The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

A big surprise! I wasn't expecting anything as intelligent or exciting as this. More craft than one would expect of a low budget outing from largely first timers and it barely puts a foot wrong. None of the glam of the more obvious candidates for best black film, this just gets on and does it's job. This being the film's theme in many ways - just do it! There are many, like the writer on the DVD interview, who wonder why so little has been achieved in the US by this community and this marvellous movie is certainly food for thought for many around the world whether they be the oppressed or the oppressor who cannot figure out how the balance of power never seems to change. A really must see film.

This movie will make you think. What if an ordinary citizen joined the CIA with an agenda and was then able to carry it out? The believability of the storyline is what makes this so chilling. Even though the movie was released 31 years ago the idea is still fresh. Lawrence Cook was a one man show, playing an intelligent, accomplished and intense individual who becomes the first African American to join the CIA. There was not a hint of flash or style with him. Instead, he was like your brother or next door neighbor, the last person you would expect to start a revolution. The last line of the movie says it all.When I read this book in High School, it quickly became one of my favorites. Now, as a movie it is an even more vivid reminder of the importance of never underestimating your opponent. When a motive is strong enough and that motive meets opportunity, watch out!

Okay, by the low budget standards of blaxploitation films-- say, Three The Hard Way, which also deals with revolution on a cartoon level-- this is relatively intelligent, even witty (the idea that black men can sneak in anywhere-- as long as they look like janitors), and not full of howlingly silly things. That said, like Ganja and Hess it has been wildly overrated just because it's not ridiculous; it still has the snail's pace, relative lack of action and just-better-than-Oscar- Micheaux production values that mark the 70s genre. Say what you will about today's gangsta exploitation movies, they've got film-school style and a snappy pace even when they have nothing else.

Dan Freeman (played by Lawrence Cook) is a token black CIA operative. Trained in all sorts of espionage, he is relegated to working in the copying department as a "showcase" employee of integration. As the title suggests, he's placed by the door of the office so he's the first person everyone sees. Incensed by his mistreatment (and the racial stereotyping of his superiors), he resigns to his native Chicago as a social services worker.Secretly, he is training a street gang into a guerrilla army to be the vanguard in a race war, using all of his training by "the man" against "the man".The details are impressive. Freeman explains how to establish a hierarchy in an underground movement, how to recruit new members, living on the street, and forming new cells. He also details how racial stereotypes can be used to one's advantage, citing how no one ever notices a smiling black man in an office carrying a mop.The film is a faithful adaptation of Sam Greenlee's controversial novel of the same title, and a haunting look at what MIGHT have (and maybe damned near) happened in the USA during that turbulent period of history. The film was quickly followed by a long line of "blaxploitation" films, often made with little regard for content and style. But "Spook", shot on a small budget, has a powerful message: Never underestimate anyone! Not even "the spook who sat by the door"!As a motion picture, it does have technical weaknesses, but the drama is well-played, the plot is very tight and the characters are believable. The language, however, is very harsh. A white man (like myself) may find the diatribes against "whitey" shocking, but this film was made during a time of great racial strife, and it echos those times.Made in 1973, it still packs a punch, and is worth tracking down and buying (Do a web-search! That's how I got my copy!).A ground-breaking film! (Does anyone but me catch the irony of the main character's name? "Free Man"?)