{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}} {{Infobox film | name = The Bad Bunch | image = TheBadBunch.jpg | caption = Home video cover | director = Greydon Clark | writer = Greydon Clark <br />Alvin L. Fast | producer = Alvin L. Fast | starring = Tom Johnigarn <br />Greydon Clark <br />Jacqueline Cole <br />Bambi Allen <br />Aldo Ray | narrator = | cinematography = Louis Horvath | editing = Earl Watson | music = Ed Cobb | distributor = Dimension Pictures | released = {{Film date|1973}} | runtime = 83 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = }} '''''The Bad Bunch''''', originally released as '''''Tom''''', is an American 1973 blaxploitation drama film directed by and co-starring Greydon Clark.
==Plot== The film is a study of prejudice and discrimination. It tells the story of a black gang who run the streets of Watts and of Jim, a white man, who tries to befriend them. Prejudice stands in the way of any friendship and turns black against white in a mid '70s, does much to show how society has progressed, but to some it may seem that "the more things change, the more they stay the same."
==Release== The film was released theatrically in the United States by Four Star International in 1973 and re-released by Dimension Pictures in 1976. The title was changed to ''Nigger Lover'' in some markets.<ref name=Firsching>{{cite web |url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/v5940 |title=''Black Shampoo'' Synopsis |last=Firsching |first=Robert |publisher=AllMovie |access-date=2022-10-24 |archive-date=2022-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024142057/https://www.allmovie.com/movie/v5940 |url-status=live }}</ref> Greydon Clark would explore racial themes further in his subsequent films ''Black Shampoo'' (1976) and ''Skinheads'' (1989).<ref name=Firsching/>
''The Bad Bunch'' was released on a double feature DVD with Clark's ''Hi-Riders'' by VCI Home Entertainment in 2010.
== Reception == TV guide found that "his early '70s effort from veteran exploitation director Greydon Clark attempts to create a more socially conscious variation on the blaxploitation genre, but devotes most of its time to thrills of the most lurid variety."<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Bad Bunch |url=https://www.tvguide.com/movies/the-bad-bunch/cast/2000263159/ |access-date=2024-01-05 |website=TVGuide.com |language=en |archive-date=2024-01-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105132020/https://www.tvguide.com/movies/the-bad-bunch/cast/2000263159/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==See also== * List of American films of 1973
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|id=0130488|title=The Bad Bunch}}
{{Greydon Clark}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bad Bunch, The}} Category:1970s action drama films Category:1973 American films Category:1973 English-language films Category:1973 drama films Category:1973 films Category:American action drama films Category:Blaxploitation films Category:Films directed by Greydon Clark Category:English-language action drama films
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