Black Sister's Revenge

source: Black Sister's Revenge

Not the best cast and acting by any stretch and no familiar faces but I have to say it was intriguing enough to watch thru to the end. A really really nice soundtrack! Wish I could find that to buy!

Mississippi country girl Emma Mae has come to live with her aunt's family in Compton. She falls for a druggie loser who gets arrested. This is classified as blaxploitation although most 70's black films get boxed in with that label. It's an indie taking place in 70's Compton. That in itself is intriguing. The actors are one step below. They have a tendency to go over the top. This is an interesting bit of black cinema.

This film begins with a young woman by the name of "Emma Mae" (Jerri Hayes) arriving by bus from rural Mississippi to visit her aunt and cousins who live in the big city of Los Angeles. Needless to say, the difference between these two places is quite startling and upon being introduced to her cousin's friends they all immediately look down upon her for not being as sophisticated as they are. Realizing this, she feels gratified when one specific young man name "Jesse Amos" (Ernest Williams II) takes an interest in her. So much so that she quickly falls in love with him. What she doesn't realize, however, is the low opinion others actually have for Jesse and the question soon becomes whether she can lift him up--or whether he will bring her down? Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an interesting movie which suffered to a certain degree from its rather obvious low-budget production values as the acting was uneven, the action scenes were weak and the script could have some improvement as well. Even so, the overall story was deep and Jerri Hayes put on a pretty good performance all things considered. That being said, while certainly not a great blaxploitation film by any means, it had its moments and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Naïve country gal Emma Mae (a fine and appealing portrayal by Jerri Hayes) moves in with her relatives in a blighted urban ghetto neighborhood. After her boyfriend Jesse Amos (a solid performance by Ernest Williams II) gets arrested and sent to prison, Emma decides to rob a bank when more legitimate means for raising bail money prove to be unsuccessful. Writer/director Jamaa Fanaka relates the engrossing story at a leisurely pace, vividly captures the lowdown funky vibe and limited options of Compton, California in the mid-1970's, and populates the rambling episodic narrative with believably earthy and engaging characters. Hayes in particular projects a sweet wide-eyed charm and sturdy unwavering feistiness that makes Emma Mae an easy person to root for and sympathize with. Most importantly, Fanaka brings a gentle humanity and simplicity to the plot that manages to be surprisingly affecting and even occasionally incisive. It's this latter sterling element that enables this picture to stand out as a winning and authentic slice of black American life.

It was a 3 movie but I give it a 10 for being made!! But I still enjoyed it and would buy it. In fact I would love the soundtrack, any one know who sang the songs about cornbread and milk and walking with Bettie Lou....the opening and ending song.....and the one they slow dancing to I'm in love with you, don't you know it. I lived in a small town and back in the day boys did think country girls were easy to get and try to exploit. The storyline was good, could have used some work, but it was funded by the National Endowment for Arts so I respect it and see it as that an art piece. Loved it!!! Please send information on sound track to caribqueen58@live.com thanks.

....and it comes in the last 5 minutes, when the heroine (the rather attractive, though obviously inexperienced, Jerri Hayes) physically humiliates her cheating ex-boyfriend, whom she had gone to great lengths to get released from jail, in front of the whole neighborhood. Until then, this is a very amateurish no-action film, with most scenes being drawn-out to 3 times their necessary length (it certainly doesn't have enough story for 100 minutes of running time), and lots (LOTS) of semi-indecipherable dialogue. The DVD covers and the alternate title, "Black Sister's Revenge", are misleading, as the revenge part (which I already describe above) is only a tiny part of the movie. Stick with Pam Grier flicks. * out of 4.

I've had this film for years but it's titled Black Sister's Revenge (unfortunately). The actors, the attire, lingo, subtle mannerisms and even the plot are good. Lots of interesting scenes that are a throwback to simpler times. I wish there was a sequel- so many questions. Give it a try it's a nice change from what's out there now.

I only took the two points because of the budget. This is a very good moving for a low budget. It is one I grow up watching as little girl and enjoyed the storyline, acting and step into time. Now I share with my children. The acting is very good from the two leads, Jerrie Hayes and Ernst Williams. Although, not a very common story line, the story line is one we may still need to pay attention to today. There are many lessons to be learned from this moving. Although they may have lost me in there mean to an end action to free Zeke and Jesse. It doesn't ways work out this way in life, but it is a movie. Nevertheless, there were still great meaning behind the film. We need to understand who we are, what we are living for and is it worth the cost? I really wish more projects like this one could have been produced. I would have loved to see both Hayes and Williams in other productions. I believe that both of them may have been overlooked. I guess there wasn't very many roles available to someone with such beautiful skin and talent. LOL.

Interesting film made when its director Jamaa Fanaka, was a film school student at my alma mater, UCLA, just as Blaxploitation was waning and ten years before the advent of more radically political/social cinematic explorations of African American life such as "Do The Right Thing" and "Boyz n The Hood". This film is poised in between the two genres, but leaning more forward than back, in my opinion, particularly in its denouement when the importance of the community, certainly a large part of Lee's movies, if not Singleton's, is stressed over that of the seductive Super Cool individual, a staple of Blaxploitation. While this theme is strongly and forcefully stated, with good pacing and well handled action scenes, the acting, as befits most student and/or low budget indy productions, is undeniably on the stiff side. Less forgivable is the story character lapse in the screenplay, also by Fanaka, involving Jesse, the drug pusher and abusive boyfriend of the title character. When Emma Mae denounces him in the powerful final scene a lot of that power is vitiated due to Jesse's having been seen throughout most of the film by everyone but Emma Mae as more of a stoned out doofus than a false messiah as she states as she's kicking his ass.. Therefore, we're treated to the always salutary Woman Whups Abusive Man's Butt but falling well short of Community Over Individual which, as I understand it, is what Fanaka was after. So, let's give it a B minus and look forward to watching this good director's most well known work, "Penitentiary".