Dazzling, highly stylized, excessively violent and brimming with sex, blaxploitation films enjoyed a brief but memorable period in motion picture history. Never before – and never since – have so many African American performers been featured in films, not in bit parts, but in name-above-the-title starring roles. 25 years after they first thrilled audiences the body of films known as blaxploitation are enjoying a renaissance. These pictures continue to captivate film fans, and the entire genre, with its bevy of colourful, utterly-contemporary film characters, irresistible soundtrack albums and catchy film titles, is taking its rightful place among the entertainment industry's most enjoyed, and influential, movies. Answering the call for a fresh and appreciative look back at a distinctly American motion picture phenomenon, Blaxploitation Cinema: The Essential Reference Guide is the first truly comprehensive examination of the genre, its films, its trends and its far-reaching impact, covering every blaxploitation film in detail. * A comprehensive introduction to the genre. * Interviews with ten renowned blaxploitation movie directors. * A complete filmography of the blaxploitation golden age (1970-1980). * More than 250 movie listings, which include cast and crew credits along with a full synopsis. * Vintage and contemporary film reviews, critiques and commentary plus taglines, ratings, and extensive cross-referencing. "Josiah Howard's book is frankly the best guide on the subject that I have ever seen." -- Jack Hill, director of blaxploitation classics Coffy and Foxy Brown Josiah Howard writes on popular culture and is the author of four books. A senior contributor at The Grindhouse Cinema Database and Furious Cinema , Howard also lectures on film and has curated festivals internationally in Brazil, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom as well as in the U.S. His writing credits include articles for The American Library of Congress, The New York Times and Reader's Digest. He lives in NYC. AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION: Blaxploitation Cinema: The Essential Reference Guide came about in stops and starts. I grew up in a small, mostly African-American suburban town in New Jersey called Plainfield. Front Street, the main thoroughfare, boasted a grandly columned bank, a record shop, a 'boutique,' numerous clothing and wig stores, and two movie houses, the old but still somewhat respectable Strand and the West End's faded, partially dilapidated Liberty. My first exposure to blaxploitation films came at the age of twelve, when my best friend's grandmother took me along with her two grandchildren on a three-day trip to New York City. Though I loved our trip to Coney Island's famed 'Astro Land,' it was our trip to 42nd Street's New Amsterdam Theater (before it was renovated and became home to The Lion King) that really left its mark on me. That fateful day in 1974, we took in a 'return engagement' double of Coffy and Trouble Man. The back-to-back barrage of sounds and images simply blew me away. From that point on I was hooked; I went to as many blaxploitation films as I possibly could. As an adult my interest in blaxploitation films continued. I bought the few books that were available on the genre, kept clippings and collected memorabilia, and when the home video market took off, purchased as many films as my meagre earnings would allow. But even though I remained an interested observer and ardent fan of the films, I hesitated for many years to seriously consider putting together a book on the genre. My 'logic' was that there really weren't enough movies to fill an entire book and that, since I already thought I knew everything there was to know about the pictures, it wouldn't be a project that would hold my interest for very long. I was wrong on both counts. Reviewing, cataloguing (and often discovering) the films in this book has been both pleasurable and informative. Neither a hard-core intellectual film theory discourse, nor a nostalgic 'celebration,' it is my hope that Blaxploitation Cinema: The Essential Reference Guide is, instead, an American film guidebook; a comprehensive look at the blaxploitation film genre, its players and its many creative participants.