Watch Slaughter's Big Rip Off For Free

Admirable film.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Blistering performances.

While enjoying a cook out on a ranch with several friends, a bi-plane appears out of nowhere and begins spreading the area with bullets. Although the former Green Berets soldier by the name of "Slaughter" (Jim Brown) is not killed, several of his friends lie dead and dying all around him and he immediately vows to kill those responsible. But first he has to find out who issued the contract on him and why. But before he can initiate an investigation he has to find a safe place for his girlfriend "Marcia" (Gloria Hendry) and somehow get the police off of his back as well. Unfortunately, this process becomes more problematic the closer he gets. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this turned out to be a fairly decent "Blaxploitation" film with good action and solid acting all around. Likewise, the addition of Judith Brown (as "Norja") and the aforementioned Gloria Hendry certainly didn't hurt the scenery in any way either. On the other hand, I have to admit that it loses points on the "realism scale" due to a couple of scenes which defied reality. Even so, I thought that this sequel was a slight improvement over the 1972 film "Slaughter" and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

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.

Like the first film in this series (SLAUGHTER, 1972), I think it would be a mistake to just label this a "blaxsploitation film". Sure, Slaughter is a tough, gun-toting, Black man but it's more of an action picture regardless of the color of the leading man or the bad guys--and a very good action picture at that.For the second and final time, Jim Brown plays the title character. The film begins with one of the goofiest scenes I can remember in a film. As Slaughter and his friends are enjoying an outdoor party, along comes a biplane and begins spraying the group with machine gun fire! No, Slaughter isn't so tough that he then shoots down the plane with his .357! But Slaughter is ticked and no one is sure why this hit was happened--however, Slaughter is going to get to the bottom of it! Well, it turns out that the hit was attempted in retribution for the last movie. In it, Slaughter takes on the Mafia and kicks lots of butt down in Mexico. Now, in a horribly bungled and clumsy attempt, the guys in the plane kill and injure quite a few people but miss Slaughter. And, because the job was bungled so badly, the mob boss (Ed MacMahon!!) orders the pilot and gunman killed by his brutal assassin (Don Stroud--in a very typical sort of role for him). Stroud is great--scary and nasty to the core, but Ed MacMahon as the boss?! Wow, that's an interesting twist! Slaughter is now stumped. He figured out who the two guys were in the plane but by the time he got to them, they were dead. So, to help him along in his own private vendetta, Brock Peters (who plays a cop) tells him who the mobsters are who ordered the hit and got Slaughter to agree to help by doing some illegal undercover work. So, Slaughter and his pimp friend break into the mobster's mansion and steal a list of payoffs to key government and police officials. And, naturally, there is a lot of shooting and bloodshed in the process.Stroud isn't about to let Slaughter get away with this and kidnaps Slaughter's girlfriend. Now it's a standoff--Slaughter has the list but if he doesn't give it back, the lady is dead. Being a tough but gallant man, you might just be able to guess much of what happens next.The action is very good in the film and Jim Brown is menacing and tough. The only negative I noticed was that while having MacMahon play this nasty boss, at the end, he simply folded--and way too quickly. When Slaughter catches up to him, MacMahon becomes a wimp and all the previous nastiness disappears--and this is too much of a cliché and inconsistent. Still, despite this minor quibble, it's an engaging film that is NOT for the kids due to all the violence and boobs.

This meandering tale of mob revenge is simply not very interesting, even with Ed McMahon in a ripe role as the chief heavy. Jim Brown kicks ass effectively, Gloria Hendry proves again that she can bring life to even the poorest roles, and Brock Peters is decent as The Cop Who Plays By the Book. It's still dull and badly constructed, and even the print shown on cable is now emasculated of its original James Brown score.