The Slams

A robbery crew steals drugs and money from criminals. Curtis X. Hook (Jim Brown) beats his comrades to the double-cross and is the final survivor. He dumps the drugs and hides the money in an abandoned dock. He gets locked in prison and has to deal with many different sides. It's black against white. Others want him to work for them. Everyone who knows about the money wants it.

I'm not sure if this is considered blaxploitation. It's produced by Gene Corman, brother of B-movie legend Roger Corman. Blaxploitation is intended for a black audience. This is a more general B-movie. Legendary football player Jim Brown is not that great as an actor. He has some natural charisma and his size gives him just enough command. His amiability makes him a functional lead. This is undeniably a B-movie and it's a functional one.

Slams, The (1973)

** (out of 4)

Forgotten blaxploitation flick has Jim Brown playing Curtis Hooks, a man who ends up in prison on a small charge but once inside he has all sorts of hits on his life because everyone knows that he stole $1.5 million in drug money and has it hidden somewhere. THE SLAMS, to date, has never received a VHS or DVD release so it's one of the rarest films of its genre, which is somewhat surprising since it does feature one of the biggest stars. There's quite a bit of good stuff here but sadly we've seen everything countless times before and you just end up with one cliché after another. The screenplay is certainly prison-drama 101 as everything you'd expect to happen does just that in the exact order that you'd think it would happen. You get the typical gay jokes, the attacks in the laundry room, the sadistic white racist, the mafia boss, the crooked cops and of course every time the cops walk away you're going to witness yet another hit. The film really doesn't offer up any drama and you can't help but wish that you cared more than what you actually do. With that said, there are still some fine performances with Brown leading the way. This certainly isn't Oscar-worthy material but it's not meant to be. Brown simply shows up with that tough attitude and kicks some major butt. The supporting cast includes a nice performance by Ted Cassidy as the racist and Frank DeKova playing the mafia boss running the prison. Dick Miller appears briefly as a taxi driver and Charles Cyphers (HALLOWEEN) can be spotted playing a guard. Director Jonathan Kaplan at least keeps the film moving at a nice pace and makes it look very professional. He also manages to get a pretty good atmosphere out of the film and the prison has a very dirty feel to it as it should. Still, THE SLAMS can't be seen as anything other than a disappointment. There are a few good moments but not enough to recommend this to anyone but those who must see everything the genre offered up.

Jim Brown is at his coolest as Curtis X. Hook, a criminal who rips off the mob and stashes his loot ($1.5 million) in a structure at an abandoned amusement park. But he is soon nabbed by the cops and sent to prison; there he gets caught up in various power plays by characters such as Macey (Frenchia Guizon, "Friday Foster") and white mobster Capiello (Frank DeKova, 'F Troop'). He learns that the park is scheduled for demolition, so he knows that he'll have to escape sometime very soon. Taking an interest in him is cheerfully corrupt captain of the guards Stambell (Roland Bob Harris, "Ray").

"The Slams" marks another capable effort by talented journeyman director Jonathan Kaplan, who handled a bunch of excellent exploitation flicks during the 1970s and graduated to major features such as "Heart Like a Wheel" and "The Accused" in the 1980s. The cast is filled with familiar faces: Judy Pace ("Cotton Comes to Harlem") as Hooks' lady, Paul Harris ("Across 110th Street"), Ted Cassidy ('The Addams Family'), John Dennis ("Soylent Green"), Quinn K. Redeker ("Spider Baby"), Robert Phillips ("The Dirty Dozen"), and Charles Cyphers ("Halloween"). The always welcome Dick Miller ("A Bucket of Blood") pops up briefly as a cabbie whose vehicle is briefly commandeered by Paul Harris as part of the escape plan. Brown and his co-stars are certainly easy enough to watch, although there's only so much they can do with a so-so script by Richard DeLong Adams ("I Escaped from Devils' Island"). The movie is certainly decently paced and competently made, but in the end "The Slams" is a rather standard prison movie. Roland Bob Harris and DeKova deliver the standout characterizations. Director Kaplan has a cameo as a port-a-potty delivery man.

Best of all is the tense, climactic prison escape, with a surprisingly grisly fate in store for one of the characters.

It's worth noting the variety of familiar names with technical credits: future director Andrew Davis ("Code of Silence") as the cinematographer, Luther Henderson as the composer of the music score, Jack Fisk as the art director, and actor Thalmus Rasulala ("Blacula") as an assistant director.

Six out of 10.

A year before directing Isaac Hayes in the violent yet breezy blaxploitation TRUCK TURNER, director Jonathan Kaplan put Jim Brown in prison for a more sparse and serious THE SLAMS, mostly taking place behind bars, and without relying on melodramatic prison tropes, since everything that goes down... from bullies to shiv-fights to mean guards... is tightly connected to the plot...

Where Jim Brown, an idealistic criminal from a groovy heist prologue, stole and hid loot from the mob, and, once in prison, a locked-up gangster hires gigantic convict Jack Cassady to attempt getting the formidable Brown to confess...

Making the more cerebral than physical, fast-talking prison captain Roland Bob Harris a far more effective villain (better than a typical tyrannical warden or henchman guard), connecting to Brown's newscaster girlfriend Judy Pace while working with pimp Paul Harris (also a pimp in TURNER), to either locate the money or plan a mutual escape...

And while the predictably safe and self-contained Jim Brown's tough enough from any interior adversary, Jonathan Kaplan's creative 70's-style direction keeps the suspense on par with the non-stop action.

Despite having a lead actor who was one of the prominent actors in the 1970s blaxploiation film genre, "The Slams" has been all but forgotten since its theatrical release, not even getting a release on VHS or DVD. Watching the movie, it becomes pretty easy to figure out why no one has been clamoring for its resurrection. Even for 1973, I am sure audiences found nothing really that original here. Every plot turn will be familiar to people who have seen their share of prison films or prison television shows. As a result, there is no excitement, even though there are plenty of prison beatings and fisticuffs along the way. Jim Brown tries, but there is little he can do with such a flat script. Recommended only for die hard fans of the blaxploitation genre.