The Movies:

With Navarre having closed down the BCI line, the Exploitation Cinema line continues rolling along under the leadership of Code Red DVD. This has lead to some pretty cool double feature releases over the last year or so since they took it over, but unfortunately this isn't one of their best efforts. Pairing up a melodramatic and preachy movie about the importance of non-violence in the black community of the late 70s with a saucy kung fu comedy might seem like a great idea on paper, but when that same saucy kung-fu comedy stinks like The Fox Affair does, well, let's just say they've put out better pictures.

That said, at least the first film on this disc is worth checking out. Here's a look...

Deliver Us From Evil:

When this 1974 effort from director Horace Jackson begins, a man named Chris Townes (Renny Roker), who works as a school janitor, is bitched out by his boss for the last time. He responds by smashing up a bunch of conveniently placed glass shelves full of bottles, and winds up shipped off to a mental hospital complete with a straightjacket. After talking things over with his doctor, or more accurately, yelling at the poor sap a lot, Townes heads back out on to the streets where he witnesses one account of black on black violence after another. Disturbed and even ashamed of what he sees his brothers perpetrating upon one another, he winds up meeting a young school teacher named Mindy (Mari O'Henry) and a wheelchair bound kid named Joey (Danny Martin), both of whom have been victims to this same violence that stresses him out so much.

After a fair bit of lecturing and drama, the three decide to stand up to the thugs and dope pushers that make the school and the surrounding neighborhood such a nasty place to be, as it all winds up to a ridiculously delirious conclusion involving one of the finest monologues ever committed to film.

A lengthy and moralizing sermon in the guise of a blaxploitation film, Deliver Us From Evil makes its message painfully clear from the get go. The constant repetition of the film's theme song, 'We Know What We're Doing To Ourselves' make things pretty clear as far as what this movie is trying to say and who it's trying to say it to, while the intense-to-the-point-of-lunacy performance from Renny Roker as Chris Townes hammers the message home ad nausea before the end credits role. Writer Director Horace Jackson keeps the movie clipping along at a reasonable pace and as goofy and dated as the film might be it's rarely boring, but it's so screwy in the way that it's been put together that you can't take any of it all that seriously.

Comprised of a cast of relative unknowns, this might not be a movie that will change your life - the message is polluted and dated and most of it comes across as ridiculous and hokey. It is, however, a pretty entertaining picture, particularly for those who find such past moralizing films amusing in their own warped way.

The Fox Affair:

While the first feature is at least a fun watch, sadly the second film is plodding and dull. Based around the exploits of a pair of low rent New York City gangsters named Rogers and Anders, the movie begins when our heroes scam some Chinese hoods on a drug deal. The Chinese send a dangerous hitman after the pair to rectify the situation, because hey, payback's a bitch, but before the trigger is pulled they're given a quick chance to come up with the money that the other hoods want. Not particularly fond of the idea of dying, the pair decide to take a shot one last scheme in hopes of raising the cast fast enough to save their own skins and thanks to some help from a meter maid named Felicity Fox, they might just pull it off.

Outside of some welcome but fleeting female nudity (there's even some inferred lesbianism about eleven minutes in, always a plus) and a bizarre moment in which a bodybuilder inexplicably decides to show off the goods for no apparent reason other than to impress some naked chicks he's hanging out with, The Fox Affair commits the ultimate cinematic sin - it's boring. There's really not a whole lot going on here and the film stands as one of the worst examples of padding this reviewer has seen in some time. The characters talk. A lot. And then they talk some more. Anders and Rogers spend most of their time sending call girls to a horny German guy.

There's very little action here, next to no character development, and it all moves at such a languid, deadly dull pace that it's quite honestly a chore to sit through. There are some moments where you might chuckle a bit at the dated hairstyles, fashions and décor but there's really not enough of merit here to bother with this film. The movie throws in some bad martial arts and plenty of awkward and ill timed humor but you probably won't care, even if it does feature some disco dancing, and a photographer who looks kind of like Ron Jeremy.

The Video:

Deliver Us From Evil is presented in 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen and if that's not its original aspect ratio it has to be pretty damn close to it as the compositions all appear to be intact. There's a bit of print damage noticeable throughout as well as some moderate grain but the colors don't look too bad and detail is surprisingly good. Sadly, the same cannot be said about the transfer for The Fox Affair, which is presented fullframe and sourced from what has to have been taken from a tape source. The picture is soft throughout and at times a little jittery looking. Some mild compression artifacts pop up in the darker scenes as well. Given the film's obscurity, this can at least be partially excused as who knows what other elements were out there to work with, but let's not skirt around the issue here, this transfer is pretty poor.

The Audio:

Both movies feature English language Dolby Digital Mono soundtracks that have some occasional background hiss and a few random pops here and there but which are otherwise perfectly fine for what they are. Range is obviously limited by the source material but the levels are properly balanced and, with the exception of a few muffled scenes that take place during The Fox Affair, you'll have no problems understanding the dialogue.

The Extras:

Underneath the static menu screens, you'll find trailers for the first feature and for other (assumed) Code Red releases like Dr. Black And Mr. Hyde, Group Marriage, Terminal Island, The Working Girls, Death Force and last but not least, Cheerleading Section.

Overall:

Featuring one minor hit and one major miss, this Exploitation Cinema release of Deliver Us From Evil and The Fox Affair is hardly an essential purchase but the first film is entertaining enough that it's worth a look even if the second feature is a waste of time. The audio and video aren't going to wow you and neither will the extras, but this is still worth a rental for the curious.

Ian lives in NYC with his wife where he writes for DVD Talk, runs Rock! Shock! Pop!. He likes NYC a lot, even if it is expensive and loud.