Though the VHS cassette is officially dead and buried, this outdated form of home entertainment still has its uses. For instance, they make great paperweights, especially for towering stacks of loose paper containing random information about various cinematic experiences I've had over the past year or so. Fire hazard be damned.

They also make great projectile weapons when confronted with those brain dead, mouth-breathing teenagers who constantly cross through my backyard on a daily basis. Since most of these tapes were produced long before today's youth were stains on their parents' mattress, these analog contraptions often strike fear into their iPod-powered hearts. And if you're a cheap Scrooge-like bastard, VHS makes for a great last-minute Christmas gift. Just ask my entire family.

Occasionally, though not very often, you'll actually stumble across a movie that has not yet made the transition from VHS to the wondrous invention known as the digital video disc, or DVD to the layperson. One such holdout is Frank Packard's 1977 opus Abar: Black Superman (aka In Your Face), an agenda-driven blaxploitation flick that spends way too much time whining about ghetto politics and the plight of the oppressed black man than actually doing something about it. After all, you can't effect change without kicking some racist cracker ass around the neighborhood, now can you? Of course not. Don't be silly.

When a prominent research scientist by the name of Dr. Kincade moves into a posh all-white neighborhood, it doesn't take long for the lily-white residents to bemoan the downfall of their cozy existence. Instead of taking their grievances up with the local Home Owner's Association, these judgmental bigots decide to pepper the poor bastard's lawn with garbage, spare tires, and whatever they happen to have stashed in the bedroom closet for such an occasion. When their picketing and littering fails to push the good doctor and his family from their new home, these hateful honkies decide a little violence is in order.

Enter Abar, a self-proclaimed ghetto activist whose mission is the complete and utter elimination of poverty, welfare, and racial barriers. Hired to protect Kincade's family, the heroic Abar does what he can to kick some pasty white behind before more horrible things befall these truly innocent people. Dr. Kincade, however, has other plans for his new bodyguard. Hidden within the bowels of his spacious abode lies a secret laboratory filled with potions, rabbits, and a nifty little skull sitting atop a refrigerator.

It's here that the doctor perfects his greatest achievement: a powerful serum that will effectively turn an ordinary human being into an unstoppable superhero. Convinced that Abar is the man for the job, he talks his hireling into consuming the formula, granting the heroic bald brother a bevy of interesting powers. Unfortunately, the film ends before we get to see many of them in action.

Oh, well. There's always a hope for a sequel. Right?

Abar arrived just as the '70s blaxploitation boom was beginning to wane. What separates this particular effort from the glut of films produced during that period, however, is its positive non-violent approach to what is still a serious problem plaguing the low-income neighborhoods of every city in this fair and impartial country. Instead of spouting vulgarities and blasting holes into everything that moves, Abar contemplates the issues at hand, attempts to suggest proper solutions, and does its best to inform its viewers as to how they can help others rise above their impoverished station in life. That's all well and good, mind you, but it doesn't always make for thrilling action cinema, which is exactly what it secretly wants to be.