1973 (Tom a.k.a. The Bad Bunch a.k.a. The Brothers) director: Greydon Clark; starring: Greydon Clark, Tom Johnigarn, Aldo Ray, Jock Mahoney
Released under several different titles, one of the advertising campaigns for Ni@@er Lover proudly proclaimed, “The movie they tried to stop!” And while that might sound like bragging to some folks, I’m hear to tell you that it’s more of a warning. The directorial debut of Greydon Clark, a man whose filmmaking skills could be called “amusingly remedial,” Ni@@er Lover is bargain basement exploitation cinema at its most craptacular. To his credit, Clark did become a better director, but that doesn’t stop this piece of shit from being…well…a piece of shit. We’re talking about the same director who would go on to make Black Shampoo, which is a really bad film, until you compare it to Ni@@er Lover, and suddenly it seems like the work of cinematic genius. But this is about Ni@@er Lover, not Black Shampoo, so let’s get down what needs getting down to.
Clark stars as Jim, a Vietnam veteran, whose best friend was killed in the war. Problems arise when Jim goes to deliver a letter to his friend’s father. Did I mention the Jim’s dead friend was Black? This is a crucial plot point, because it means our hero must venture into the ghetto to deliver the message to dear old dad. Unfortunately, his dead friend’s brother, Tom – who now goes by the Makimba (Tom Johnigarn), because “Tom was my slave name,” has a honky-hating chip on his shoulder, and decides he needs to kill this no good whitey. There’s a bit more to Makimba’s decision to kill Jim – he thinks the evil cracker is working for a pair of racist cops (Aldo Ray and Jock Mahoney), who take pleasure in beating up on righteous soul brothers. Makimba also blames the death of his father on Jim, even though Makimba killed the old man with his own hands. But, you see, Makimba is blinded by hate, which is what Clark is really trying to explore as a filmmaker. The problem, of course, is that not only is the message lost amidst all the exploitation trappings of sex and violence, it is also lost in the mire of an abysmal script that is as racist as it is poorly written – which is to say that it is really fuckin’ racist, because it is also really poorly fuckin’ written. There’s actually a bit more to the film – something to do with Jim’s inability to commit to his girlfriend, while screwing some dope-smoking hippie chick on the side – but that’s as poorly crafted as the rest of this garbage.
There’s no getting around the fact that no matter which title this film was released under, be it Ni@@er Lover, Tom, or The Bad Bunch, this movie is bad on just about every level you can imagine. Everything from the writing to the direction to the acting is just plain awful. Clark tries to trick the audience with enough sex and nudity to keep you from noticing how bad this everything is, but honestly, every single scene could feature the entire cast butt-ass nekkid, and you’d still be distracted by the ineptitude with which this shit has been cobbled together.
The one good thing I’ll say about Ni@@er Lover is that I looooves me the opening song, written by Sheldon Lee.
“Hey honky mother, where you go?/Who you lookin’ for
We don’t want your kind ‘round here/ Knockin’ at our door
Honky mother, no soul brother/ Don’t waste your helpin’ hand
Honky mother, ni@@er lover/ Ripped off by the man
Don’t be askin’ questions/ This street’s a dead end
One way or another, you’re a dead honky mother/ Just like your ni@@er friend
Hey honky mother, jive sucker/ Black and white don’t mix
Honky mother, ni@@er lover/ Good deeds just for kicks”