Black Shampoo (1976) **

A pretty unremarkable blaxploitation (I haven't seen all that many films in the genre but this is easily my least favorite), Black Shampoo (1976) lacks finesse, lacks a strong lead, lacks action until the finale, has poor acting, poor characters, boring/laughable sex scenes, and weird editing. Even the cinematography is unexceptional, which is odd since it was (co)lensed by legendary DOP Dean Cundey—though it was only his 7th film and still 2 years before Halloween (review) so forgivable. 

The songs are pretty groovy and there is some fun to be had, but overall BS is a lackluster experience. Also, the title is clearly meant to cash in on Hal Ashby's Shampoo from the previous year (a film of his that I still need to see) but Mr. Jonathan would have been a good (probably better) one. Director Greydon Clark made better "bad" films, including Uninvited (1988) (review), Without Warning (1980) (review), and Satan's Cheerleaders (1977) (review).

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