SweetJesusPreacherMan

Sweet Jesus Preacher Man (1973)

Roger E. Mosley, who most of us will recognize from his years on Magnum P.I., plays a hit man in this movie. We know this because at the very beginning we see him take out three targets and head back to the mob boss (exploitation legend William Smith) that hired him to get paid. The boss wants him to take on another assignment for him. See someone has been killing off the mob’s men in the black community and he wants it stopped. The local church is expecting a new minister and he wants Mosley’s character to impersonate him, which is easy since this was one of the men he killed. But after pretending to be a preacher he decides that there is no reason he can’t run the rackets on his own from the church. So now not only is the mob gunning for him, but he has gotten the attention of the vigilantes that have been taking out the mob’s men!

This is a really cool movie that takes the story somewhere I didn’t think it would. As I was watching I kept expecting Holmes (the hitman’s name) to suddenly get a sense of community or grow a conscious and stand up against the mobsters for them. And for a while it looks like that might where the story is headed. He even seems to have an interest in one of the single mom’s at the church. But then it is like the movie comes to it’s senses and realizes who the character is. He beds a local cocktail waitress for information and then takes over the criminal enterprises for his own. While this might not be a “feel good” ending, I loved the fact that he was a creep and killer at the beginning and stayed that way thru the end. If I did have a complaint it would be with the pacing of the movie. After starting off with a bang (literally) the movie gets terribly slow in the middle, before picking up towards the end. This is another of those movies that treat the audience to long stretches of people walking around or hanging out in a bar. I get the distinct impression that this was added to stretch out the runtime of the movie.

The cast is filled with familiar faces doing decent jobs and unfamiliar faces not really doing that great. In addition to Mosley you have William Smith (Invasion of the Bee Girls) playing the mob boss Martelli. He does a good job in the few scenes that he is given, but is honestly underused. Also Marla Gibbs (The Jeffersons and tons of other T.V. shows) has a small role, but is also very good.

Technically the movie is put together pretty well. There are a few scenes where the lighting and camera work leave a bit to be desired, but for the most part the movie looks okay. I was disappointed that the movie doesn’t really have that great of a soundtrack, which all the best Blaxsploitation movies have. The movie does do a good job when it comes to the fight sequences, boasting some good fight choreography.

For me Sweet Jesus Preacher Man is a decent movie, but not terribly memorable. Still if you consider yourself a fan of Blaxsploitation movies then you will want to have seen this at least once.

2 ½ out of 4

reviewed by John Shatzer