Sheba, Baby Review | Road Rash Reviews

3 stars for this entertaining and very 1970s crime thriller.

Sheba, Baby was written and directed by William Girdler (The Get-man, The Manitou) and was first released in 1975. It marked Pam Grier‘s return to pure Blaxploitation, following her success in Coffy and Foxy Brown.

In this film the magnificent Pam Grier plays Sheba Shayne, a private investigator living in Chicago. One day she receives a call from her father’s partner Brick (Austin Stoker – Return to the Planet of the Apes), who tells her that their loan company is being threatened by the local mob boss, Pilot (D’Urville Martin – Rosemary’s Baby, Black Caesar).

She immediately returns home to help out and stop the bad guys. However, she finds the police unwilling to help and the situation much worse than she had imagined. She has no choice but to take matters into her own hands.

What ensues is a series of brilliant car chases, boat chases, shoot outs and what must be a very early jet ski. It’s all very exciting, as Sheba chases down hordes of entertainingly fish related baddies including Shark (Dick Merrifield – The Hellcats), Hammerhead (Charles Broadus – Abby) and Whale .

The whole thing is move on apace by a funkadelic soundtrack written for the film by Monk Higgins and performed by Barbara Mason, which is great for a while but does get somewhat tiring towards the end of the film.

But now on to the most noticeable feature of the film, the outfits. From start to finish it is a startling parade of 70s flair, especially the blokes unfortunately. For a woman who is just visiting, Sheba has one of the most comprehensive wardrobes I’ve ever seen in a film, in almost every scene she is sporting another trouser suit or flamboyant hat. It’s almost a game to guess what an earth she will be wearing next, great fun!

Sheba, Baby has been beautifully converted, the picture and sound are both excellent and this release is packed with special features:

· High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
· Original mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
· Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
· Audio commentary with producer-screenwriter David Sheldon, moderated by critic Nathaniel Thompson
· Sheldon: Baby – a brand new interview with David Sheldon
· Pam Grier: The AIP Years – a look over the wonder years of the Blaxploitation queen with film historian Chris Poggiali
· Trailer
· Gallery featuring rare publicity images and Lobby Cards
· Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sean Phillips
· Booklet featuring brand new writing on the film by Patty Breen, webmaster of WilliamGirdler.com, illustrated with archive stills and posters
An excellent example of the Blaxploitation genre and guaranteed to transport you straight back to the 70s, Sheba, Baby is well worth adding to your collection.