Film

Ebony, Ivory & Jade

A scrappy 1976 action-thriller about three female athletes kidnapped in the Philippines who must fight their way free. It's a breezy, no-apologies B-movie with martial arts, stunt work, and genuine charm. Made for anyone who loves the spirit of '70s exploitation cinema without pretension—fun, energetic, and unafraid to be exactly what it is.

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Coffy1973

Pam Grier as a nurse-turned-vigilante: explosive action, genuine fury at injustice, and a blueprint for the female action hero that everything after copied.

But The violence is brutal and the pacing can feel choppy by modern standards. It's of its era and wears it visibly.

Coffy poster

The Big Doll House1971

Women in prison, women fighting back, women driving the action. Early Roger Corman exploitation with real physicality and a genuine sense of team solidarity amid chaos.

But The script is thin. The acting is variable. You're here for the stunt work and attitude, not naturalistic dialogue.

The Big Doll House poster

Three the Hard Way1974

Three action stars (Jim Brown, Fred Williamson, Jim Kelly) taking on a massive conspiracy. Slick, well-paced, genuinely exciting, with fight choreography that still lands.

But It's an ensemble film that can feel scattered when any one character doesn't grab you. Some technical roughness in editing.

Three the Hard Way poster

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Death Wish1974

Both films are about civilians forced into violence by circumstance—but Death Wish asks what that does to your soul, while Ebony, Ivory & Jade celebrates survival as exhilaration.

Charles Bronson's vigilante awakening is the DNA of Ebony, Ivory & Jade—ordinary person(s) stripped of safety, forced into violence by circumstance. Grimy, morally ambiguous, genuinely unsettling where the B-movies are playful.

But It's bleak and deeply serious about suffering. The vigilantism is presented as psychological damage, not triumphant. Completely different emotional register.

Death Wish poster
More like this (6)

Foxy Brown1974

Pam Grier again, this time as a streetwise woman on a revenge mission. Incredible costume work, snappy dialogue, action scenes with real wit and improvisation.

But The plot gets genuinely dark in ways that don't quite sit with the film's tone. Some moments age poorly.

Foxy Brown poster

TNT Jackson1974

A young woman alone in Hong Kong, taking down criminals with her fists. Lean, unpretentious, and genuinely fun. Jeanne Bell is terrific.

But The film is very short and sometimes feels like it ends abruptly. Sound mixing on available prints can be rough.

TNT Jackson poster

The Black Godfather1974

A crime thriller that treats its protagonist's world with surprising seriousness and detail. Strong ensemble cast, real locations, genuine sense of stakes.

But The pacing is uneven and the narrative can feel baggy. It's interested in more than it can quite manage.

The Black Godfather poster

Blackbelt1992

A lean, efficient action film with a woman who can actually fight. No-frills action choreography with respect for the performer's physicality.

But It's genuinely minor and forgettable. Technically adequate but with almost no character beyond the fighting.

Blackbelt poster

The Raid 22014

Both are fundamentally about physical bodies in motion against overwhelming force, with a team dynamic. Evans is consciously inheriting the exploitation cinema playbook and polishing it to impossible sharpness.

Gareth Evans's Indonesian action epic: protagonist imprisoned, fights through impossible odds with allies, pure visceral cinema. The action sequences are balletic and devastating.

But Modern blockbuster filmmaking—it looks nothing like '70s B-movies and runs 150 minutes. It's self-serious where your film is breezily fun.

The Raid 2 poster

Switchblade Sisters1975

Women in jeopardy who turn jeopardy into power—but where Ebony, Ivory & Jade is breezy exploitation, Switchblade Sisters is Gothic melodrama with a painterly eye. Both trust their actresses to carry action.

Jack Hill's cult film about female gang members—operatic, visually gorgeous, utterly committed to its own logic. A female ensemble given full agency and terrible choices. Genuinely strange filmmaking.

But It's much more interested in style than plot. The violence is presented as beautiful and tragic rather than fun. Deliberately arch in a way that takes patience.

Switchblade Sisters poster

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