The 17 Blaxploitation Films That Defined The Genre

Blaxploitation is a subgenre of films that were largely made by Black casts and crews and often dealt with racial themes. Because of their status as "exploitation" flicks, many blaxploitation films contain lurid subject matter, including sex, violence, rape, and drugs, and are often lumped in with the wider grindhouse genre. However, the blaxploitation movement is more nuanced than its schlockier contemporaries and ran the gamut across many other genres, including comedy, crime, drama, and horror. Another reason why the blaxploitation genre should be given more credit than the other grindhouse films from that era is that many of the films explored relevant social issues of the day, something that typical blood-and-guts films of the day didn't usually do.

The heyday of blaxploitation films was the early-to-mid-1970s, although blaxploitation films continue to be made today and have been a source of inspiration for many of our generation's top filmmakers. While most blaxploitation films were made on tiny budgets, several of them were bona fide box office hits that did much to promote many Black actors and filmmakers among mainstream audiences. Today, blaxploitation is considered a major part of the history of Black cinema.

When the blaxploitation genre first exploded in the early '70s, there was a flurry of films that were released after the initial boom, making it difficult for someone interested in exploring the movement to know where to start. Luckily, we've created a list that outlines the essential blaxploitation films.

Leave it to the blaxploitation genre to combine horror and romance with some biting social commentary on race. "Blacula" tells the story of an African prince (William Marshall) who, after asking Count Dracula (Charles Macaulay) for help in ending the slave trade in 1780, is bitten and turned into a vampire himself. Dracula then dubs him "Blacula" and imprisons him in a casket under his castle in Transylvania. However, the prince is pretty bothered by having his name forcibly changed and being prevented from leaving his host's pad for over a century, so he immediately starts chomping on the necks of modern-day Angelenos when he's awakened in 1972 Los Angeles.

"Blacula" may sound like a cheap gimmick, but the filmmakers' decision to give the title character a background that relates to slavery makes it stand out from other low-budget horror films of the 1970s. The film also has the distinction of being the first to win the award for "Best Horror Film" at the inaugural Saturn Awards. The legacy of "Blacula" will live on thanks to a reboot of the character that's currently in the works at MGM.

Isaac Hayes (best known for his musical work on the blaxploitation classic "Shaft"), stars as Mack "Truck" Turner, who works in Los Angeles as a bounty hunter and has dreams of leaving his rough life behind as soon as his girlfriend gets out of jail. When Truck and his partner, Jerry Barnes (Alan Weeks), confront a pimp named Gator (Paul Harris) who owes bail, Gator is killed by the pair when he tries to shoot them. However, Gator's partner in crime, Dorinda (Nichelle Nichols), isn't too happy about her man's death and puts a hit out on Truck and Jerry.

In addition to playing the lead role, Isaac Hayes also provides the soundtrack. Although it's not as renowned as his previous work on "Shaft," Quentin Tarantino did use one of the cues in "Truck Turner" for "Kill Bill: Vol. 1." While Isaac Hayes is an absolute badass in this film, credit should also be given to Nichelle Nichols, who was known mostly for playing Uhura in the original "Star Trek" series. Her turn from stoic space cadet to evil crime boss is delightful and is worth the price of admission alone.

One of the few blaxploitation flicks that seems to have a budget, the filmmakers behind "Three the Hard Way" put that money to good use in the form of big action scenes, impressive stunts, and multiple shooting locations. The film follows music producer Jimmy Lait (Jim Brown) as he stumbles upon a white supremacist plot to carry out the genocide of African Americans with a toxin that's to be deployed into the water supplies of major cities. Jimmy is joined by his friends, businessman Jagger Daniels (Fred Williamson) and martial artist Mister Keyes (Jim Kelly), and together, they arm themselves with guns that apparently never need to be reloaded.

The plot of "Three the Hard Way" is ludicrous, but man, is it fun! Jim Brown as Jimmy, Fred Williamson as Jagger, and Jim Kelly as Mister Keyes are a delight to watch. Plus, the film's multiple locales (Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington, D.C.) give the film a James Bond vibe.

