Exploitation cinema is wholly responsible for the rise of the modern B movie and the ongoing evolution of horror on film. Think I’m wrong? Look at some of the greatest, independent works of horror that literally changed the genre. There were elements of sex, violence, and social change that could only be discussed in the 70’s by shocking the audience into a conversation. Blaxploitation films were, in the same note, important because they gave audiences something they had never seen before: stories with people of color in the lead. While not the sort of critical or fan hit that other films in this subgenre were, Blackenstein: The Black Frankenstein managed to cover some issues -either purposefully or accidentally- that were very important in the day and, maybe, even more so now.
Blackenstein is, quite obviously, a retelling of the classic Frankenstein. For the purpose of the plot, Doctor Stein (John Hart) is a scientist who is doing some marvelous things thanks to his use of “DNA” as a sort of wonder drug. Turning back time for a 94-year-old woman, regrowing legs for an old man, doing things with his special formula and what is now seen as a comically inept understanding of how genetics works. His new assistant Winifred Walker (Ivory Stone) introduces him to her boyfriend, Eddie (John De Sue). Eddie lost his arms and legs stepping on a landmine in Vietnam and, thanks to Doctor Stein’s work quickly grows new limbs. Unfortunately for Eddie and the community at large, the side effects of this experimental treatment turn him into a dull witted, Karloff-esque creature with a squared afro and blue skin who seeks out human organs by night to feed his insatiable bloodlust.
Right off the bat, there are so many unfortunate stereotypes at play here, not the least of which being the murderous black man loose in a white neighborhood. With the exception of a man and woman in an alley who are implied to have either a rapist/victim or pimp/hooker relationship, all of Blackenstein’s victims are white leading to the post desegregation era beliefs of many that black culture was full of pimps, whores, drug fiends, and killers. While the plot itself is what you’d expect from an early 70s B movie, the overall message is clear. The first of Eddie’s victims is a white hospital orderly who cruelly mocked and tormented him not only for his race and injuries, but for his status as a soldier in the Vietnam War. After that it becomes a lot of collateral damage with people being in the wrong place at the wrong time, captured by the organ hungry miracle of science.
The eventual end of Blackenstein feels both anticlimactic and unnervingly real. Trapped in an industrial area where he has just kidnapped and murdered one final white woman, the police arrive and turn a windowless van full of Dobermans on him. The dogs quickly overtake him, get him on the ground, and devour him in much the same way he devoured his own victims. You can interpret and see a lot of different messages about racial violence and societal ignorance and apathy from the acts of violence portrayed in the movie. The rich white doctor who created the black monster. The black monster murdering a series of innocent white women. The comparison of the black monster to the dogs who devoured him. The black monster destroyed by the dogs loosed upon him by the white police.
In the current climate of Trumpism where only the elite and privileged in society are viewed as valuable and everyone else (based on race, religion, sex, identity, and economics) is garbage fit only fit to the menial tasks that help elevate those chosen few, the release of Blackenstein and other blaxploitation films on VOD and Blu-ray is important. The movies used racial stereotypes and puerile scenes of sex and violence to shock audiences but, as you dissect these stereotypes, their portrayals, and the climate of the age in which they were filmed, you can find an important significance and message that resonates 45 years after the original release.
No monster is as terrifying or dangerous as the ones we create of our fellow man.
On a lighter note, the music of Blackenstein, a mixture of classic horror symphony and MoTown R&B is phenomenal. Epic 70s guitar riffs, jazz horns, and orchestral help create an atmospheric experience.
Do yourself a favor and watch this movie. It isn’t a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but, the story it tells is more relevant today than ever before.
Blackenstein and many more remastered Xenon Pictures blaxploitation classics will be available on VOD July 3!