Black Shampoo (1976)

Greydon Clark has mined almost every exploitation genre from horror (Satan's Cheerleaders) to T&A (Joysticks) to lambada (The Forbidden Dance). Here, he turns his attention to blaxploitation, transforming the mainstream comedy Shampoo into a story about a black playboy (John Daniels) who is both a hairdresser and a skilled fighter. Daniels battles gangsters in brutal fight scenes involving chainsaws and pool-cue impalements. If that isn't enough, the requisite sex, torture, and homophobia are brought in as well. Clark's previous genre foray, The Bad Bunch, had been released to several theaters as Nigger Lover, which should give some clue as to the mentality at work. The director returned to racial themes in 1989 with Skinheads: The Second Coming of Hate.