Brotherhood of Death

A group of black Vietnam vets go up against the Ku Klux Klan.

Producer Ronald Goldman saved money by hiring a first-time director and having nearly the entire film shot in Montgomery County, near Washington. He further hired several members of the Washington Redskins as actors so he would not have to pay the higher fees of professionals.

Although forgotten today, Goldman reported that the film brought in approximately $1 million, after having been made at a cost of between $200,000 and $250,000. Not a huge haul, but still a fourfold profit.

Not surprisingly, the film was championed by director Quentin Tarantino, which lead to its eventual release on DVD by Anchor Bay. Say what you will about Tarantino (love him or hate him), he is an expert at getting old films noticed again.

Aesthetically speaking, this isn't a very good movie. There wasn't much of a budget, the actors well mostly amateurs (including several Washington Redskins football players in leading roles) and the film would never be mistaken for Shakespeare....yet somehow I still enjoyed it all very much. I think it's because despite some lousy scenes (particularly the ones supposedly set in Vietnam), there was an energy about the film and the violence didn't seem excessive--despite it being a violent film.

A group of Black soldiers are home from the war and head to a small Southern town. The town is dominated by a group of Klansmen who keep the Black majority from voting or being treated like human beings. However, these newcomers convince the local population to register to vote so they can take back power and achieve justice. When hundreds show up to register, the Klan responds with violence. Eventually, though, the Black community has little choice other than fight back and the film ends with a small war between these combat vets and the Klan.

The film did a good job of capturing the new and hopeful mood of Black America and it also, believe it or not, showed some restraint. The Black men in this film wanted to do the right thing and not take the law into their own hands. They wanted to work within the system. When the somewhat sympathetic sheriff was killed by the Klan and they took over the job of policing the town, there could have just been a free for all or mob violence. Sure, some evil White supremacists were killed in the end, but only after the Black men showed a lot of restraint and really had no other choice. It was not a "hate White folks" film, but was intelligently handled.

By the way, as far as football players Roy Jefferson, Mike Thomas and Mike Bass are concerned, they were competent but that's about all. As a result of their often lackluster performances, Jefferson and Thomas never made another film and Bass only appeared in one more film more than a decade later. I grew up a Redskin fan but this film convinced me that they were smart to keep their day jobs! By the way, this is NOT a film for the kids. There is some nudity, a rape scene (thankfully not too graphic) and a lot of shooting.

There appear among the stars of this little-known Black exploitation vehicle several 1970's National Football League players, who played mostly in the Baltimore/Washington area: Roy Jefferson (he was a Wide Receiver with the Chargers and Baltimore Colts), Mike Bass (he was a defensive back with the Washington Redskins), Mike Thomas (he was a running back with the Washington Redskins), and Frank Grant, who was a wide receiver. Several of the other actors may also have been pro athletes, such as Dennis Johnson (there was a Dennis Johnson who was a 1970's guard with the Boston Celtics and the Phoenix Suns) and Larry Jones. For most, this is their only movie "credit."

Brotherhood of Death (1976)

** (out of 4)

Incredibly stupid and politically incorrect blaxploitation flick about three black Vietnam vets who come home from the war and battle the KKK after they rape a woman. Like many other blaxploitation films, this one here takes a serious issue and makes it hip and cool. There are all sorts of racial slurs thrown around but everything is handled so poorly that you can't help but laugh at everything going on. The Vietnam scenes look like they were filmed in my back yard and the Klan members are the biggest bunch of rednecks I've seen on screen. This is certainly a pretty bad and childish film but it's got that blaxploitation stamp of campiness that keeps it entertaining.

Nothing really ground breaking here, but here are the pluses: Story is told decently, although it is not groundbreaking and the basic plot has been done before, there were enough original parts in this film to make it worth a view all the way through.

The acting wasn't bad, the klansmen, the sheriff, the bar owner were pretty good, but with the main characters (who I later found out were NFL stars) you did notice a dip in the quality a bit.

Soundtrack was hot, I've gotta get my hands on it.

This film needed more women in it, there are only 2 woman in the whole damn movie and they get very little screen time. That first one in the beginning was smoking!

I think of this movie as, the extra lite step child of "the spook who sat by the door". Not nearly as bad or exploitative as many of the blaxploitation films I've seen.