Woodyanders Naïve country gal Emma Mae (a fine and appealing portrayal by Jerri Hayes) moves in with her relatives in a blighted urban ghetto neighborhood. After her boyfriend Jesse Amos (a solid performance by Ernest Williams II) gets arrested and sent to prison, Emma decides to rob a bank when more legitimate means for raising bail money prove to be unsuccessful. Writer/director Jamaa Fanaka relates the engrossing story at a leisurely pace, vividly captures the lowdown funky vibe and limited options of Compton, California in the mid-1970's, and populates the rambling episodic narrative with believably earthy and engaging characters. Hayes in particular projects a sweet wide-eyed charm and sturdy unwavering feistiness that makes Emma Mae an easy person to root for and sympathize with. Most importantly, Fanaka brings a gentle humanity and simplicity to the plot that manages to be surprisingly affecting and even occasionally incisive. It's this latter sterling element that enables this picture to stand out as a winning and authentic slice of black American life.

Michael_Elliott Emma Mae (1976) *** (out of 4)Emma Mae (Jerri Hayes) moves from the South out to the ghetto in Los Angeles and it doesn't take long for her to get involved with JEsse (Ernest WIlliams II). Emma believes that the two of them are in love and when he's arrested and thrown into jail she decides to support him any way she can. This includes committing a crime to try and protect her man but she's got a lot to learn.Director Jamaa Fanaka will always be remembered for the PENITENTIARY trilogy but there's no question that this here, his second feature film, is his best work. The film has been re-released under the title BLACK SISTER'S REVENGE but that's just a fake title to try and pass it off as some sort of exploitation movie and that's certainly not what the film is. This here is basically a very good character study about a young woman in a new environment and having to learn that not everything is as it seems.I was really impressed with how good this movie actually was and I really liked how it didn't fall into the various stereotypes that were common with these films. There are two cops here that start abusing their power and get all of the mess started yet they are the white racists that we normally see. These are two black cops that get things going and the film has a certain message about people sitting around killing one another off without achieving anything in life. There are some really good moments here where the director gets his point across without having to preach.Hayes is extremely believable in her role as the tough Southern girl who might need to learn a few things but she's also got things to teach to others. The actress was very good in the role and there's no question that you felt that she really was this character. Williams was also extremely good in the role of the worthless boyfriend and his fits of anger rang true and authentic. I also enjoyed Malik Carter who plays the wise old man.It's really too bad that this film here isn't better known. I think the problem is that people probably get to know the director through his exploitation pictures and then they check this out and are disappointed that it's not more of the same. EMMA MAE is certainly an interesting little gem that deserves to be seen.

gridoon2018 ....and it comes in the last 5 minutes, when the heroine (the rather attractive, though obviously inexperienced, Jerri Hayes) physically humiliates her cheating ex-boyfriend, whom she had gone to great lengths to get released from jail, in front of the whole neighborhood. Until then, this is a very amateurish no-action film, with most scenes being drawn-out to 3 times their necessary length (it certainly doesn't have enough story for 100 minutes of running time), and lots (LOTS) of semi-indecipherable dialogue. The DVD covers and the alternate title, "Black Sister's Revenge", are misleading, as the revenge part (which I already describe above) is only a tiny part of the movie. Stick with Pam Grier flicks. * out of 4.

Mark_D-2 A low budget film, somewhat less exploitive than most of the blaxploitation films of its time, "Emma Mae" tells the story of a young woman from a small town in the south who comes to live with her relatives in the city after being orphaned, who falls in love with a young hood who gets her to commit crimes for him. The film does have some nice touches. It manages to catch the feel of the inner city of the 1970's far better than some of the slicker productions of its era. But the script lets the rest of the movie down (it's just too hard to believe that these people can commit these crimes so easily, and without much fear of getting. I really wish I could have liked it better.