Leofwine_draca BLACK SHAMPOO is a hilariously camp slice of blaxploitation cheese courtesy of noted B-movie director Greydon Clark. The story sees the wooden, Jim Kelly-lookalike lead running his hairdressers, where he finds plenty of time to romance his clientele in lots of softly-lit softcore sex scenes. The film features a whole slew of young and nubile actresses willing to strip off for their parts while John Daniels looks on impassively.Later, the film becomes a thriller of sorts, featuring a squad of threatening white gangsters with a rich line in cheesy dialogue who show up to threaten our hero and his business. Violence ensues, although not until the climax which pours on the ketchup quite liberally. As a film, BLACK SHAMPOO is very difficult to take seriously, although genre fans might get a laugh or two out of it.

Scott LeBrun I got a fair amount of entertainment out of this diverting if forgettable blaxploitation entry, but then I approached the whole thing looking at it as tongue in cheek. If one were to take it seriously, they might well find it in the "so bad it's good" category. A stiff, not too charming John Daniels is cast as Mr. Jonathan (whether that's his first or last name doesn't matter), owner / operator of a hair salon and also irresistible stud muffin to a variety of (mostly white) women. Trouble brews when Brenda (Tanya Boyd), his secretary, is threatened by her former employer, a mob boss named Mr. Wilson (Joseph Carlo). Wilson and his thugs mean business, and among their methods used are the trashing of the salon and the sodomizing of one of the employees. This dumb but fun movie comes complete with the expected funky music score with the ever present "wacka wacka" guitar, two flagrant gay stereotypes, and what will be the most appreciated by exploitation fans, an ample serving of female nudity. This certainly is a trashy outing, as the over sexed daughters of one customer unrelentingly come on to Mr. Jonathan, and it can be a very funny one as well. Just witness the awkwardly staged and ridiculous salon trashing episode. One has to see it to believe it. Hell, there's even a Western themed costume party in which one party goer is absurdly dressed in ballet gear. Things really pick up towards the end, where Mr. Jonathan is pursued by the sadistic mob flunkies armed with a miniature chainsaw. Now, we don't get to see too much detail when he carves them up, but this is an amusing bit of business nevertheless. In fact, the climax in general is pretty violent. With the level of exploitation on display, this should entertain some viewers, and it manages to generate some hearty laughs as well; the music score is at times utterly ridiculous. All in all, this probably won't become a classic or get too many retrospectives but it's a mild hoot for people with certain tastes. Seven out of 10.

Black Shampoo This is the best movie ever made! This movie is so great, I chose this as my name here at IMDb.There is not a dull moment in this movie. This is a classic tale of good vs. evil. Lot's of character building, nudity, natural beauty, gotta love the car scenes, and the chainsaw killings in the end. This movie could have only taken place in the 1970s. The plot, the clothes, the cars and the acting is over the top. That is why I love this movie so much. Movies today suck really bad and really too much on CGI with the same actors that portray the same role in every film they do. The only thing this move is missing is a high-speed car chase scene and perhaps a scene from the airport with a Boeing 707 flight on Pam Am or Branniff. That would make the movie flawless. :)Go out and ad this DVD to your collection. This is a great movie to watch with your buddies or even on dates. Yes I've even shown this movie on first dates and ended up as lucky as Mr. Jonathan himself. ;)

keeponwithbrian Right before director Greydon Clark did "Satan's Cheerleaders", he made this 1976 violent blaxploitation cheese ball about a salon owner/gigolo, Mr. Johnathan (John Daniels, who looks like a smaller, african american Lou Ferrigno) getting revenge on the white mobsters who kidnap his secretary/girlfriend, beat up his gay hairdressers and trash his salon. This has plenty of cheezy acting, especially from the stereotypical gay hairdressers. The film is definitely not boring, except for some romantic 70s montages in the middle. There's plenty of sex, nudity, and violence resulting in a conclusion that involves chainsaw mutilations and a pool cue impaling! It shouldn't dramatically disappoint fans of the genre, but don't expect laughs like the Dolemite films. After you see it once, you probably won't come back to it. Its good for a cheap rental on bad 70s night. Black Shampoo goes mostly for a serious tone, although it has problems staying there. How serious can you take an angry hairdresser?