Hell Up in Harlem [Blu-ray]

Director: Larry Cohen, Janelle Cohen Larry Cohen

Overview

This hastily assembled sequel to the blaxploitation hit Black Caesar downplays the gritty drama of that film to create a pure action tale with a comic book flavor. The story begins with badly wounded crimelord Tommy Gibbs (Fred Williamson) escaping an assassination attempt masterminded by corrupt District Attorney DiAngelo (Gerald Gordon) with the help of his estranged father, Papa Gibbs (Julius Harris). When DiAngelo's thugs attempt to kill him, Papa fights back and joins his son's criminal organization, a move that angers Gibb's top henchman Zach (Tony King). As Tommy and Papa build up their criminal empire, Zach secretly plots against them with DiAngelo. Zach also murders Helen (Gloria Hendry), Tommy's traitorous ex-wife, and pins in it on Papa to drive a wedge between them. Tommy gives up his New York crime operation and runs off to California. Papa takes over the operation, only to get killed by Zach during a fistfight. Angered by his father's death, Tommy returns to settle the score with Zach and DiAngelo. Hell up in Harlem delivers plenty of action set pieces and did fairly well at the box office, but lacks the consistency and the dramatic punch that made Black Caesar so memorable. As a result, it is considered to be one of Larry Cohen's lesser efforts. ~ Donald Guarisco

Product Details

Release Date:	08/29/2017
UPC:	0887090136112
Original Release:	1973
Rating:	R
Source:	Olive
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono, DTS 5.1-Channel Surround Sound]
Language:	English
Time:	1:35:00
Sales rank:	14,434

Special Features

Trailer; NEW audio commentary with director Larry Cohen, moderated by Steve Mitchell, director of the upcoming documentary King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen.

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Fred Williamson	Tommy Gibbs
Julius W. Harris	Papa Gibbs,Papa Gibbs
Gloria Hendry	Helen Bradley
Margaret Avery	Sister Jennifer
D'Urville Martin	Reverend Rufus
Tony King	Zach
Gerald Gordon	Mr. DiAngelo
Bobby Ramsen	Joe Frankfurter
James Dixon	'Irish' Bryant
Esther Sutherland	The Cook
Charles MacGuire	Hap
Mindi Miller	Tough Bikini Woman
Fonce Mizell	Composer
Freddie Perren	Composer

Technical Credits

Larry Cohen

Larry Cohen	Director,Screenwriter,Producer,Director,Screenwriter
Peter Sabiston	Executive Producer
Alex Vanderkar	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

This fast-paced sequel to Black Caesar delivers twice the action of that film, yet is only half as satisfying because it lacks the hard-hitting drama and balanced tone of its predecessor. The key problem is its script, which manages to be underwritten and over-plotted all at once. Hell Up in Harlem also suffers from weak villains; little time is devoted to the motivations of characters like Zach and DiAngelo, so they come off as simple cardboard villains merely designed to push the plot along. Fred Williamson and Julius Harris make a compelling father-son criminal team, but their relationship never gets the time it deserves due to the film's unnecessarily complicated plot. On the plus side, Hell Up in Harlem benefits from a slick funk score by Motown producers Freddie Perren and Fonce Mizell. Also, writer/director Larry Cohen does maintain a snappy pace (an action scene occurs about every five to ten minutes in this film), and works in plenty of odd, witty touches like a chase scene that involves its participants boarding separate planes to pursue each other across the country. However, the constant flow of bullets and fisticuffs becomes numbing after a while, because there is no emotionally involving story to back them up. As a result, Hell Up in Harlem feels like the cinematic equivalent of empty-calorie junk food. It's fun while it lasts, but is ultimately unsatisfying.

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