Hell Up In Harlem (1973)

13% of critics liked it
(8 reviews)
50% of users liked it
(1,567 ratings)

This hastily assembled sequel to the blaxploitation hit Black Caesar downplays the gritty drama of that film to create a pure action tale with a comic book flavor. The story begins with badly wounded crimelord Tommy Gibbs (Fred Williamson) escaping an assassination attempt masterminded by corrupt… More This hastily assembled sequel to the blaxploitation hit Black Caesar downplays the gritty drama of that film to create a pure action tale with a comic book flavor. The story begins with badly wounded crimelord Tommy Gibbs (Fred Williamson) escaping an assassination attempt masterminded by corrupt District Attorney DiAngelo (Gerald Gordon) with the help of his estranged father, Papa Gibbs (Julius Harris). When DiAngelo's thugs attempt to kill him, Papa fights back and joins his son's criminal organization, a move that angers Gibb's top henchman Zach (Tony King). As Tommy and Papa build up their criminal empire, Zach secretly plots against them with DiAngelo. Zach also murders Helen (Gloria Hendry), Tommy's traitorous ex-wife, and pins in it on Papa to drive a wedge between them. Tommy gives up his New York crime operation and runs off to California. Papa takes over the operation, only to get killed by Zach during a fistfight. Angered by his father's death, Tommy returns to settle the score with Zach and DiAngelo. Hell up in Harlem delivers plenty of action set pieces and did fairly well at the box office, but lacks the consistency and the dramatic punch that made Black Caesar so memorable. As a result, it is considered to be one of Larry Cohen's lesser efforts. ~ Donald Guarisco, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 36 min.
Directed By: Larry Cohen
Genres: Action & Adventure, Classics, Cult Movies

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1973 Wide
On DVD: Oct 16, 2001
Studio: MGM

Critic Reviews

Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
Preposterously rousing
Nick Schager, Lessons of Darkness
Lacks nearly everything that made its predecessor so groovy.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
The film lives up to its intentions of being an exploitation film.
Aaron Hillis, Premiere Magazine
An implausible and near-uninteresting follow-up to Cohen's superior "Black Caesar."
Jon Lap, Apollo Guide
Aside from the film's social commentary misfires, there are implausible aspects of each and every scene.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Featured Audience Ratings

Chris W

Picking up (in a slightly shortened and retconned form) where Black Caesar left off, this direct sequel, while fun, is a but of a letdown. Oh, it's certainly enjoyable, but it makes the mistake a lot sequels make and looks and feels rushed. This is especially true because it… More
Picking up (in a slightly shortened and retconned form) where Black Caesar left off, this direct sequel, while fun, is a but of a letdown. Oh, it's certainly enjoyable, but it makes the mistake a lot sequels make and looks and feels rushed. This is especially true because it was filmed concurrently with another film, with this one being done on weekends. They shouldn't have done that. They did get pressured by the studio to cash in on the success of Black Caesar, and while greed is one thing, laziness and hastiness are completely different, and are no excuse for the drop in quality. The first film was all about character and story. This one goes for the slam bang action route. That's not a bad iddea per se, but the way it is done leaves a lot to be desired. This is a decent sewuel, but it could have been absolutely fantastic. One scholar who reviewd this said he thinks it would have been better had they taken 30-45 minutes from this and added it to the first film to create a single cohesive story instead of making a sloppy sequel. I agree to an extent with that, as that could have been cool, but I much rather like the idea of a direct sequek (so long as it maintained the same level of quality). I don't hate this. In fact, this is a fun popcorn movie. You have no choice but to see the first film though, otherwise this one just won't work. The music is okay, but there's no James Brown. His work on the first wasn't great, but he is missed. In short, this is worth one viewing, just to be a copletist, but it's not a mandatory view. However, there is a fun moment that made me smile, a
Cassandra M

I loved Larry Cohen and Fred Williamson's previous collaboration 'Black Caesar', one of the toughest and most enjoyable movies of the early 70s blaxploitation boom. That movie was a great success and in the rush to cash in with a sequel something was lost. Cohen was… More
I loved Larry Cohen and Fred Williamson's previous collaboration 'Black Caesar', one of the toughest and most enjoyable movies of the early 70s blaxploitation boom. That movie was a great success and in the rush to cash in with a sequel something was lost. Cohen was shooting his killer baby classic 'It's Alive' at the same time Williamson was making 'That Man Bolt', yet they still attempted to make 'Hell Up In Harlem' simultaneously! Cohen's script is weaker this time around and the emphasis is on fights (fists and guns) over character development and story. The movie is more of an action film than a crime drama and therefore much less interesting to me. Williamson is still a powerhouse, but the movie as a whole fails to satisfy. Gloria Hendry ('Black Belt Jones') and D'Urville Martin ('Dolemite') both return from the first movie but aren't required to do all that much. You could even call their roles cameos and not be far wrong. Julius Harris ('Superfly') also returns as Williamson's father, but this time round he has a much larger role, and almost carries the first third of the movie all by himself. The film directly follows on from 'Black Caesar' with Tommy Gibbs (Williamson) recovering from a near fatal gunshot wound. He relies upon his Pop to keep things together, and this enables Harris to blossom from a middle aged straight citizen into a cool dressing killing machine almost overnight! This is one of the most entertaining things about the whole movie, but not enough to stop it from being a disappointment. Even the score this time round is inferior, with no James Brown content. I think this movie was too rushed and suffers for it. It has its moments but isn't a patch on 'Black Caesar'. I've noticed that quite a few blaxploitation classics fail to deliver with their sequels (I'm especially thinking of 'Foxy Brown', Jack Hill's weak follow up to his sensational 'Coffy'). I wonder why that was? Greed perhaps, or lack of faith in the material, I don't know. Anyway, 'Hell Up In Harlem' is okay, but it could have been, SHOULD have been a lot better! 'Black Caesar' is still brilliant though, don't miss that one.