“Quentin Tarantino Presents” is a tag that is certain to grab attention for a film. It’s stamped prominently in front of “One Spoon of Chocolate” – an ode to exploitation films written and directed by RZA. Tarantino serves as executive producer, and knowing the filmmaker’s deep reverence for grindhouse cinema, it’s pretty obvious why he chose to be involved. “One Spoon of Chocolate” is dripping in exploitation influence which RZA proudly uses to its fullest.

RZA’s film draws the bulk of its inspiration from 1970s blaxploitation, classic martial arts cinema, and early Tarantino films (even Red Apple cigarettes make a surprise appearance). His movie features an assortment of characters, many heightened to near comical levels, who work tensions into a lather, setting the table for the blood-splattered “revenge-a-matic” it becomes.

The film claims to be “inspired by real events”, yet it’s a fictional work that isn’t based on any specific true account. Rather it’s the filmmaker’s sociopolitically charged view of America, pieced together over the course of the script’s 13-year development. Knowing that makes it difficult to read how seriously we’re supposed to wrestle with its commentary, especially considering how over-the-top things get. It works better when its themes are considered more broadly and its genre elements are front and center.

The story follows Randy “Unique” Joneson (Shameik Moore), an Army veteran with anger management issues who we meet as he is being released from New York’s Upstate Correctional Facility. He served two years in prison for assault and battery after putting his abusive wife-beating neighbor in a coma. With the help of his sympathetic parole officer (Blair Underwood), Unique is transferred to Karensville, Ohio to be close to his lone family member, his cousin Ramsee (RJ Cyler).

But Unique learns the small town of Karensville is full of trouble after he and Ramsee have a run-in with a cartoonishly racist gang of white supremacists. Their argument turns violent, which puts Unique and Ramsee in the crosshairs of the gang’s hyper-racist and hedonistic leader, Jimmy (Harry Goodwins). And to make matters worse, Jimmy is the son of the corrupt and (you guessed it) equally racist Sheriff McLeoud (Michael Harney) whose nefarious dealings go well beyond just protecting his depraved son.

A handful of other characters play into the story, most notably Ramsee’s girlfriend Aretha (E’myri Crutchfield) and Aretha’s best fried Darla (Paris Jackson) who takes a liking to Unique. They join the others in this small town powder keg where conflicts escalate to the extent that Unique finally reaches his breaking point. This opens the door for RZA to unload in a revenge-fueled ultra-violent final act. Brutality meets silliness in a fitting climax that fully satisfies, right until its unfortunate choice for an ending. It’s frustratingly abrupt and not in a savvy way. Rather it shortchanges nearly everything that came before it.

“One Spoon of Chocolate” may generalize too much for its themes to register as profoundly as they could have. Still, it’s easy to appreciate what RZA is trying to say. But most satisfying is the go-for-broke grindhouse style which the filmmaker proves to have a firm grasp of. At least right up until his movie’s screeching stop of a finish, which ends up being much too clever for its own good. It’s borderline maddening, but thankfully it doesn’t erase everything RZA does well with the characters, the camera, and the carnage.