The Black Gestapo

In spite of the conspicuous title, controversial subject matter and the use of provocative archive footage (starring Adolf Hitler), "The Black Gestapo" is not much more than a curious footnote in the rancid world of 70's exploitation. The nearly inseparable writer/director duo Lee Frost and Wes Bishop courageously attempt to depict how immense power will eventually corrupt everybody, even those of whom you least expect it. General Ahmed founded the People's Army in order to protect the black members of the Watts community from mafia thugs, and he dreams about a society of peace and harmony as imagined by Martin Luther King. His second in command Colonel Kojah, however, sympathizes more with the principles of Adolf Hitler and insists on fighting back with hard violence. Kojah's methods expel the white criminals all right, but the ever-increasing power rapidly turns him and his men into even bigger monsters then the white mobsters ever were. "The Black Gestapo" probably would have been far more effective if the creators had spent a little more effort and attention to the black vigilantes' gradual descent into madness. Loads of playtime is spent to the white Mafiosi nagging and acting stupid, whereas the founding of the Black Master Race appears to suddenly happen overnight. Kojah and his rapidly growing army of young black solider take over the prostitution networks and drug traffic, and it's up the still unaware General Ahmed to bring his old pal's empire down again. This is a typically 70's low-budget exploitation effort, meaning there's copious amounts of gratuitous nudity and provocative footage, like adolescent black boys in Nazi uniforms. The noteworthy moments of genuine suspense and intelligent dialog are far more sporadic, of course, not to mention totally absent. The finale, revolving on one man annihilating the entire foundation, is pretty ludicrous and feels like an amateur episode of "The A-Team". Uschi Digard, the voluptuous Swedish cult siren of "Supervixens" and "Truck Stop Women" makes a brief naked appearance; I suppose that's worth a mention as well.

Hmmm, I bought this flick for $1.99 in the used bin at a local video store, that being said, I don't think I wasted the money.

It's pretty indicative of the Blacksploitation ouevre. Highlights include Mack from Night Court as a militant terrorist and would be ghetto fuhrer, nekkid women for no good reason, and fight scenes that look like guys rough-housing on their lawns after a few too many, (if you know what I mean,).

It's not a great exploitation flick, it's not a horrible exploitation flick, best viewed with a few cold ones and some buddies. Peace.

Before the opening credits we see real footage of the Nazi army marching and chants of "Sieg Heil". Hitler walks by and the frame freezes. Lettering, "The Black Gestapo", pops up on the screen in old English and the funk music kicks in. Oh my, very weird and sure to ruffle a few feathers.

The first half of the film is the better with the evil white crime syndicate going to war with The People's Army. All too soon though, The People's Army is exploiting it's own people in the exact same manner the driven out whites did. No, we can no longer root for the Black Gestapo since they are shown doing or saying the exact same horrible things the whites had previously done in at least three scenes. The point, very much the same as that of the novel "Animal Farm", is really driven home so that even the least sharp viewer could grasp it. Those who overthrow the oppressor are doomed to become oppressors themselves. Sad to say, my mind was not blown.

Well, as I said, the early battles in the film are sick. The whites have to pack up and leave, threatening to return during one long scene of dialogue, yet they never do. I was left waiting for an awesome climactic gang war, but instead only got a mediocre battle between the one time People's Army leader and his organization gone bad. Yeah, there are some novel deaths, but nothing like the brutality of earlier scenes. One the whole there is some mean stuff in this picture, lots of abuse, and black people in Nazi type uniforms. It won't be forgotten.

A funky 1970's blacksploitation film with Charles Robinson, probably best known for playing the fileperson Mac on "Night Court". Robinson plays an officer in the "People's Army", a group of blacks given a grant by the white community to help the disadvantaged in a section of L.A. Following the assault of a nurse working at the Army hospital and some violence in local African-American-owned businesses, Robinson asks the general of the People's Army (Rod Perry) for a few men to embrace violence against a white crime syndicate operating in the city. He then takes the group in his own direction, dressing them up in Nazi uniforms and training them in all levels of combat, finally running the syndicate out of town. However, the group becomes a bit mad with power and ends up simply taking over the duties of the syndicate, abusing the community even more. Perry, who plays the general of the less radical People's Army, now must break into the compound of Robinson's Black Gestapo alone and use his wits to put an end to the mayhem. While the plot seems okay, what makes this a "bad" movie is its production. Most of the actors fall short of adequate in believability, and the movie seems more interested in showing off nudity than talent anyway. The individual members of the white crime syndicate are hilariously bad, as are the comparisons the film tries to make between the Nazis and the black militant group, such as when the entire group is raising their fists and repeatedly shouting "Vengeance!", the movie overdubs a sound clip of Hitler's Nazis repeatedly screaming "Seig Heil!". The boo-chikka-boo-chikka guitar music kind of completes the picture. Also, it seems like when the Black Gestapo gets together, all they really want to do is have sex with white women, which was kind of puzzling. There is absolutely nothing of any value to this movie, unless you like watching prostitutes get abused, black people marching around in Nazi uniforms shouting "Vengeance!", and a gangster's genitalia being cut off with a razor while he takes a bath. Actually, based on that, it's probably worth seeing. Watch it for a laugh, if you can stand it.

This film begins with some black men forming a group known as "the People's Army" with the intention of helping the citizens in their local community of Watts. To do that their leader, "General Ahmad" (Rod Perry) has set up a medical clinic and a food store with a grant of money given to him by the governor of California. However, when some local white gangsters harass many of the people and eventually rape his girlfriend "Marsha" (Angela Brent) he finally concedes to the demands of his second-in-command "Colonel Kojah" (Charles Robinson) and allows him to set up a small security force to protect the community as well. What General Ahmad doesn't realize, however, is that Colonel Kojah has a totally different agenda in mind and it is the exact opposite of the peaceful direction for which the People's Army was initially intended. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this movie was produced during a time when Blaxploitation films were increasingly popular. Some were good. Others--like this particular one--not so much as the script was extremely weak, the acting was poor and some of the scenes bordered on the ridiculous. That said, those familiar with this sub-genre might get some enjoyment out of this picture but even so it's not something that I would recommend and I have rated it accordingly. Below average.