Black Samson (1974)

(On Cable TV, September 2022) Considering how much of blaxploitation has been repurposed as cultural icons, it’s surprising that Black Samson isn’t better known. It has a remarkable character—a nightclub owner with a large afro, a pet lion and a prized quarterstaff he uses as a primary weapon. There’s also something very straightforward in the film’s premise, as Samson defends his (black) neighbourhood against (white) mobsters, eventually leading to the film’s best scene in which the people rise up and rain retribution down on the invaders. Rockne Tarkington plays Samson with plenty of attitude and rough manners. The film is about as peak blaxploitation at it comes—not necessarily a great one (it takes itself too seriously for its topic matter—more comedy would have transformed the film) but a representative low-budget effort that goes down well and definitely takes you to the genre’s heydays. Black Samson could have been better, but is already not too bad—and with a sense of style that makes its relative obscurity all the more confounding.