"The only time I won the slots . . . It came up three watermelons."
A one-off production from Rockford Films, BIG, BLACK & BAD (1975) aka BRING ME THE HEAD OF LEVI STOKES, has enough going for it to possibly keep one awake till the end, but at best, it is strictly a mid-tier blaxploitation film.
PLOT: A drug deal at the Hoover Dam goes awry, leaving a dozen people dead and Levi Stokes on the run with an attaché case of coke and a duffle bag of cash. Even though he has practically every criminal in Vegas gunning for him, he never leaves the city, stopping to have drinks, get fitted for a new purple pimp suit, carouse with hookers, gamble and visit his mother's grave.
The leisurely pace of the action is its main downfall. The pre-credit gunfight at Hoover Dam starts the film off with great promise, but after the credits BIG, BLACK & BAD turns into SLOW, SLACK & SAD for the remainder of the running time.
Shot on a dirty shoestring budget by a cast and crew with no other credits, BIG, BLACK & BAD has two things going for it. . . The soundtrack by Deacon King and the Congregation of Funk delivers pure uncut funk. And the afros. BIG, BLACK & BAD features some of the premier afros in the blaxploitation genre, or any genre, including any Merchant Ivory production. One even resembles a Japanese pagoda.
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