lorenzo Lamas is truly the man we love to love. As far as we’re concerned, based on what we’ve been viewing lately (his 90’s action output), his star is in the ascendant. We believe he is underrated and underappreciated. He always has a cool quip, some cool Martial Arts moves, is handy with guns, and lest we forget his luxurious hair. What more can the man do to win you over? Here, every time he executes a cool move, there is a corresponding musical sting. Sure, his southern drawl may go in and out, but he pioneers the art of “Brickfighting” - and whether by accident or design, Travis Blackstone can defy gravity. Like how if you were on another planet, you would weigh much less, Travis seems to have less gravity in his body. Maybe he’s from another planet. Just check out the infamous “super jump” (Thank you to DTVC for the hotlink to the pic below) around 64 minutes into the movie. Plus, he’s equally adept at playing jazzy piano as he is beating up baddies at the drop of a hat.

Another nice thing about Bad Blood is its cast of B-movie names. A standout is Joe Son, who also appeared in Shootfighter (1993), Shootfighter 2 (1996), Bloodfist V (1994) and Army Of One (1993), among not too much else. Even though he’d been in a bunch of things we’d seen, it took until us viewing this to really notice him, but to be fair his part is more substantial here. 

Cole McKay finally gets a decently sized part after all his great stunt work, while Simon Rhee’s part is not too big. Cheyne was good casting as Lamas’ brother, that does certainly look possible. And we didn’t even mention John P. Ryan (of Avenging Force (1986) and Delta Force 2 (1990) fame as their father) and Sigal Diamant (who also appeared in Shootfighter and Army of One, as well as other Lamas vehicle Blood for Blood (1995). The list goes on and on! Also we noticed Gordon Hessler was second unit director, who is a great director in his own right, having done the Sho Kosugi movies Pray For Death (1985) and Rage of Honor (1987), as well as the underrated Out on Bail (1989).

The final warehouse shootout certainly gives Hard Target (1993) a run for its money, and the many goons allow Bad Blood to deliver the action goods. The heroic music booms as Lamas proceeds to kill everybody. Just like he did in Blood for Blood. It’s a toss-up as to whether Bad Blood or Blood for Blood is the better Blood Lamas movie - but let’s not forget there is an alternate edit for this movie under the title of Viper. From what we’ve been able to tell, they’re the same except for a sequence of a baddie killing a kid was removed from the Bad Blood edit. So there are no other major differences that we know about. But seeing as how only one character calls Travis “Viper” only once in the movie, perhaps all references to that being his name were taken out, but we don’t know that for sure.

Bad Blood is classic 90’s video-store action all the way and is a lot of fun to watch. We recommend it.

Comeuppance Review by Ty and Brett

Also check out reviews by our buddies DTVC and Cool Target!