The Glove

Trailer—The Glove

source: The Glove

The Glove

They don't make them any better than this. A big African American dude (Rosey Grier, before that PC term) wears a riot glove that was used on him by brutal prison guards (including first revenge target Aldo Ray) and donning the glove kills all the guards one-by-one... But the main character isn't Grier but John Saxon, as a narrating bounty hunter who hunts him down as most of the film consists of Saxon's adventures: going after various criminals... which then leads to the climax verses Grier, who really isn't a bad guy and can play the guitar really, really good. THE GLOVE feels a lot like McQueen's THE HUNTER. All in all there's never a dull moment. This is modern noir mixed with blaxpolotation-style casting, racial pathos and violent melodrama and in a nutshell, everything fits like a...

The premise for this film is what drew me to rent it. A hitman is after a killer that uses a high tech riot glove to torture his victims. John Saxon stars in this heap of garbage and narrates throughout the ENTIRE movie. This feature is pretty cool at first, but after a while you begin to get irrated with him explaining the obvious. About 45 minutes in, the movie loses any steam that it had (it had none to begin with), and things start making absolutely no sense at all. The theme music and soundtrack to this movie sounds like it came from some Saturday morning cartoon, and the fighting scenes are poorly choreographed. I would not recommend this film to anyone with a conscience.

It's interesting to note that Ross Hagen, a man who starred in numerous trashy films in his infamous career, did the directing. The film's kinda sleazy in a few parts, and the theme song is hilarious, but the violent scenes should have been the main attraction here, and unfortunately there's little of it. John Saxon talks through the whole picture like I'm waiting for some blood to fly. The best parts I liked about The Glove are the beginning, the middle, and the end. It's O.K. as long as cheap thrills are your cup of tea. Don't let the film's ad mat entice you!

Oh God almighty, what a weird film this is! It starts out with a horrendous theme song (with a singer that sounds like Englebert Humperdink!), and it follows a grisly attack by a huge soul-brother with a glove that can kill with even a flick of its finger! John Saxon is the only saving grace for this movie as a smooth-talking bounty hunter tracking the glove-man. Everything else, well, let's put it this way: it's like Ed Wood deciding to make a sleazeball action movie from the late 70's and early 80's. That's how bad the film is!!

This movie is a classic example of 1970's unintentional hilarity. John Saxon plays bounty hunter Sam Kellogg. He is financially down on his luck and is trying to get custody of his young daughter from his estranged wife. Rosie Grier plays a recently released prison inmate who is beating up guards with a lead filled riot glove, hence the title: The Glove. Saxon's character provides an extremely cheesy narration throughout the entire film. It is good for a few chuckles. The scene in the slaughter house where Saxon and a baddie engage in a battle with two racks of raw lamb makes the film worth seeing alone. There is actually a scene where you can tell it was an obvious blooper but they just keep the camera rolling and used it in the final print. See if you can find it.

This movie isn't the best thing I've ever seen, but as a fun PI flick from the late seventies it gets the job done and has a quirky personality of its own. In other words, it isn't an exploitation classic or an ultraviolent actioner, it kind of just is what it is. The great John Saxon is great here, as a down on his luck PI. His somewhat over the top narration is fun. Rosy Grier is great as an angry convict out for revenge. The movie doesn't really have much of a drive, there are many pointless scenes, but it doesn't really bore either. The ending is excellent, with a big surprise at the last minute. Overall, if you aren't expecting some 70s cult phenomenon and you like John Saxon, its worth watching.

I saw this awhile ago, but I thought of it again after watching the film "Death Walks at Midnight" which also features a giant metal glove used as the murder weapon. The titular glove in this one, however, is not spiked and is used entirely on male victims who really deserve it, and is wielded by ex-football player turned preacher Rosy Grier. Grier plays an innocent man sent to prison, who takes revenge on the men who sent him there using a stolen "high-tech weapon" (the glove). John Saxon, playing a cop for the thousandth time in his career, is the man who tries to stop him and recover the glove. Both characters are pretty sympathetic and as I recall the films ends happily. That's probably one of the reasons it wasn't very successful and remains pretty obscure today. It lacks any real exploitative elements--the violence is pretty tame and there's no sex or nudity. Even the blaxploitation elements aren't too strong here. But if you're not expecting too much, it's worth a look.