Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973)
* 1/2 (out of 4)
Violent sequel sees a mob boss (Ed McMahon) taking a hit out on Slaughter (Jim Brown) who of course has to seek vengeance when a couple of his friends are killed instead. This sequel to the 1972 hit comes as a major letdown because we've got a pretty good cast here but sadly they're given very little to do and this film runs out of gas before we even hit the thirty-minute mark. Not only do we have Brown and McMahon but we also have a brief appearance by Scatman Crothers and Don Stroud as well as Brock Peters who most will remember from TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. The biggest problem with this film is that the entire set up is just boring and never really gets us interested in what's going on. As soon as the movie starts we witness this hit and we have no reason why it's happening or who the people are that are getting killed. We're thrown right into this story but it's so slim that you can't help but feel you're just watching this movie because the first one made money and the studio is trying to milk some more cash. I know that just about every blaxploitation flick used this revenge storyline but they still could have came up with something better here. What we do get are a few fun performances with Brown once again delivering the good lines and kicking enough heads in for some slight entertainment. It was very funny seeing McMahon playing the womanizing gangster and Peters turns in a good performance as a cop helping Slaughter. Veteran director Gordon, whose credits go as far back as campy stuff like ZOMBIES ON Broadway, handles the material fairly well but he's just not given enough to save the movie.
* 1/2 (out of 4)
Violent sequel sees a mob boss (Ed McMahon) taking a hit out on Slaughter (Jim Brown) who of course has to seek vengeance when a couple of his friends are killed instead. This sequel to the 1972 hit comes as a major letdown because we've got a pretty good cast here but sadly they're given very little to do and this film runs out of gas before we even hit the thirty-minute mark. Not only do we have Brown and McMahon but we also have a brief appearance by Scatman Crothers and Don Stroud as well as Brock Peters who most will remember from TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. The biggest problem with this film is that the entire set up is just boring and never really gets us interested in what's going on. As soon as the movie starts we witness this hit and we have no reason why it's happening or who the people are that are getting killed. We're thrown right into this story but it's so slim that you can't help but feel you're just watching this movie because the first one made money and the studio is trying to milk some more cash. I know that just about every blaxploitation flick used this revenge storyline but they still could have came up with something better here. What we do get are a few fun performances with Brown once again delivering the good lines and kicking enough heads in for some slight entertainment. It was very funny seeing McMahon playing the womanizing gangster and Peters turns in a good performance as a cop helping Slaughter. Veteran director Gordon, whose credits go as far back as campy stuff like ZOMBIES ON Broadway, handles the material fairly well but he's just not given enough to save the movie.