Review of Hell Up In Harlem (1973) by Stuart K — 20 Jan 2012
After Black Caesar (1973) was a success, American International Pictures head Samuel Z. Arkoff ordered writer/producer/director Larry Cohen to have a sequel made almost immediately for a Christmas 1973 release.
You can tell it's done with haste, but it has some moments that stand out. It follows on from the end of Black Caesar, with Tommy Gibbs (Fred Williamson) battered and bloody and looking for medical aid and sanctuary.
As Tommy regains his strength, he plots how he's going to get revenge on those who tried to kill him, it takes him to a raid on a Mafia controlled island just off the coast of Florida, but Tommy is able to force the Mafia bosses to make peace, just by having them eat 'soul food'.
By this point, Tommy wants out of the business, he and his wife Helen (Gloria Hendry) have just had a son together, so Tommy leaves the business for a new life in L.A. with his father Mr. Gibbs (Julius W.
Harris) now in charge in New York, but he ends up being betrayed by Tommy's enforcer Zach (Tony King), so Tommy has to come back to Harlem one last time to get even once and for all. It doesn't have the smooth character development that Black Caesar had, indeed this just feels like one action sequence after another, tonally different, but some of the action does work, but you wish they had a point to it.
But, it does manage to hold it together for an hour and a half, against the odds.
This review of Hell Up In Harlem (1973) was written by Stuart K on 20 Jan 2012.
Hell Up In Harlem has generally received mixed reviews.
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