The Slams

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.

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.

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.

(1973) The Slams ACTION

At the opening, showcases a sophisticated, blatant drug and money robbery involving three guys. And while driving away on their getaway truck, and because one of the guys didn't agree to also rob the syndicate's drug money, he demands that his share would only be in cash. So the other two decide to double cross him by getting rid of him altogether, except that he was already onto their intentions and successfully kills them both with a sawed off shot gun. After dumping the suitcase full of cocaine into the ocean, he then takes off driving again, but becomes nauseous because he was also shot as well who ends up crashing his vehicle on front of a police cruiser. And that was when the real movie starts is when anti-hero, protagonist, Curtis X. Hook (Jim Brown) ends up in the slammer (hence the title "The Slams") for connecting him to the robbery and murders, in which we're seeing him having to confront and clash with a corrupt chief's guard, racist inmates, and one of the Italian syndicates who also happens to be locked up as well. On his side, Hook has a successful African American girlfriend who happens to be a successful news reporter, and a likable pimp who Hook had used to saved his life during the war. If you want to see movies in which African Americans are not stereotyped as people who're incapable to hitting back if they're hit first, then this would be a great contender since how often are we going to see successful African American news anchors with the main star working with pimps! Not very often.

First-rate prison crime drama with ample doses of action and humor. Exceptional of its type. Jim Brown stars with a great supporting cast including Ted Cassidy (Lurch from Addams Family) and Frank DeKova (Chief Wild Eagle from F Troop). Roland Bob Harris is great as the sleazy captain of the prison guards who meets a deservedly gruesome fate. Look fast for the legendary Dick Miller in a bit part as a carjacked taxi driver. For sensitive types be warned it's a violent movie with lots of foul language and racial slurs. Despite this, it somehow actually manages to be a fun movie that keeps you engrossed the whole time.