Rating: R
Genre:
Action
Release Date: 01/09/2001
SubTitles: English/French/Espanol
Dubbed: English/French
Sound: 1
Run Time: 94 min
Flags: Violence, Brief Nudity, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language
Distributor/Studio: MGM
The sequel to
Slaughter, this film follows the adventures of Slaughter (
Jim Brown) as he struggles to kill a group of vengeful mobsters, led by the sinister Duncan (
Ed McMahon), before they kill him.
~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
It is easy to get confused about whether
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off is a sequel or a remake because it follow the plot of the first film so closely: both films use the death of a loved one as an inciting incident, both pit
Slaughter against a crime boss and his bloodthirsty enforcer and both feature a police "boss" character that keeps tabs on the hero. The major differences in
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off are that a) it takes place in Los Angeles and b) is a much less inspired piece of work.
Gordon Douglas' direction is slick but impersonal and the script simply trots out violence and sleaze setpieces in a mechanical fashion until it reaches the end of its storyline. The end result isn't awful but its more of a programmer than an inspired take on the genre (like the original
Slaughter was). That said, exploitation film fans will still have fun with this for a few reasons. The first is the great cast: it's strange but entertaining to see
Ed McMahon playing a big league dope pusher and the bit roles are littered with familiar faces like
Art Metrano (creepy as a party-boy drug dealer who tries to put the make on
Slaughter) and
Scatman Crothers (who is a hoot in his one scene as a smack-talking pimp). In short,
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off is formula fare but has just color and excitement to make it worth a look to hardcore fans of blaxploitation films.
~ Donald Guarisco, All Movie Guide
