Although it has a respectable score of 5.8, Rudy Ray Moore's film "Dolemite" is among the worst blacksploitation films ever made...and among the worst films ever made. It was so bad and unintentionally funny that it was celebrated in the recent Eddie Murphy film, "Dolemite is My Name"*. In many ways, this Murphy film is like "Ed Wood" and the way they celebrate the god-awful mess of a film "Plan 9 From Outer Space". So, because it was so bad and unprofessionally made, his second feature film, "The Human Tornado" simply couldn't be any worse!! And, "The Human Tornado" is better....but that's like saying rectal cancer is preferable to Ebola! Both are truly dreadful!

The film begins with an ignorant white sheriff and his racist friends attacking a bunch of black people who are having a party. In the process, the sheriff discovers Dolemite making sweet love to the sheriff's wife....and the evil white folks kill the wife and try to kill Dolemite. After taking out some of the evil white villains, Dolemite heads to California because he heard that Queen Bee needs help.

When Dolemite arrives in California, he learns that the evil Caveletti is holding some of Queen Bee's friends prisoner and he's forced Queen Bee to work for him in his club. Naturally, Dolemite is going to dispense some justice to Caveletti...but how and when you'll learn this through the course of the film. And, as for the evil sheriff....he's still alive and looking for revenge.

So is the film any good? No...but it's better than the first film and is semi-watchable. Bad acting, bad direction, bad editing and Moore is hilarious doing his 'kung fu'....which seems LESS Asian than a can of LaChoy Chicken Chow Mein! He's a middle-aged chunky guy with zero martial arts skills....and his kicks often are not even knee-high! Well, that's typical Rudy Ray Moore as Dolemite! To make up for his lack of any skills, the film does a slow motion scene (with the words SLOW MOTION emblazened on the screen) as well as speeds things up to cover his slow and ineffective fighting techniques. It is by far the funniest part of the movie! Fortunately for those that like GOOD action, a few in the cast actually DID know martial arts...a few....and for that I give this one a 2 instead of a 1!

If you do watch this film, it will be to have a good laugh...not because it's good in any way. However, be forewarned that compared to other blacksploitation pics, this one has a lot more nudity...including some frontal nudity. It's NOT a film to show the kids, your mother or Father O'Malley!!

By the way, based on my review DON'T assume I hate blacksploitation films. They are actually among my favorites--and many are classics. The genre did a lot to empower black America AND is often entertaining. But in some cases, the films just sucked. For a good blacksploitation picture, try "Truck Turner", "Shaft" or "Black Caesar".



*Some of the scenes in "Dolemite is My Name" are supposed to be from the first film, "Dolemite"...but many actually came from "The Human Tornado"...such as the funny and weird sexy(?) scene where the bed and walls move about as if in an earthquake.

Dolemite (Rudy Ray Moore) opens this movie with his stand-up. He donates to a boys' home. White hillbillies call up bumbling sheriff to take care of their problem. He raises up a posse to clear out Dolemite's party. He finds his wife in bed with Dolemite. There's a shoot out. Dolemite and his boys go on the run to California. Queen Bee and her Kung Fu fighting hoes battle a local white crime-lord with Dolemite's help.

It is utterly ridiculous and fun. It's weird and silly. It's also a bit of black cultural blaxploitation. After watch Eddie Murphy and then Dolemite, I had to check this one out. It does not disappoint. In many ways, it's better than Dolemite. Rudy Ray Moore is fully committed to the character. After a great start, it does get bogged down while trying to make the story work with way too many filler musical interludes. The movie is still at its best with Dolemite on the screen. Every time he shows up. He brings a smile to my face. He is a surprisingly charismatic performer in only his second movie.

THE HUMAN TORNADO is a quickly-made follow-up to Rudy Ray Moore's DOLEMITE and a much cheaper and more excessive affair than the original. Moore settles into his role comfortably in a new story that sees him heading off to California to help out an old friend who is in the middle of a war with a sinister gangster. There's very little in the way of plot here, just endless chasing around and bad-mouthed profanity. The sex and nudity content has been ramped up considerably, with one endless bedroom encounter that's played for laughs going on for ten minutes or so. The fight scenes have all been sped up so look as ridiculous as they sound. Watch out for a young and youthful Ernie Hudson as a heavy.