Sheba, Baby.

Review #2508: Sheba, Baby.

Cast: 

Pam Grier (Sheba Shayne), Austin Stoker ("Brick" Williams), D'Urville Martin (Pilot), Rudy Challenger (Andy Shayne), Dick Merrifield ("Shark" Merrill), Charles Kissinger (Phil), Charles Broaddus (Hammerhead), Maurice Downs (Killer), and Ernest Cooley (Whale) Directed by William Girdler (#1636 - Abby)

Review: 

Admittedly, the 1970s had some odd (and possibly fun) titles for select exploitation movies. This was the third action movie with Pam Grier in a starring role after Coffy (1973) and Foxy Brown (1974), which were all American International Pictures productions. It was the first of three movies with Grier for AIP that year: the crime action film Bucktown (where she co-starred with Fred Williamson) and Friday Foster (in the title role with Yaphet Kotto as co-star). And then there's William Girdler. You might remember the Louisville native from the movie he made before Sheba with Abby (1974), that movie where they rode the shirttail of The Exorcist. Girdler's next movie was Project: Kill (1976) with Leslie Nielsen as star. The movie was written by Girdler and David Sheldon (who produced the movie) and was filmed primarily in, well, Louisville, Kentucky (not to go on a tangent, since I know it makes some sense to be in Kentucky, but now I expect a movie about boats set in New Mexico) that involves some nefarious people in, wait for it, loan companies. The promotional material for the movie actually called itself "Hotter'n Coffy, Meaner'n Foxy Brown", which is highly ridiculous when you consider those two movies were rated R while this is rated...PG (in fairness, you either got G, PG, R, or X in those days). At least the movie isn't lying in wait for a high quality home media release.

Look, it just isn't a good enough movie to try and get away with being on autopilot for most of its bare 90-minute runtime. Sure, Grier continues to have the charm and stamina to make one believe so much in her as an action star*, but there is basically nothing for her to latch on to in terms of general tension or variety. As ridiculously violent as Coffy or Foxy Brown could seem in their execution, at least those movies actually sounded like they had some energy to them in their craftsmanship. Here, it just seems that Girdler settled for just getting it done in the most basic of ways. It basically is a movie to all hucksters: it wants to coast on doing the most basic of tasks with as little engagement as one can possibly do, where seeing someone on a jet ski is more an "eh" moment rather than seeming like the start of a real fun climax. Another movie where our hero is motivated by the death of a loved one does seem a bit tired when you consider the energy given out by the two prior Jack Hill productions with Grier (okay Grier was in a few other Hill movies, but do you really care about prison movies such as The Big Bird Cage [1972]?). Comparing it to Abby might seem a bit unfair to this movie, but they both still belong to the "dumbass movies you might see on a Saturday night*" classification, so I guess that is a bright side. Stoker flickers with the slightest bit of interest, but he basically is being carried by Grier's energy, and the villains (as headed by Merrifield and a far more interesting Martin) don't exactly thread the needle in why the movie moves the way it does in menace (companies must be acquired because...because!). The best way to talk about the movie is thus: Grier looks cool, things happen, the movie ends and you forget most of it happened right then and there. It is the blaxploitation movie near (or maybe at the end) the back of the line to check out, but there are a few little moments of sunshine through the efforts of Grier and the occasional amusement at the situation presented that may make you not regret it all the way.

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.

*And also pretty attractive, but again, just the facts.

*This of course assumes that, you, the reader, who I appreciate in getting to the note section, has a nice sleep on the weekend rather than, say, working really late. Hell, some of you may even have friends.

Abby.

Review #1636: Abby. 

Cast: 

William Marshall (Bishop Garnet Williams), Terry Carter (Rev. Emmett Williams), Austin Stoker (Det. Cass Potter), Carol Speed (Abby Williams), Juanita Moore (Miranda 'Momma' Potter), Charles Kissinger (Dr. Hennings), Elliott Moffitt (Russell Lang), Nathan Cook (Tafa Hassan), Nancy Lee Owens (Mrs. Wiggins), and William P. Bradford (Dr. Rogers) Directed by William Girdler.

Review: 

"Sure, we made 'Abby' to come in on the shirttail of 'The Exorcist."

