Terror Town

DVD release of the Original Blaxploitation Film, which I saw in the theater the day of its releas, is badly edited and cut. There are bleeps. Worse, several of the murders are excised. Xenon Productions can do better. In its original release as Welcome Home, Brother Charles this film was surely the most tasteless film ever made in the history of film-making-----the acme of the Black Phallic Worship begun by Kyle Onstott in his book, Mandingo and culminating in Scott Poulson-Bryant's recently released study, "Hung!" Since the Edits, the film renamed Soul Vengeance has been reduced to being only ONE of the most Tastelessfilms ever produced. Mr Fanaka ought to be ashamed of himself and demand that the original film be re-issued--UNCUT and UNDILUTED. Yours in Blaxploitation films, Ebony Ivory.

According to an interview with director Jamaa Fanaka in Josiah Howard's book Blaxploitation Cinema, 'Welcome Home, Brother Charles' was made while he was at UCLA; it certainly looks and feels like a student film, and one that would have barely scraped an E for effort, if it wasn't for one jaw-dropping moment.

The first half an hour is so disjointed that it's very hard to tell what is happening. to whom and why. It starts with a man about to jump off a building, his wife trying to talk him down. Then the 'wakka wakka' funky music kicks in, and suddenly it's all pimps and hos and drug dealers. After an old man tries to score with a hooker, the action cuts to hustler Charles Murray (Marlo Monte) as he is apprehended by 'the man', his arresting officer, Harry Freeman (Ben Bigelow), attempting to cut off Charles's manhood with a razor, a case of inferiority complex (in an explanatory scene, we see Harry returning home from defusing a radioactive bomb at an airport to discover that his wife has been screwing around, the woman unsatisfied with the size of her husband's junk).

After a kangaroo court finds Charles guilty of dealing drugs, he goes to prison, his time inside shown as a series of black and white photographs (thereby keeping film-making costs down). After three years, Charles is released to find that his girlfriend Twyla (Jackie Ziegler) is now sleeping with his old friend N.D. (Jake Carter) and his brother Teto (Jimmy Butler) is hanging with the wrong crowd. Charles decides that he is going to go straight, but first he has some scores to settle with those who sent him down.

Terrible direction, awful editing and weak acting make this a chore to watch, the cruddy performances from the amateurish cast intercut with random scenes featuring members of the local community, which lend proceedings a gritty realism, but only add to the overall cheapness of the film. Thankfully, Fanaka has an ace up his sleeve (or should that be down Charles's trousers?), one so bizarre that it makes the slog just about worth it. As Charles carries out his plan for revenge, he hypnotises the wives of his victims and has sex with them. But that's not it. No, the film's BIG surprise comes when Charles drops his trousers to reveal a humongous trouser snake (we're not talking inches here, but feet--and double figures!), the monstrous appendage crawling across the floor to strangle a man to death. It's so utterly unexpected that one can only marvel at the insanity of the scene and applaud its originality.

The film ends in a suitably bizarre fashion, as it started, with Charles cornered on a rooftop by the police and threatening to throw himself off. His girlfriend, former hooker Carmen (Reatha Grey), shows up and instead of trying to save him, she shouts 'Jump!'. Huh?

Not a great film - it's technically weak in almost every department - but definitely memorable and recommended to fans of cult oddities. 4/10, plus an extra point for THAT scene.

I am an old broad who saw this originally when it was released at the drive in. When I found out what "weapon" he used to kill his victims, I laughed so hard I could barely drive home. When I tried to tell my mom and older sister what the movie was about the next day, it took damn near half an hour because I was laughing so hard! I was literally bent in half. I keep thinking about the "strange markings" on each of the victim's necks. This movie is "blaxplotation" at it's worst. But you have to see it! If you want a good laugh at a bad movie, this is it. It's one of those "guilty pleasure" movies. It is like watching a train wreck, you just cannot turn away. You must see it!

Somewhat watchable blaxploitation film, though it's pretty bad (and I don't mean BAAD).

The movie starts with a shot against a black background of an African-like carving of a man with a disproportionately large penis. It's not seen again in the movie.

A drug dealer gets caught by the police and the arresting officer cuts his manhood with a blade. He spends three years in prison, depicted by a black and white photo montage, and short black and white clips.

After he's released, nothing of his old life remains. He moves in with a sympathetic hooker who'd witnessed his arrest. He vows revenge on the people who put him in prison.

Towards the end, he delivers on that vow. When the wives of his intended victims see his manhood now, they're automatically his to use for sex and to brainwash. He can also cause it to lengthen to several yards long, and use it to strangle men who've done him wrong. It's weird the way the movie springs this on us, without giving us any indication that he knew he had that power.

This film is a gem! Everything within Brother Charles (or Soul Vengeance as I saw it) adds to its effect-- jittery camerawork, sound so murky that most dialogue can't be understood, some really out there dancing and of course, weird action. And boy do I mean weird. Fanakaa obviously was trying for some kind of visual metaphor in this film, but its comic effect overshadows any pretense of seriousness the film may or may not contain. Fans of the genre MUST NOT miss out on this one.