SUPER SOUL BROTHER
Color, 1978, 74 mins.
Directed by Rene Martinez Jr.
Starring Wildman Steve, Jocelyn Norris, Benny Latimore, Peter Conrad, Lee Cross
AGFA (Blu-ray) (US R0 HD), Vinegar Syndrome (DVD) (US R0 NTSC) / WS (1.78:1) (16:9)
THE GUY FROM HARLEM
Color, 1977, 89 mins. 29 secs.
Directed by Rene Martinez Jr.
Starring Loye Hawkins, Cathy Davis, Patricia Fulton, Vaughn Harris, Wayne Crawford
AGFA (Blu-ray) (US R0 HD), Code Red (DVD) (US R0 NTSC) / WS (1.78:1) (16:9)
ROAD OF DEATH
Color, 1973,
73 mins. 41 secs.
Directed by Rene Martinez Jr.
Starring Carol Connors, Jack Birch, Joe Banana, Lea Vivot, Kathy Mandeville, Robert Bourassa, Pat Henry, Dennis Moore
AGFA (Blu-ray) (US R0 HD), Something Weird (DVD-R) (US R0 NTSC)
'70s 
blaxploitaton doesn't come much cheaper or goofier than Super Soul Brother, a commercially acceptable title for this film originally released under a 
much volatile name still retained on the actual prints (and riffing on the popular The Six Million Dollar Man). It marked the final and most widely seen film for Miami-based director Rene Martinez Jr., made less than a year after his oddball crime film, The Guy from Harlem, and that strange South Florida atmosphere carries over here for a story ostensibly about a wino imbued with superpowers. However, that gimmick actually takes up barely more than a third of the film as the first 45 minutes are basically a raunchy comedy about criminals trying to set up the perfect diamond heist.
We first meet our villains in an office/lab where midget scientist Dr. Dippy (The Funhouse's Conrad) is using lab rats to perfect his new formula, which makes the subject impervious to death and capable of super strength. Unfortunately the miracle drug also kills its recipients within a matter of days, so he also needs to come up with an antidote. His sponsors, criminal duo Bob (Latimore) and Jim (Cross), aren't too keen on waiting around to set up their first score, so they decide to go ahead and find their first unwilling test subject: Steve (comic "Wildman" Steve, a.k.a. Steve Gallon, previously seen opposite Rudy Ray Moore in Petey Wheatstraw), a cheerful bum who gets sweet talked into going along with their plans. 
That includes drug injections in his posterior 
(which is funny because, you know, butts), and the booty humor continues when they set him up with female company to indulge his passion for having his heinie cleaned, just like his mama used to do. Steve strikes up a romance with the doctor's nurse, Peggy (Norris), which factors into the complications that ensue when it's time to test out Steve's new abilities, including bending metal rods and lifting a heavy safe to make off with the diamonds inside.
The acting and direction of Super Soul Brother could charitably be called amateurish, with most of the actors sounding like they're reading their lines for the first time off of cue cards. That said, it's often hysterically funny especially when it comes to the characters' oddball sex lives, be it the diminutive scientist's taste for buxom aging companions or Steve's amusing "Can I do it here on the couch?" bit, probably the funniest bit in the whole film. There's also a surprisingly heavy amount of nudity at times, which makes you wonder exactly who the target audience for this was intended to be.
Super Soul Brother first popped up on VHS back in the '80s from Xenon, clocking in at 77m20s and featuring a very weirdly framed transfer. Apparently this 
was composed for 1.85:1 but shot open matte with all of the extraneous info at the top, which means over a third of the screen was filled at the top with dead space including blank ceilings and other compositionally pointless elements that made it a baffling viewing experience throughout. On 
top of that it was still significantly cropped on the left side, throwing the whole thing even further off balance.
A 2015 bare-bones DVD release from Vinegar Syndrome improves significantly on the visual front with a correctly framed transfer and a radically superior color scheme, restoring the garish '70s decor to something close to its original intensity. That said, the 35mm source print from the American Genre Film Archive (purportedly the only film element left in existence) definitely shows signs of wear with green scratches and jumpy splices proliferating on and off throughout; the opening few minutes and the safe-lifting sequence are the biggest casualties, resulting in a final running time that's a bit shorter than the Xenon one. No actual scenes appear to be missing, just a few lines of dialogue and some damaged reel changes, but completists may want to hang on to their VHS tapes... well, just because. The lengthy cast credits have also been restored back to the original place kicking off the end credits as opposed to the Xenon version, which tacked them on at the beginning after a video-generated opening title card.
