BLACK SAMURAI (1977)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *uncanny*
MYTHICITY: *poor*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *sociological*

Though I realize it may have been director Al Adamson's destiny to be best known for the "so bad it's good" mishmash known as DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN, I know from a recent documentary that the guy really did love the experience of moviemaking; that he wasn't just in the game to make a few bucks. I had almost zero memory of BLACK SAMURAI after seeing it once over forty years ago, so I thought, "Surely Adamson didn't mess up such easy-sleazy material as an adaptation of a pulp-paperback about a Black kung fu expert, particularly when he Adamson had the starring services of Jim Kelly, who made a big hit in ENTER THE DRAGON!" But sadly, he did, and BLACK SAMURAI falls into the category of "so bad it's ordinary."

According to this online review, the movie was based on the sixth in the eight-volume BLACK SAMURAI book-series, and the reviewer considers Number Six one of the best entries in the series in terms of offering good sleazy entertainment. He also makes clear that the movie does follow the bare bones of the novel's plot, and that the casting of Jim Kelly was potentially a good match for the chopsocky-hero Robert Sand. 

Unfortunately, Kelly's basic charm and fighting-skills were not enough to make the movie come together. Adamson chose a story that needed a certain amount of visual pizzazz to work on the big screen, and I tend to doubt that even with a bigger budget, Adamson could've pulled off the more spectacular scenes. 

American secret agent Sand is called upon to put a hit on the leader of a cult, one Janicot, who uses voodoo sex rituals and Satanism to lure rich victims into blackmail-able situations. The hero isn't very motivated to take on this new enemy until Sand's boss reveals that Janicot has imprisoned Sand's Japanese girlfriend Toki (Essie Lin Chia). Sand's boss doesn't cite any reason for the cult-leader to abduct Toki; it's like the villain's sole purpose in the film is to do things that make the hero fighting mad. 

Janicot may have an "inside man" in Sand's spy-organization, the comically named D.R.A.G.O.N., because as soon as Sand accepts the assignment, he's intercepted in his car by another auto with gun-toting thugs. Fortunately, Sand's car is fitted with a machine-gun in its chassis, so he takes the assassin-auto with no sweat.

Being so targeted doesn't move Sand to use a disguise or anything when he invites himself to one of Janicot's ritzy parties. However, since Janicot and his lieutenants all know Sand right away, maybe any counter-move would have been pointless. The rest of the movie unfolds like a typical bad James Bond imitation, in which the "spy" makes no real attempt at espionage and acts in essence like a commando licensed to kill. Once the two adversaries have thrown down their respective gauntlets, the movie is just one attack after another, all in roughly the same location to save money. The photography is flat and most of the fight-scenes, supposedly arranged by Kelly himself, range from the ordinary to the awful. Oh, and Sand uses a jetpack at one point-- a real jetpack, though surely not piloted by Kelly-- though I was never clear what advantage that conveyed, since Sand seems able to penetrate any complex without half trying. 

As played by one Bill Roy, Janicot is a wimpy, second-rate villain, though I suppose he's a little better than the colorless conspirators seen in most Eurospy films. He does, like many Bond villains, surround himself with weird henchmen-- an albino-Black muscleman, killer dwarves, a couple of Black guys who for some reason dress up in African tribal costumes, and a flamboyant seductress named Synne (Marilyn Joi). None of the hench-people have any good moments, though Synne, the "bad Bond girl" here, tries with might and main to distract the hero from saving his girl. Adamson clearly had all the elements for a good sleazefest, but he chose to burn up time with pointless musical numbers. I can understand a five-minute segment with a nude lady dancer gyrating on a stage-- but five minutes of a Mariachi band?

Toward the conclusion things pick up a little as Sand has a lengthy fight with the albino guy while Synne and Toki exchange a couple of blows before the bad girl buys it. Sand then kills Janicot in a very low-energy climax and everyone goes home, The End.

Adamson was probably at his best when he didn't attempt big spectacle, but kept all conflicts at a very simple level, as he did with 1975's JESSI'S GIRLS, which may be his most coherent story. As things stand, SAMURAI's most interesting aspects are Kelly and three other "cult film" actors: Marilyn Joi for ILSA, HAREM KEEPER OF THE OIL SHIEKS, Essie Lin Chia for RETURN  OF THE ONE ARMED SWORDSMAN, and dwarf-actor Felix Silla, who played "Twiki"on the BUCK ROGERS TV show.