Directed by: Larry Cohen
Starring: Fred Williamson, Gloria Hendry, Art Lund
Aww yeah, Blaxploitation movies. I love this shit. Usually it’s because they’re over-the-top and goofy and violent and there’s hot chicks and ridiculous slang that was even hilarious in the 70’s. In the case of Black Caesar, however, it’s because it’s surprisingly an actually good film. Weird. And awesome.
A teenage hoodlum on his way up in organized crime gets caught and sent to prison for a few years, and comes back with the thought in his head to get revenge on the crooked cop who sent him to jail, and also to take over all the mafia activity in Harlem. Which he goes and does. The first half of the film is his rise to power, and the second half is his ego growing crazier and crazier as he gets more and more unhinged and finally is killed by his best friend. In a lot of ways, Black Caesar is a very fitting title.
It’s a really entertaining movie from a goofy Blaxploitation angle, but it also has a really well-done dramatic arc, which I did not expect at all. Obviously Fred Williamson is awesome as the title character, but by the third act, he changes from being a really cool guy in the audience’s view to kind of a power-hungry monster… which he had been the whole time, he was just too cool for us to notice.
Basically, I’m saying that you should see this film. It’s really good. And cool. And groovy. And funkadelic. And the soundtrack is done by James Brown. WATCH IT!!
Films in Boxes 
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