Slaughter's Big Rip-Off

Stella Stevens is off on the Poseidon Adventure, so Slaughter has to find a new girlfriend in this sequel in his battle with the mob. Judith M. Brown's audition was certainly a nice start, but she's no Stella. Of course, Gloria Hendry is working hard to keep him on a leash.

It was a treat to see Ed McMahon and Don Stroud, and Scatman Crothers, along with Brock Peters. They definitely made the sequel more interesting.

Dick Anthony Williams plays a classic pimp with the jive talk and flashy threads who joins Slaughter in a rip off scheme. Unfortunately, Stroud takes him for a ride. Stroud makes a classic mistake, however, and Slaughter is ready for action.

The cool dude just does the job.

This sequel to the original Jim Brown "Slaughter" vehicle is similarly bad ass entertainment, with big Jim showing off plenty of cool as always. The story is pretty entertaining, too, and the supporting cast has to be seen to be appreciated. There's a fair amount of violence to enjoy, and a bit of sex, too - even some full frontal nudity courtesy of the delectable Judith Brown.

Slaughter is now being hunted by mafioso types who want to get back at him for his activities in the first film. Among those types are the smooth Duncan (none other than Ed McMahon) and his racist thug-for-hire Kirk (Don Stroud). Determined police detective Reynolds (Brock Peters) soon ropes Slaughter into stealing important documents from Duncan - to be precise, a list of people who've received payoffs.

"Slaughter's Big Rip-Off" isn't wall to wall action, but it is enjoyable, particularly for seeing Mr. McMahon in a film of this type. He's fun to watch, as is Stroud as the kind of bad guy whom you'll love to hate. There's a bunch of familiar faces in the supporting cast, among them Gloria Hendry as Marcia, Slaughter's gal pal, Dick Anthony Williams as flamboyant pimp Joe Creole (a pimp who's also talented in the art of safecracking), Art Metrano as the sleazy Mario Bertoli, Hoke Howell as one of the Parker brothers who make the foolish mistake of not cooperating with Slaughter, Russ Marin as top cop Crowder, the always lovably genial Scatman Crothers (you wish he was in the film longer) as Cleveland, Pamela Des Barres in a sexy bit part, George Gaynes as the ill-fated Warren, and an uncredited Adam Roarke as Harry.

The pacing is mostly efficient, the action when it happens is always viscerally effective, and there are some good laughs to be had as well. Just check out the amount of vocalizations during a fight scene with Slaughter and two goons, one of whom happens to be Oriental. You hear them even when people aren't moving their lips.

Good if not great entertainment overall, with a very funny wrap-up. It's just a shame that the original James Brown soundtrack got replaced for the DVD; the new score is adequate but hardly inspired.

Seven out of 10.

As blaxploitation movies go, this fares o.k, but isn't anything remarkable. Big Jim Brown, if you don't know, is one of this famous black stars of the 70's, who's big set build, makes a viable commodity in these pics. Playing a famous, ever so cool character, in this so called sequel (the original I liked less), he finds himself in quite a pickle, as he becomes a marked man, by some dudes he ripped off, where at the start, his best friend, and a very familiar Police Academy face, buy the farm instead. Slaughter intends to find out who's responsible, and find them, before he becomes a memory. Not many surprises, the main one, being near the end, stretching reality some, but in light of it's faults, SBRO doesn't come off, as not a badly made pic, where Slaughter still has time to make love, especially to one hottie, who bares and gives herself completely to him. Another one, a blonde bombshell, who this pimp soughts out, will stay in your mind, Some nice blood shed too, as well as some good performances, notably, or surprisingly, ex t.v. show host, Mcmahon as a drug baron, and Don Stroud, as a great nasty, of a hitman. Hendry as Slaughter's girl isn't bad either. Brown is so perfect for Slaughter, it's just in the voice, but on the surface, this movie, I felt was more a let down, or limited to be more precise. Metaphorically a let down, like Stroud, letting the air out of that time. Great soundtrack.

Here's another another golden oldie, a well made feature film, blaxploitation tale, with some thrilling action, especially the start, with the fake orange and reddy gore. We too, have hot broads, as well as the big black dude you don't mess with, as referenced by other black dudes: The one and only Jim Brown (Fireball in The Running Man) who makes most men look small. We have great villains, of course of being the eternal Don Stroud, plus a surprising well acted, and genuinely authentic performance by Ed Mcmahon. Some people want Slaughter dead, where he must of crossed some really bad guys, half the fun in the story, that has us, wondering if he'll survive, which we probably know he will. Recognize a voice and face right at the start. Sounds and looks like a very familiar Police Academy regular. How Slaughter survives a drowning, with his car catapulting off a towering cliff into the seas, had me flummoxed where his girl wasn't so lucky. If you like the attributes of what I've just mentioned, and you're a serious 70's action fan, this will make your night.

The movie itself is pretty good - but only the ORIGINAL version with the awesome soundtrack by James Brown. For the dvd release, the studio was too cheap to buy the rights to original music, so they replaced it with new, generic sounding funk music! And they didn't even change the credits or the packaging to reflect that! That's a pretty big slap in the face to the father of funk himself, so that's why I say avoid this DVD at all costs.