Emma Mae

 



Director - Jamaa Fanaka (Street Wars, Penitentiary)
Starring - Jerri Hayes, Ernest Williams II (That's My Mama, Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes), and Charles D. Brooks III (Welcome Home Brother Charles, Common Theory)
Release Date - 1976
Genre - Drama/Action
Tagline - "She's just off the bus from the deep south...and learning fast how to out-smart and out-tough the big city just to stay alive"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

 

      It has been awhile since I caught a blaxploitation flick so I was excited for this double feature from Vinegar Syndrome.  The first film in this double feature was a little strange when compared to other Blaxploitation flicks so I was curious to see how this one would turn out considering it was from the same director just one year later.  Honestly, I enjoyed Welcome Home Brother Charles but Emma Mae, aka Black Sister's Revenge, was a better film all around.  Once again thank you Vin Syn for hooking Horror Society up with a review copy.

     The film follows Emma Mae (Hayes) who arrives from the deep south to stay with her cousin's in LA.  She is a fish out of water at first but soon realizes that she is in a different world and toughens up.  She also falls in love with a man in a gang but he finds himself in jail after assaulting a police officer.  She moves out of her cousin's home to be with his gang to help raise money to get him out but that fails several times until she attempts to rob a bank only to discover that he never loved her.  He was only using her for sex and money.

     I was expecting a crazy ass Blaxploitation flick after checking out Welcome Home Brother Charles but Emma Mae actually hit me with a straight forward drama.  This one was more grounded and didn't struggle with figuring out what it was.  The acting in this one is great even more so when you consider how little experience the cast had.  The film's star, Jerri Hayes, has no other imdb credits but was able to carry this entire film on her back.  She is a strong female lead and her performance is what made this film so spectacular.  Her supporting cast is solid but she is the real star of the film as the title suggests.  The story for this one is more straight forward and grounded over the other film in this double feature.  This one fully embodies the Blaxploitation sub-genre and dives deep into urban African American culture of the 70s.  The character of Emma Mae witnesses police violence, repression, racism, gang violence, poverty, and drug use for the first time turning this innocent southern girl into a tough as nails woman.  This one doesn't really have the colorful characters and outlandish situations as some of the other Blaxploitation flicks but it is more of a look at the struggles they go through in a normal day.  Sure, some are embellished but the facts remain the same.  Finally, those of you looking for blood will not find it here.  This drama is meant to be an informative film to show the world what the black population on LA has to go through while keeping that Blaxploitation look and feel.  Overall, Emma Mae may night have characters like Dolemite and Foxy Brown but it still satisfies.  Fans of the sub-genre need to see this.  Check it out.