Why someone whose name is Flower Child Coffin would need a nickname is beyond me, but it's not like blaxploitation flicks are renowned for their subtlety. In this one, Flower Child (called "Coffy" and played by Pam Grier) is a Los Angeles emergency room nurse whose sister is addicted to heroin. Coffy declares war on the crime and depravity that have besieged Los Angeles. She's not afraid to get her hands dirty in this war, either. Her modus operandi is to pretend to be a sex worker with a drug addiction. She seduces pimps and drug dealers, catching them in a trap that generally ends in their brutal deaths.

Blaxploitation films had no shortage of tough-as-nails female leads, and "Coffy" is among the better examples. With this film, Pam Grier established herself as a force to be reckoned with in the genre and would go on to capitalize on her impressive performance a year later in another blaxploitation classic, "Foxy Brown." Of course, trash cinema-lover Quentin Tarantino would have her play the lead in his ode to blaxploitation, 199'7s "Jackie Brown."

When her boyfriend is killed by gangsters, Foxy Brown (Pam Grier) sets out to avenge his death and connects his killers to a supposed modeling agency. The agency, however, is just a front for a drug ring that has links to politicians and police officers. Foxy works her way into the agency by presenting herself as a sex worker and even manages to free an innocent Black woman from their clutches. It's not too long before Foxy's ploy is uncovered, and the bosses of the criminal syndicate send her to a drug manufacturing plant to work for them. What they don't know is that Foxy is tougher and more clever than they thought, and she's got a heavy score to settle.

Pam Grier had already established herself as a force to be reckoned with in the previous year's "Coffy," but "Foxy Brown" cemented her reputation as the reigning queen of 1970s Black cinema. In 2016, there was some talk of rebooting "Foxy Brown" in the form of a TV series with Meagan Good in the title role, but there've been no new updates on the project.

Dr. Hess Green (Duane Jones) is a prominent anthropologist who, along with his colleague George Meda (Bill Gunn), is studying an age-old African tribe called the Myrthians. While this may not seem like a typical setup for a blaxploitation movie, it should be noted that drinking blood was a sacred custom among the Myrthians, and it isn't long before Meda is possessed by the spirit of an ancient evil Myrthian queen and turns Hess into a vampire before killing himself. Hess then seduces Meda's widow, Ganja (Marlene Clark), gets her addicted to blood, and the two go on a lovers' killing spree.

There aren't very many horror movies in the blaxploitation genre, making "Ganja & Hess" stand out from its more crime-oriented contemporaries. However, its sanguine subject matter is artfully portrayed and features some surprisingly experimental elements. It still holds up well today with critics, and its legacy was secured even further when it was remade by Spike Lee in 2014 as "Da Sweet Blood of Jesus."

John "Goldie" Mickens (Max Julien) has just finished serving five years in the slammer and, having failed to learn that crime doesn't pay, decides to get his life back together by becoming a pimp in Oakland. This upsets Goldie's brother, Olinga (Roger E. Mosley), who's trying to clean up his crime-plagued neighborhood. Ignoring Olinga's pleas to live a straight life, Goldie soon puts together a stable of sex workers and emerges as a luminary in the pimp business. However, Goldie's rapid rise puts him on the radar of Fatman (George Murdock), his previous employer in the heroin sector, and two racist white cops.

The subject matter of "The Mack" is typically sleazy, but there's a surprising amount of social commentary on race and crime. Legendary comedian Richard Pryor (who plays Goldie's partner, Slim) is a delight, and the film features a terrific soundtrack by Motown artist Willie Hutch. One of the tracks, "Brother's Gonna Work it Out," has been sampled by numerous rappers, including Dr. Dre, Chance the Rapper, Chief Keef, and others.

"Trick Baby" has a wonderfully ludicrous premise: "Blue" Howard (Mel Stewart), who is Black, and "White Folks" (Kiel Martin), who is half-Black, half-white, are two con artists who use their differing complexions as part of their criminal schemes. The two are able to take advantage of the complicated race relations of the time to pull off some successful scores, but their cons attract the attention of the mobsters they rip off as well as that of the local police.

The film was based on the eponymous novel by Iceberg Slim, a prominent Black author at the time. Despite the absurdity of "Trick Baby," its noirish tone and downbeat ending lend some dramatic heft to what could've been an otherwise forgettable exploitation flick. Because of its critique of the racial dynamics between Black and white people, "Trick Baby" has something thoughtful to say even today and is worth watching for those who want a bit of profundity served with some gritty action.