Black Gestapo

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.

BLACK GESTAPO is a hoot. I mean it's funny and entertaining and never bores. It keeps clicking along right until the very much unbelievable end. You got 'nads being chopped off, naked women all over the place, black men dressing up like nazis and a mean,nasty vibe this picture just can't shake. I suggest buying it. Today.

Well, the version of this film that I own comes in a 4-pack of Black Vengance, found at Best Buy's bargain movie bin, it contains other genere winners like Black Fist 2, and The Black Six. Its a re-release of the material originally done in the early 1970s firmly rooted in the black power social movement, utilizing the film Blacksploitation title with liberty.

The film its self runs something like 90 minutes, contains several scenes of pointless nudity, poorly coreographed violence, and multiple overdubs of Hitler-era Germany. Language is also a mix of obscenities and jive-lingo. Children really shouldnt see this movie until they are old enough to understand the historical context that produces it.

It centers around General Ahmed's creation of a Black People's Army [read: Brownshirt revolution], that aims to end the gross injustices exercised on the local black populace by a half-assed white 'mob,' interested in extortion money, and beating up prostitutes. After a black nurse is raped by the 'mob', Col. Kojah enters to recruit a special black response unit of commands that begin extracting militant revenge on the white community. Soon after, Kojah's group overpowers everything else Ahmed's ideas stand for, and the Black Gestapo militant unit superceeds it. Most of the movie then focus'es on Kojah's unit [read SS], bedecked in the finest Nazi wears [yes, explicitly done], and the struggle of pressure versus resistance to impose societal justices.

Several themes are somewhat interesting, including the increased violence towards women by both repsonse units, the characterization and sexuality of the women [with unnecessary nudity and sex scenes] as well as a theme of mans' degenerative nation, once given a sip of power. All in all, I'd never pay money to see this in a theater, but for comedic relief it is quite funny. Several social issues can be extrapolated, and I could see how the political/social movement of the times had strongly impacted the final version of the film. Even the end of the film, culminating in the assination of Kojah's soldiers and he himself, appear to summarize the views of the then powerful movement that was destined to implode.

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.