This cult favorite blaxploitation flick features a compelling story and some good writing by the director Jack Hill.  Unfortunately Hill is a better writer than a director as what could have been exciting lays lame most of the time with predictable staging and unbelievably overblown characters.  Add to this some pretty amateurish acting and you've got the makings of a pretty lacking film.  Grier shows off her worst when trying to adopt a Jamaican accent (mon), but Grier fans can rejoice that she shows her best attributes several times throughout the film to make up for it.  Some terrific songs on the impossible to get soundtrack (believe me, I've tried) by jazz/funk maestro Roy Ayers are in the mix here, which actually is why I watched the film to begin with.  Too bad they're about the only things I enjoyed (other than the aforementioned talents of Grier) in this ambitious but lifeless film.

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