Thankfully, through the magic of video, we younger folks can sit back and enjoy some of the old classics in the comfort of our own homes. Such is the case with this 1973 classic from Larry Cohen.

Starring Fred Williamson as the title character, this has to be one of the most phenomenally mind-bending flicks ever released. Williamson stars as Tommy Gibbs, a black shoeshine boy who helps out in a mob hit. He's taken in by the Mafia, eventually goes to jail after getting his leg fucked up by an Irish cop, and comes out dressed to the nines, limping a bit, and prepared to raise some hell.

After impressing the mob bosses with a devestating daylight hit in a barber shop, Tommy slowly but surely rises to the top, and through the acquisiton of some critical ledgers, becomes the Black Caesar. However, the entire first two-thirds of the film are simply a set-up for the phenomenal ending, which shows the demented genius that IS Larry Cohen.

After being double-crossed by his ex-wife and shot by hired thugs, Tommy stumbles through midtown Manhattan, clutching his stomach. There's only one thing on his mind, and that's revenge. The final exploitofest between Williamson and the crooked Police Captain is nothing short of mind-blowing.

Williamson beats the cop senseless with an old shoeshine box, and then paints him with polish while forcing him to sing "Mammy." I kid you not. While watching this it's hard to imagine Sammy Davis Jr. in the role, the person Cohen wrote the script for.

Such a smash that the character of Gibbs later returned in HELL UP IN HARLEM, which has also been released on video. I can only imagine the frenzy that that ending must have whipped a 1973 42nd Street crowd into. Ohhhh...I shudder at the very thought.