A low budget remake of "Little Caesar" with a scene from "Scarface" thrown in should not be this enjoyable. Credit two people: star Fred Williamson and writer/director,Larry Cohen. In Williamson's hands, Tommy Gibbs is a magnetic presence. He is very cool and smart. His success is no surprise but also his downfall is no surprise. How he turns could have been overplayed or understated for an actor with more ego. The scene was necessary and effective because in the end this movie was not about glamorizing gangsters. Cohen's contributions are also significant. He understood he wasn't making a message film, even though the message is there. The movie is full of bloody violence (it seemed to me that during the pool massacre, some of the victims were spouting blood before they were shot) because that was what fans of this genre wanted. In the end, however, viewers see that even with James Brown blaring about what a bad mutha Tommy Gibbs was, he was just as much a pawn as everyone else. Of course, the sequel would change that thought.
Review of Black Caesar
