Movie Review: Death of a Snowman (1978)

By Hal Astell

December sees Midnite Movie Mamacita showing a bunch of blaxploitation pictures, especially Dr Black Mr Hyde, which I'm really looking forward to. Black Christmas sounds like one but isn't, and Death of a Snowman is a curious mix of blaxploitation and other genres. It's a South African crime film that starts off with the bizarre concept of having the good guys be a white cop and a black journalist. In the South Africa of 1978?! Wow, talk about fantasy. They're played by Nigel Davenport and Ken Gampu respectively and while both try very much, neither are believable.

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Someone called War on Crime is killing leading criminals on the streets of Johannesburg and naturally the cops want to catch him. Gampu's character, Steve Chaka, hardly a politically correct name for a black South African, wants to catch him too but does have sympathy with the ends if not the means. Of course not all is as it seems and War on Crime is doing his work for a reason that doesn't match the high morals that he pretends to.

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Master criminals meet violent death in Johannesburg, South Africa, a city wrought with organized crime. Steve Chaka (Ken Gampu), an ambitious news reporter, learns that these deaths are from the hands of an all-black vigilante group known only as War on Crime. Teaming up with Lt. Ben Deel (Nigel Davenport, CHARIOTS OF FIRE, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS) of the local police department, Chaka investigates anonymous tips regarding future hits and ends up fighting for his life to uncover the truth about the vigilante killings! DEATH OF A SNOWMAN is an action-filled South African grindhouse gem. Exploitation fans will enjoy the outrageous violence, erratic editing, funky disco soundtrack and jaw dropping dubbing. Also known as SOUL PATROL and BLACK TRASH.

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