DEATH OF A SNOWMAN is a slow and rather unengaging blaxploitation thriller made in South Africa, of all places. Imported British actor Nigel Davenport teams up with a black cop to bring down a gang of drug smugglers, and events play out much as you'd imagine. Sadly, this is a film that suffers from a cheapness of film stock and a paucity of imagination on the part of writer and director, which means that the action is slow-paced and unremarkable and the plot nothing more than hackneyed. Davenport does his best but is on autopilot throughout, and while the local actors try hard, they're not going to win an Oscar anytime soon.

Shrewd and ambitious reporter Steve Chaka (an excellent performance by Ken Gampu) and his tough cop best friend Lieutenant Ben Deel (a fine portrayal by Nigel Davenport) join forces to investigate a violent series of apparent vigilante killings of master criminals in Johannesburg, South Africa. Director Christopher Rowley, working from an absorbing script by Bima Stagg, relates the involving story at a swift pace, maintains an appropriately gritty and serious tone throughout (this is the type of hard-hitting film in which a few undeserving innocent people meet abrupt brutal deaths), and stages the rousing action set pieces with real flair and skill (a spirited car chase rates as a definite stirring highlight). The loose, natural, and engaging chemistry between Gampu and Davenport really holds the picture together; they play off each other very well and sell the friendship between their characters with complete conviction. Moreover, there are sound supporting contributions from Peter Dyneley as a hard-nosed police captain, Madala Mphahlete as crafty top hood Luther "Snowman" Daniels, and, most impressive of all, screenwriter Stagg as laid-back, but lethal hit-man Johnson. The jolting moments of sudden explosive violence pack a pretty harsh punch. Fred Tammes' lively cinematography makes galvanizing use of a constantly moving camera and snazzy slow motion. The funky-digging score hits the get-down groovy spot. A worthwhile and unjustly neglected little sleeper.

I know exploitation cinema isn't exclusive to America, many countries around the world have made and continue to make exploitation, but I have to say that I'm rather surprised to see a Blaxploitation film hailing from South Africa. I suppose when you think about it though, considering all of the political and racial strife South Africa has seen, Blaxploitation cinema definitely makes sense. Naturally this isn't the first time this particular film has seen release here in the states, a company called EastWest (likely a bootleg outfit) is still currently selling the "Soul Patrol" version of Death of a Snowman which runs one minute shorter than Synapse's. I know BCI also owned the rights to this a few years back though I can't seem to find any indication that it was indeed actually released.Anyhow, the film itself was quite entertaining; there were a few sequences that seemed to drag along here and there but actors Davenport (lovin' his Sean Connery beard!) and Gampu were likable characters with a laid back, believable relationship. Seeing Gampu portray a respectable Blaxploitation hero with a strong moral compass was also a refreshing change-up from the usual pimps, pushers, hustlers, gangsters and vigilantes that typified the sub-genre.Basically the action was right on point, violence over-the-top and the score was wonderful as it was filled with dark grooves and fast-paced action funk so, for me, everything about Death of a Snowman just felt right. As I said, there were a few lulls but this is exploitation…not Fellini. If there weren't some dull moments and missed opportunities for nudity, I'm not sure I would have enjoyed this so thoroughly. Yeah right!

I found this movie in the bargain-bin at my local Blockbuster, where it was available in a very old cassette (where it said VHS/Video 2000/Beta Max on the cover), and the title was 'The Hunt for Mr. Clean' in danish. It took about an hour of playing time before this so-called 'Mr. Clean' would show up, and it was only as a pseudonym for Luther 'Snowman' Daniels, who was played by Madala Mphahlele, who apparently hasn't done any movies before or since this one. He plays a gangster who had some kind of connection with real-life gangster Joey Gallo, who got shot in 1972. (The cover of the film describes this movie as the main character being Joey Gallo chasing Mr. Clean, totally wrong and bizarre writings, kinda funny) - And Nigel Davenport who played Lt. Ben Deel, the cop on the case was only in the movie for about 15 minutes or so, the main hero is Ken Gampu who plays the journalist Steve Chaka, who has cracked down the entire case by himself, but the police don't trust him anymore, so he can't tell them anything about the information. Bima Stagg, who wrote this, has a role as Johnson in this movie, but I can't remember who he was. The most interesting character was a poor mans Donald Sutherland (with the big beard and long hair), who went around and killed a lot of people, but apparently he wasn't very important for the plot, since he suddenly was removed halfway in the movie.All in all, there was a lot of muddled fights and chases, which annoyed me quite a lot, since you couldn't see what the heck was going on (say, ten black men fighting in a dark basement with poor lighting isn't very fun to watch, unless you like playing guessing-games) But I have to give it at least 4 of 10, since it had a lot of cool shoot-outs, and Asian mobsters in South Africa, plus two guys with HUGE Afros talking to each other, which made me laugh. It is quite rare, so you're lucky if you can find it. It isn't very likely that this will be released on DVD in the near future (or ever), so the VCR's (videoplayers) can't be deemed redundant yet.