There are plenty of hands responsible for such an interesting piece of horror curiosity that fits its era like no other. The first step is to cite the director in William Girdler. The Kentucky native made nine films before his tragic death in 1978, with the films specializing in horror and action. Girdler's films were never considered great pieces of entertainment, but they certainly had a place, whether involving killer nature like Grizzly (1976) or blaxploitation action like Sheba, Baby (1975). However, it was this film that helped bring him into attention, for good and bad reasons. Of course, one needs a good cast to drive a horror film, so why not have an actor familiar with scares - enter William Marshall. The Indiana native went to New York University initially for art, but he found himself interested into theater, and his study at the Actors Studio among other playhouses led to a debut on Broadway in 1944. He would receive notice for his work in theater work such as The Green Pastures and Shakespearean performances such as Othello. His first film role was Lydia Bailey (1952), and blacklisting could not keep him down from keeping busy with television as well to accompany his voice and stature. One of his most notable roles came within horror: the title role in Blacula (1972), for which he would reprise for the sequel a year later. Relating in all of this is American International Pictures, who distributed both Blacula and this film. Marshall reportedly was disappointed by the script's lessened focus on the spiritual aspects of the West Africa Yourbas (which he had suggested in the first place), with Girdler and Gordon Cornell Layne co-writing the film together.

So, coming on the heels of films inspired by horror movies like Blacula and Blackenstein, Abby proved to be quite a hit on release, making back its reported $100,000 budget with at least $4 million in box office sales, while Girdler would continue on to do numerous films in the decade that involved blaxploitation and/or horror. Of course, that is not all of the story. Abby quickly met an end to its theatrical release days when American International Pictures was sued by Warner Brothers because the studio believed that they had infringed on their film in terms of plot, which happened to be The Exorcist. Believe it or not, this was not the only time that Warner Brothers had targeted a film believed to have infringed on their film, since Beyond the Door (1974) was also targeted for its supposed similarities. The lawsuit drove AIP to take the film out of distribution (as AIP and WB apparently made a deal involving unfreezing revenue) and it would take until 2006 for there to be a release on home media, and the version I saw was one with plenty of grime to see in all of its 16mm glory (in other words, on certain Internet channels). Honestly, the lawsuit is absurd, because viewing Abby would reveal the obvious differences between the two. The Exorcist was a solemn, chilling film that took its time to develop terror with a child possessed (of course, I've only seen it once) in a house. 

Abby is a funky film that sets itself up with clunky exposition involving a fertility spirit, a mix of soul music to go alongside occasional subliminal shots of its demon that takes hold of a woman and leaves her craving folks across the town to terrorize in various ways, which climaxes with a fight in a bar. Without Marshall and a semi-interesting mish-mashed performance from Speed and voice artist Bob Holt, the film would collapse in on itself as a hilarious joke, honestly. There are quite a few scenes of clunky exposition, this much is for sure. From the opening involving students talking about the talents of our archeologist/priest right down to talk about just how Abby is so sweet (marriage counsellor, youth leader, AND working with the junior choir). But don't worry, you won't have to wait long for antics with a demon, whether involving trouble with a distracting knife or singing to a crowd of indifferent congregation members (okay, actually Speed did the song herself, but the editing doesn't help) to coughing/attacking fits that leave a few people gasping for air...and some of that is out of laughter, particularly with a chase sequence that starts with one carjacking that leads to another (from a reverend!). A climax involving a colorful triangle and foaming at the mouth with an exploding bar makes this seem like a film with confused inhibitions about exactly what it is: it certainly is more interesting when trying to focus on either spirituality within a game Marshall or the conflict between Carter and Speed, but its attempts at scares are no better than dressing up in a Halloween mask and going "BOO!" at them, and calling it an imitator of The Exorcist is generous at best. It might have been a move to try and bully a less prominent studio (or a ploy by AIP to get money), but I would at least say this is a film worth a curious glance, if only because it is interesting to see Marshall in a lead role alongside a moderate effort from others like Girdler in sweet deliverable trash horror cinema.

Next Time: Drop in for a laugh with Michael Schultz and a diverse group of characters in Car Wash (1976).

Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.