Product Description

Action-mystery involving a black private detective who investigates murders connected with a drug ring in Venice, CA.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6876 in VHS
• Released on: 1996-03-05
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Formats: Color, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of tapes: 1
• Running time: 98 minutes

Customer Reviews

Should be a Warner Archive release on DVD
If you can find this hidden gem on videocassette, by all means get it: it appears to have been filmed in "full screen" so it doesn't suffer from the pan-and-scan format.

I'm not sure why this Fred Williamson classic is overlooked. It has the same feel as "The Maltese Falcon" or "Tony Rome," with a bit of "Sunset Boulevard" thrown in for good measure. I've read on [...] that the "PG" rating makes it less appealing. Yet "Black Eye" has plenty of violence, quite a lot of swearing, and there's no end to the sleaze with drugs, prostitution, porn films, and phony preachers. I've also read comments about the title not being very good, and even Fred Williamson referred to the rather obvious play on words in the title when he was talking about this movie in the audio commentary to another film. Maybe it should have kept the book title "Murder on the Wild Side."

Yet Jack Arnold (who would direct "Boss N-" with Williamson in 1975) does a fine job in this quirky, cool picture. He really captures the world of low-lifes in Los Angeles in the early '70s, and his camera shot of the bottom of a villain's shoe as he's about to kick Williamson in the face is incredible. This is also one of The Hammer's best performances. His character is sort of sweet and offbeat, but not one to mess with. Instead of a cigar, he eats peanuts and his "office" is a bar. Teresa Graves (also in "That Man Bolt," another underrated Williamson film) is stunningly beautiful and plays a complex character. The ancient poet in "The Night of the Iguana" must have just looked 100 years old because, about a decade later, here he is in this movie playing another ancient character. The use of the cane as a plot device worked even better than I thought it would.

With everything this film has going for it, the main reason to get it is Fred Williamson. He is so cool, looking very young here, and he dominates the screen every second he's on it. I guess it takes someone like Quentin Tarantino to revive "mainstream" America's interest in this sort of fun, stylish crime classic. Still, if "Black Eye" got the recognition it deserved it would have been included in the 4 film set Warner is releasing in January 2010 that includes "Three the Hard Way" and "Black Belt Jones."

Great Urban Action Flick!!
This is a great urban action flick starring Fred Williamson.Check it out!!