Blackenstein (1973)

Hollywood hasn't always been kind to African Americans. Beginning with D.W Griffith's 1915 "Birth of a Nation" with it's racist stereotypes and KKK heroes to the wide eyed frightened Uncle Toms of 1930s and 1940s, African American characters had been presented as either servants, buffoons or both. Things began to change by the late 1950s. Sidney Poitier became the first black leading man and the first black actor to win a Best Actor Oscar.

In the 1960s, thanks to Motown Records, African American musicians crossed over into the mainstream. Diana Ross became what was probably the first African American female superstar.

By the 1970s, Hollywood noticed that there was this huge audience for black oriented films. Starting with 1971's "Shaft", a new genre of low to moderate budget films known as "blaxplotation" was born. Most of these films were very violent action fare. The basic plot was an innocent African American being exploited by the mean bigoted honkies (A seventies term for white folks. I'm still unsure of it's meaning!)

Yet, as predictable as these films were, the were hugely popular and made stars of Richard Roundtree, Fred Williamson and Pam Grier.

I guess since Hollywood was running out of action plots they figure it was time to move Blaxploitation into the equally lucrative horror genre. The result of this idea was "Blacula" (1972) starring classically trained actor William Marshall as an African prince turned in to a vampire by the baddest of all honkies, Count Dracula himself. "Blacula" was so successful that it not only spawned a sequel("Scream, Blacula, Scream" co-staring Pam Grier. ) , but also started up the blaxpoitation horror sub genre. J.D's Revenge(1976) and Abby(1974) were just a couple of "The Exorcist" rip offs. But, the cherry on the cake is a big awful mess called "Blackenstein"!

Dr. Winifred Walker (Ivy Stone), a lovely young African American woman decides to go to work for her med school mentor. Dr. Stein.(As in FrankenSTEIN! Get it?) Winnie's boyfriend, Eddie Turner has lost both arms and both legs in Vietnam. Guess what? It just so happens that Dr. Stein's specialty is regrowing lost body parts using DNA injections. (Try explaining that to 1973 audiences.) Walker and Stein make Eddie an offer to make him whole again. At first Eddie resists, but when he's ridiculed by a mean white orderly, he decides to let Dr. Stein experiment on him. (VERY BAD MOVE!)

Dr. Stein moves Eddie into his very Gothic mansion/hospital with it's very large dungeon like lab. (Give me a break! Talk about cliché!) The DNA injections are a success. Eddie's arms and legs do indeed grow back! (And without stem cells! Glenn Beck must love this film.)

But alas, this is a Trash a Go Go blaxploitation horror film. Something must go wrong and does. It seems that Malcomb, Dr. Stein's manservant has developed a serious crush on Dr. Winnie. When Winnie rebuffs his affections, Malcomb decides to sabotage the experiment. He sneaks into Eddie's dungeon cell, (This movie gets more cliché by the second) and injects Eddie with an unknown substance. Faster than you can say "It's moving. It's alive!" Eddie's head becomes square, he starts moaning like Boris Karloff and walks out into the night with his new arms stretched out.Oh my God! Could it be that Eddie has become Blackenstein?

Eddie/Blackenstein goes on a violent, gory murderous rampage. His first victim is the mean, white orderly at the Veteran's Hospital. (When this dude says that he'll tear you limb form limb, he really means it.) Next he murders a fornicating couple (Jerry Soucie and Liz Renay, a former gun moll and John Waters star.) tearing out the woman's intestines and throwing them at her corpse. (Wouldn't Freud have a field day with that one?)

Of course Winnie and Stein have no idea that Eddie/Blackenstein is a monster, even when two cops come by and tell them of the murders. (Have they not noticed his change in appearance?) The two doctors are so damn clueless that Eddie/Blackenstein goes on another rampage that night.

The action now stops so that a really bad stand up comic can tell a couple of really bad jokes and a pretty good blues singer can belt out a number. (As lovely as this lady's voice is, her song has no place in this film.) Meanwhile, the monster manages to kill another couple and guess what? You got it! He disembowels the woman! (The writer of this script must really hate women!)

Eddie/Blackenstein goes back home only to find Malcomb in the process of raping Winnie. Malcomb tries to fight the monster off, but it's useless. He's strangled to death.

Winnie runs into Dr. Stein and tells him that Eddie is the monster. (BIG SURPRISE!) Then she does what any intelligent woman would do when being chased by a monster. She goes down to the lab and prepares an injection! (How did this woman pass med school?) Blackenstein attacks Winnie and just when you think she's a goner, the last bit of his humanity keeps him from hurting her. Stein runs into the lab and tries to destroy the monster only to be thrown into his equipment and electrocuted.

The following scene finds our protagonist in a garage where a young woman is about to go out in her dune buggy. The monster grabs her and takes her to some warehouse looking place. She escapes only to be caught and brutally murdered like every other female character in this film except Winnie and the singer.

The police finally catch up to Blackenstein and release a pack of Dobermans on him. The dogs tear the monster to pieces. End credits.

You really have to see this film to believe it. There's probably not one redeeming feature. The acting is dreadful, the script seems like it was written by a second grader and the lighting is horrible. Some of the scenes are so dark that you can't see what's going on. And the dogs! Bullets couldn't kill this guy, but a few dogs tear him to pieces!

I remember when this film came out. It disappeared pretty fast. I hadn't seen or heard anything about it for years until I found the DVD in Walmart's $5.00 bin. I've read reviews from different people online and there's a mixed reaction. Some folks think it's beyond bad while other find it a campy delight! I agree with the latter. I've watched it more than once and love it more each time. The first time you watch it, you have to get past how unbelievably bad it is and the disturbing gore. Then you can enjoy it's campy elements.

Blackenstein is available on DVD from Xenon Pictures. The transfer is from a pretty bad print, but I'm not sure that a good print is in existence. After all, this movie is almost forty years old.