Category Archives: Blaxploitation

Celebrating the 40th anniversaries of Blaxploitation films and films that starred Black actors during the Blaxploitation film genre. These films were released from January 1 – December 31, 1973 during the “Greatest Decade Ever” in Black cinematic history. Most of these movie posters are in the collection of The Museum Of UnCut Funk, with the exception of  Ganja and Hess, Heavy Traffic and The Black Bunch.

Celebrating the 40th anniversaries of Blaxploitation films and films that starred Black actors during the Blaxploitation film genre. These films were released from January 1 – December 31, 1972 during the “Greatest Decade Ever” in Black cinematic history. Most of these movie posters are in the collection of The Museum Of UnCut Funk, with the exception of A Place Called Today, Fritz The Cat, Is The Father Black Enough and The Limit.

Celebrating the 40th anniversaries of Blaxploitation films and films that starred Black actors during the Blaxploitation film genre. These films were released from January 1 – December 31, 1971 during the “Greatest Decade Ever” in Black cinematic history. Most of these movie posters are in the collection of The Museum Of UnCut Funk, with the exception of Black Chariot.

Celebrating the 40th anniversaries of Blaxploitation films and films that starred Black actors during the Blaxploitation film genre. These films were released from January 1 – December 31, 1970 during the “Greatest Decade Ever” in Black cinematic history. Most of these movie posters are in the collection of The Museum Of UnCut Funk, except Ghetto Freaks and The McMasters.

A couple of months ago, the crew from the Collector’s Quest website became the first people to actually visit the offices of The Museum Of UnCut Funk, interview me and see our collection.

The Civil Rights and Black Power Movements of the 1960’s set the stage for the 1970’s Black film revolution.

Blaxploitation films had very funky trailers, featuring the latest threads and hippest jive.

The Museum of UnCut Funk continues to celebrate the best decade ever with a review of Poster Art from funky music based films that helped to create the soundtrack of the 1970’s.

This is a real blast from the past!

I started collecting movie posters from Blaxploitation and all Black films from the 1970‘s because I love these films. I also love the illustrated artwork that was used to create these posters. Poster illustration has become a lost art form, as today’s posters utilize photography.

The U.S. Digs Blaxploitation!

The first Blaxploitaion film I saw was Foxy Brown. I remember begging my step father to take me to see Foxy Brown. Neither of us knew to content of the film and clearly it was not for a 12 year old to view but I had been such a huge Pam Grier fan.

East Germany Digs Blaxploitation!

Many U.S. movies from the 1930’s and 1940’s arrived in East German theaters for the first time after 1947. During the Blaxploitation film explosion of the 1970‘s, movies took 2 to 3 years on average after the U.S. release to make it into East German theaters.

France Digs Blaxploitation!

The arrival of American sound films at first created panic among the European countries who immediately resisted the influx of US films. The French public didn’t accept films in other languages, the film industry tried to ignore them and the government strengthened censorship and tariff laws and stopped ‘talkies’ from being shown in France for a period of time.

Italy Digs Blaxploitation!

The first presentation of film in Italy was in February of 1896 by Vittorio Calcina at the Ospedale di Carita in Turin. Blaxploitation Films made their debut in Italy during the mid 1970’s. As with most international releases of American films, each film would screen a few years after the American release.

Japan Digs Blaxploitation!

The Japanese have always had a fondness for Black culture. Blaxploitation films were a huge hit in Japan and have continued to be, so much so, that one of the largest collections of Blaxploitation memorabilia is owned by a Japanese man. He has catalogued his collection in a book called The Soul of Black Movie!

Poland Digs Blaxploitation!

American films have always been watched by the Poles, not only because of their quality but also due to the role that the U.S. played in the consciousness of Polish citizens. Many went to see American movies to become acquainted with the country.

During the 1970’s, Blaxploitation moved into the horror category with a number of movies, made for Blacks, staring Blacks. One of the most important actors from this period was William Marshall. He starred as Blacula, a Black version of Dracula in two movies, Blacula and Scream, Blacula, Scream.

1973 marked the beginning of the one-two combination of Blaxploitation and Kung Fu. It happened when taekwondo champion Jim Kelly appeared in Bruce Lee’s film Enter the Dragon. Kelly proved to be a popular character actor who would sign with Warner Brothers for a few more action films, thus creating the first crossing over of these two prolific genres.

From 1970 to 1976, during the height of the Blaxploitation era, there were fourteen westerns made for public consumption. Some of these films never made it to a national audience and others haven’t been seen since their release. There were a few films that found box office success and were critically acclaimed by some of the toughest film critics.