In 2024, AGFA revisited the film themselves as the flagship title in Super Soul Brother and the Films of Rene Martinez Jr., a Blu-ray collection of three of the director's titles. (The only one missing is the obscure erotic comedy The Sexiest Story Ever Told, 
and you'll have to 
hunt down the scarce German DVD to catch it.) It appears to be the same scan as before (logically enough since it was AGFA's print in the first place), albeit here with the added resolution of being presented in HD and likely as good as this is every going to get on home video. The other two films are tucked away in the special features, but they're also HD scans from 35mm film prints and definitely not be overlooked. Previously on DVD from Code Red as a co-feature with Force Four, The Guy from Harlem is highly amusing and, if no less comedic, still entertaining in the same crackpot way.
Our pre-credits scene kicks off at a cabin where some thug kidnappers are holding a very cranky black woman hostage; she gets especially indignant when she's told an "African princess" is being nabbed to come keep her company. Then it's off to funky credits central as our hero, Harlem private eye Al Connors (jazz vocalist 
Hawkins in his only feature role), cruises the streets of Miami. At his office he's contacted by his old buddy, David McLeod (Harris), who helped him through some "rough spots" in the past and now wears an amazing 
pink suit for some reason. Turns out some representatives from "an African nation" are going to be meeting with the Secretary of State, and some "foreign powers" are bent on interfering. There's also a leak somewhere in the CIA, which is why they need Al to pose as the spouse of the chief of state's wife to keep her safe. Also: "You want to know if she's cute? Yes. But remember, international repercussions. Yes, she's cute." Needless to say, our hound private eye has a tough time resisting his new charge, who likes topless massages and cuddles up close to him on the couch. Of course, it's just a matter of time before she's snatched by the minions of the nefarious Big Daddy (Crawford), which means our vest-wearing hero has to double down on the bad guys to get her back.
Completely inept in every single technical capacity imaginable, this is the perfect co-feature and could actually cause some physical damage if you watch it after drinking alcohol. The transfer on the Code Red DVD was way better than old VHS edition (not to mention the legally dubious bargain DVD from Synergy), with correct framing and the usual bits of vintage print damage here and there. The AGFA does it one better with more spacious framing and better color timing, so it's a win all around. As with the other films in the set, audio is DTS-HD MA English 2.0 mono and about as good as you'd expect for a '70s film print. Optional 
English SDH 
subs are provided.
Finally we get to the earliest film in the set, the biker revenge drama Road of Death, which has floated around from Something Weird for a long time but looks nice here in a new HD scan from their print. This one has the distinction of starring real-life husband and wife hardcore actors Carol Connors and Jack Birch, who had just appeared in the smash hit Deep Throat and are the parents of actress Thora Birch. Here they play Lisa and Frank, a sweet, innocent couple out for an afternoon with their buddy Joe Banana (leader of the real-life band Joe Banana Thing Band seen in the film) and his girlfriend. They're accosted by an amoral biker gang run by the ruthless new leader Jack (Bourassa), who's looking for new women to force into servitude. He ends up taking 
Lisa hostage and 
putting Joe in the hospital, setting Frank on a dogged quest to get her back and get even.
Given a reasonable regional release at the tail end of the biker movie craze, Road to Death is about on par artistically with the other two films here -- i.e., as basic as possible with the camera nailed down for wide shots as much as possible. Nobody can really act, but it's fun seeing Connors and Birch trying to go legit-ish and the fun music performances have a grimy charm in some restaurant dive you can almost smell. This one's also taken from what's advertised as the last remaining print, and it looks fine here all things considered. Extras include a gallery (2m23s) of promotional material for all three films (the majority for Road of Death) and a "W-i-i-ild 35mm trailer reel from the AGFA vaults" (14m8s), all sourced from film, including Bury Me an Angel, The Born Losers (a reissue one cashing in on Billy Jack), The Guy from Harlem, Force Four, Black Samurai, and Black Belt Jones. Look for a fun little extra tucked inside the package, too.
SUPER SOUL BROTHER (AGFA Blu-ray)
SUPER SOUL BROTHER (Vinegar Syndrome DVD)
THE GUY FROM HARLEM (AGFA Blu-ray)
THE GUY FROM HARLEM (Code Red DVD)
Reviewed on August 16, 2024.
