Joshua The Black Rider: Full Free Blaxploitation Western Movie, Full Length Cowboy Film, English: Joshua (1976), Drama. Joshua is a 1976 American film directed by Larry G. Spangler. The film is also known as Black Rider, Joshua the Black Rider or Revenge. In this post-Civil War Western, Fred Williamson stars as a vigilante on the hunt for the men who killed his mother. First titled The Black Rider. A black soldier returns from fighting for the Union in the Civil War only to find out that his mother has been murdered by a gang of white thugs. He becomes a bounty hunter, determined to track down and kill the men who killed his mother. Director: Larry G. Spangler (as Larry Spangler) Writer: Fred Williamson (story and screenplay) Stars: Fred Williamson, Cal Bartlett, Brenda Venus Runtime: 1h 30min A low budget and lower aspirations do in this underplotted 1976 western, in which Fred Williamson does a passable imitation of Clint Eastwood, managing about 40 words of dialogue in the whole film. Larry Spangler directed, with more mismatched shots than are forgivable, even in these liberal times. PG, 75 min. Synopsis: Back from fighting for the Union in the Civil War, a black soldier becomes a bounty hunter to exact revenge on the white thugs who killed his mother. DAVID F. WALKER: Some evil racists make the mistake of killing Civil War veteran Joshua’s (Fred “the Hammer” Williamson) momma. In the process of killin’ Momma Hammer, they also kidnap the wife of the white man that she worked for. Now, I don’t need to tell you Joshua ain’t givin’ a rusty shit ‘bout the wife of no white man; but as anyone who’s seen ORIGINAL GANGSTAS knows, Fred ain’t havin’ that abuse of his momma. And quicker than you can say, “Don’t be messin’ wif my momma”, our main man sets out on a trail-o-revenge. Joshua tracks them no good varmints across the open prairie; and one by one he makes sure they all contract a serious case of the deaths. One sucka gets took out with a rattlesnake, one gets spear chucked, others get filled fulla lead, and one gets blown to smithereens. It all sounds pretty exciting…but it isn’t. Like director Jack Arnold’s BOSS NIGGER (which also starred Williamson), JOSHUA draws much of its inspiration from the European-produced spaghetti westerns, which had been popular in the 1960s, but by the 1970s had become increasingly dependent on comedy to keep the genre going. While BOSS NIGGER is a technically poor film, it is fun to watch, coming across like a blaxploitation version of Enzo Barboni’s TRINITY films. JOSHUA, on the other hand is reminiscent of spaghetti westerns from the mid-to-late 1960s, playing like a Franco Nero or John Garko film – something along the lines of MASSACRE TIME or VENGEANCE IS MINE, neither of which are all that good in their own right. But even by the standards of mediocre-to-crappy spaghetti westerns, JOSHUA isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, lacking the visual flare that fueled even some of the more craptacular Eurowesterns. While not being brain-melting terrible, JOSHUA ain’t exactly good either. The Hammer is the only saving grace to the film, but he doesn’t keep the film moving the way Charles Bronson propels the similar CHATO’S LAND. And pretty much all the moving this film does is at a turtle’s pace, thanks in part to Larry Spangler’s flat, uninspired direction. Spangler also produced Williamson’s first western, THE LEGEND ON NIGGER CHARLEY, and he wrote, produced, and directed the sequel THE SOUL OF NIGGER CHARLEY (neither of which comfortably rest in the realm of what might be considered “decent” films). But beyond Spangler’s lifeless direction, we also have Williamson’s script, which takes no chances and gives no dimension to the hero. And while a dimensionless hero may be somewhat acceptable, flat and stale villains can really weigh a movie down, which is just another part of this sorry state of affairs. COPYRIGHT: All of the films published by us are legally licensed. We have acquired the rights (at least for specific territories) from the rightholders by contract. If you have questions please send an email to: info.de
