Infierno en Harlem

Hell Up in Harlem (1973)

** (out of 4)

Sequel to Black Caesar has Fred Williamson surviving his assassination attempt and slowly moving up the ranks. How does he do this? By killing any Italian person he can get his eyes on. This film has a somewhat legendary making of since both the star and director were busy doing other things and they just got together on the weekends to shoot this film. I think it's easy to tell that the movie was rushed because there isn't any evidence of a screenplay having been written. The movie is nothing but non-stop, bloody violence from the opening to the closing. There's nothing wrong with this as it adds a lot of fun to the movie but if you're expecting anything deep then you can forget it as this thing is weak, story wise, even when compared to the poorest written blaxploitation film. Williamson is once again good in his role and he has the perfect attitude for this type of film. There are all sorts of shoot outs, explosions and even some kung fu thrown in for some good laughs.

Tommy Gibbs (Fred Williamson) is also known as Black Caesar, he finds himself shot by a corrupted police officer in the middle of the street in New York City. Since Gibbs is an well-known gangster, he has the ledger with the name of every bad cop and government officials on the mob's payroll. Gibbs is now public enemy number one in the city. He brings his father (Julius W. Harris) to the mob, Gibbs teaches his father every he knows. But someone in the gang is double-crossing Gibbs and he knows, there will be hell to pay. Revenge looks sweet for Black Caesar.

Written, Produced and Directed by Larry Cohen (It's Alive Trilogy, A Return to Salem's Lot, Q:The Winged Serpent) made an amusing, violent, if sometimes unintentionally funny sequel to "Black Caesar". Cohen is at his best, during some of the action sequences, the quick-paced editing and hand-held camera work. Williamson and Harris are fun to watch in this movie. Although the movie looks rushed, the story isn't as clear as its supposed to be and the film is quite sloppy at times.

DVD has an sharp anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) transfer and an decent Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Sound. The DVD's best feature is the humorous and informative commentary track by Cohen. At times, his commentary track seems to be more entertaining than the movie! DVD also includes the original theatrical trailer and an teaser trailer. "Hell Up in Harlem" is a lot of fun, despite some real flaws. Some of Edwin Starr's songs are quite good. If you are an fan of Soul Cinema in the 1970's. Don't miss it. (*** ½/*****).

No, this is not one of the greatest blaxploitation movie ever made; and yes, it has its flaws. But man, is this one a fun ride or what? It's an hour and a half of pure action with one of the greatest action hero of all time. It's ass kicking after ass kicking, as Tommy Gibbs takes revenge on everybody that have ever been dumb enough to mess with him. The fight scenes are great, inventive and plentiful. The cinematography is quite decent too and the story fun enough to keep you interested in it. Larry Cohen once more delivers the goods in this one. It's actually much better then most action stink fest that Hollywood produce this days. So sit tight and enjoy the roller coaster ride while it last.

Go Fred Williamson!

I loved Larry Cohen and Fred Williamson's previous collaboration 'Black Caesar', one of the toughest and most enjoyable movies of the early 70s blaxploitation boom. That movie was a great success and in the rush to cash in with a sequel something was lost. Cohen was shooting his killer baby classic 'It's Alive' at the same time Williamson was making 'That Man Bolt', yet they still attempted to make 'Hell Up In Harlem' simultaneously! Cohen's script is weaker this time around and the emphasis is on fights (fists and guns) over character development and story. The movie is more of an action film than a crime drama and therefore much less interesting to me. Williamson is still a powerhouse, but the movie as a whole fails to satisfy. Gloria Hendry ('Black Belt Jones') and D'Urville Martin ('Dolemite') both return from the first movie but aren't required to do all that much. You could even call their roles cameos and not be far wrong. Julius Harris ('Superfly') also returns as Williamson's father, but this time round he has a much larger role, and almost carries the first third of the movie all by himself. The film directly follows on from 'Black Caesar' with Tommy Gibbs (Williamson) recovering from a near fatal gunshot wound. He relies upon his Pop to keep things together, and this enables Harris to blossom from a middle aged straight citizen into a cool dressing killing machine almost overnight! This is one of the most entertaining things about the whole movie, but not enough to stop it from being a disappointment. Even the score this time round is inferior, with no James Brown content. I think this movie was too rushed and suffers for it. It has its moments but isn't a patch on 'Black Caesar'. I've noticed that quite a few blaxploitation classics fail to deliver with their sequels (I'm especially thinking of 'Foxy Brown', Jack Hill's weak follow up to his sensational 'Coffy'). I wonder why that was? Greed perhaps, or lack of faith in the material, I don't know. Anyway, 'Hell Up In Harlem' is okay, but it could have been, SHOULD have been a lot better! 'Black Caesar' is still brilliant though, don't miss that one.

Another kick ass blaxploitation classic, director Larry Cohen really knows his stuff! "Hell Up in Harlem" features even more action than it´s great predecessor "Black Caesar" does! It´s a fast-paced crime story about the rise and fall of an Afro American godfather and everybody who loves such blaxploitations goodies like "Dolemite", "Blacula" or "Foxy Brown" should give it a look! Once more, main actor is the ultimate coolness and it´s no wonder why Quentin Tarantino digged him out for his funny "From Dusk Till Dawn" movie. Unfortunately, they don´t make stuff like this anymore! Movies like "Dead Presidents" or "New Jack City" are nothing else but failed attempts to exhume the blaxploitation genre! Better watch the originals again, they are da real deal!