This is the Japanese B2 for the 1973 blaxploitation crime drama Gordon’s War, directed by Ossie Davis (Cotton Comes to Harlem) and starring Paul Winfield as the eponymous Gordon Hudson. After returning from the Vietnam war he finds that his neighbourhood in Harlem has been taken over by drug dealers and that his wife has died from a heroin overdose. He gathers some of his fellow soldiers together and sets out to rid the area of the dealers.

The film is unavailable on blu-ray but receives decent enough reviews on IMDb, with one praising its use of real locations:

The location shoot in Harlem is an essential ingredient in making this film work. The feel of the streets, shops, people, cars, bars, abandoned buildings, rundown apartments and ramshackle appearances bolsters the movie greatly. There is a chase scene, car following motorcycle, that ranks among the very best of any movie anywhere, including those in poliziotteschis. That alone makes the movie.

Italian director Enzo G Castellari’s shark on a rampage film was blocked from release in America after Universal Pictures, the studio behind Jaws, successfully sued citing plagiarism. It’s not hard to see why, as per the plot description on IMDb:

An enormous and angry 35 foot Great White Shark takes revenge on humans when they build a beach just for swimmers by a coastal town. After several shark attacks, and the Mayor does nothing to stop it, James Franisscus and Vic Morrow sail in pursuit to stop it.

This poster comes from a limited release by Venture Pictures International in 1982. The film has never been released on home video in the States or in the UK and it seems that Universal continue to block screenings to this day, though it appears Amazon offers a video on demand version. It’s available on DVD in Italy and Sweden and, as per that article, Severin Films intend to pursue a UK release soon.

I’m not sure who the artist is behind this poster so get in touch if you have an idea.

Here’s the original US trailer – check out Vic Morrow‘s Quint impression!

Hammer was an early entry in the blaxploitation subgenre of films that grew in popularity following the release of Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song and Shaft in 1971. The film stars ex-NFL player Fred Williamson whose nickname was The Hammer in real life and who would go on to become one of the subgenre’s key players. It was helmed by Kiwi director Bruce Clark who only has four directorial credits to his name, which includes the Roger Corman-produced sci-fi clunker Galaxy of Terror.

Williamson stars as B.J. Hammer a dockworker who is spotted as having some boxing talent by a shady trainer. He rises up the ranks and gains some notoriety but thing soon turn sour when his manager, who is also a dodgy gangster, asks him to throw his next fight in order to make some other crooks rich (that old chestnut). His girfriend Lois, played by another blaxploitation stalwart Vonetta McGee), is kidnapped by the gangsters in an effort to coerce Hammer into taking a dive, which means it’s time to show them what he’s capable of.

The film is today considered one of the lesser entries in the blaxploitation subgenre and it holds a fairly poor rating on IMDb, but it’s still one to seek out for fans of Williamson. This Japanese B2 poster features a unique photo montage as was typical of the era.

Italian writer/director Sergio Martino is responsible for several notable Giallo films including Torso and The Case of the Scorpion Tail. His output also includes several exploitation and genre films that directly ‘homage’ the work of American directors, including After the Fall of New York (see Carpenter’s Escape From NY) and Hands of Steel, which shamelessly apes James Cameron’s classic Terminator (1984).

The plot sees Daniel Greene‘s cyborg Paco Querak (great name!) sent to kill a blind environmentalist who is interfering with the plans of industrialist Frank Turner (genre legend John Saxon). During the assassination attempt Querak’s human conscience somehow stops him carrying out the deed and he escapes into the Arizona desert. He ends up at a bar in a small town and before long he’s using his strength to arm wrestle truckers and partake in bar brawls, however a team of hitmen has been sent after him and it’s not long before he is tracked down.

Tragically, Claudio Cassinelli, who played one of the hitmen, was killed in a helicopter crash during filming of an action sequence.

I’m crediting the artwork to the great Renato Casaro because the main figure is clearly his illustration as can be seen on this Japanese B2 for the film, which features his signature. The rest of the art is likely to have been done by another artist, but I’m not certain to whom it can be credited. The typeface used for the tagline could not be more 80s if it tried.

Note that Hands of Steel, like many Italian exploitation films, has multiple alternative names and had a different moniker in most major markets.

The full film is available to watch on YouTube. The trailer is also YouTube.