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Good story, Not enough for a whole film

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Hit Man (1972) ** (out of 4) Fairly weak and at times tame Blaxploitation flick has Bernie Casey playing a man who travels to L.A. after the suspicious death of his brother. It turns out that the brother got involved with gangsters and pornography so Casey must seek some revenge. HIT MAN really isn't a very good movie, although fans of the genre will probably find enough entertaining things in it to make it worth sitting through. I think the funniest thing about the picture is the dialogue, which of course is full of the "N" word but there are some hilarious one-liners. The dialogue certainly fits into the "so bad it's good" territory but it at least gives you a reason to laugh. The film contains quite a bit of nudity from start to finish but the real surprise was the lack of any real violence up until the very end. Once the ending comes around then we're greeted with some rather over-the-top and very bloody death scenes. The film is basically a reworking of the British classic GET CARTER but this film here is certainly lacking in most categories. The performances are all okay but certainly nothing that's going to jump out at you. Casey would go on to star in other Blaxploitation flicks like CLEOPATRA JONES and DR. BLACK, MR. HYDE and while he's certainly nothing classic like Jim Brown, he at least manages to keep you entertained. Pam Grier is sadly wasted in her supporting role that simply doesn't give her enough to do. Director George Armitage certainly keeps the film moving at a good pace but there's certainly a major need of a re-write.

"Tyrone Tackett" (Bernie Casey") is a hit man for the mob in Oakland who flies back to his old hometown of Los Angeles to investigate the mysterious death of his brother. Once he arrives he gets very little cooperation from those who knew his brother and this causes him to dig deeper. Eventually clues turn up which indicate a possible Los Angeles mob connection to the pornographic film industry with friction coming from the local mob boss who doesn't like outsiders snooping around on his turf. Now, from what I understand there are a number of people who consider this to be a blaxploitation version of the movie, "Get Carter" which was filmed a year earlier. Having never seen that particular film I can't really comment one way or the other. What I can say, however, is that I found this movie to be enjoyable due in large part to the way this film kept me guessing as to what would happen next. Likewise, I thought Bernie Casey put on a pretty good performance. On the other hand, there were a number of good characters who I thought should have been given more screen time and I was rather disappointed that one of the ladies: "Gozelda" (Pam Grier), "Laurel Garfoot" (Lisa Moore) or "Rochelle Tackett" (Candy All) weren't given a more graceful exit. There were also some sex scenes and nudity which lacked any real passion or sensuality. It was just there. Even so, the film overall wasn't too bad and I rate it as slightly above average.

This definitely isn't one of the best blaxploitation movies ever, but it has a few extremely great and funny characters and sequences. This film, too, seems to be one of the biggest inspirations for the classic spoof "I'm Gonna Get You Sucka". It starts off with a bang, the first half hour or so is amazing, and it gets a little slow towards the end. SPOILER: PAM GRIER IS NAKED A BUNCH IN THIS FILM!!!! If you, like me, find her to be one of the hottest women who ever walked the earth, you are in luck, as she gets nekkid a few times. (she plays a porn star). Bernie Casey is great, but they show his butt too many times in the film. The best character has to be his vulgar, car dealer friend. So, overall, not the greatest, but a rare treat for lovers of 70s schlock action films.

An excellent version of the Ted Lewis book, Jack's return home. Although the style and acting is below the high standard of Hodges' classic Get Carter, it conjures up some novel death scenes and some cool dialogue. Caine said "You're a big man, but you're out of shape. Me, it's a full time job." Bernie Casie said, "You're a big cat, but don't be selling me no wolf ticket." Quality. If you liked Carter, you'll like Hit Man.