Blackenstein
Encyclopedia
Blackenstein, also known as Black Frankenstein, is a 1973 blaxploitation
horror film
loosely based on Mary Shelley
's Frankenstein
. It was made in an attempt to cash in on the success of Blacula
, released the previous year by American International Pictures
. However, Blackenstein fared poorly in comparison to its predecessor.
), who has recently won a Nobel Peace Prize for "solving the DNA genetic code".
In a tour of Doctor Stein's home-slash-laboratory, Doctor Walker is introduced to his other patients: a ninety-year-old woman with the appearance of a fifty-year-old woman (Liz Renay
), and a Frenchman whose lower legs have been successfully re-attached with the help of Doctor Stein's "DNA solution".
Doctor Walker is startled when she sees one of the Frenchman's legs is tiger-striped, which Doctor Stein attributes to "an unknown RNA problem" which he hopes to correct during the course of treatment. His assistant, Malcomb, seems overly interested in her reaction to this sight.
Meanwhile, Eddie is being verbally abused by the orderly at the Veteran's Hospital. When Doctors Stein and Walker arrive to ask if he'd be interested in submitting to surgery that may correct his limblessness, he consents.
Doctor Stein gives Eddie new replacement arms using his trademark "DNA solution", and Eddie seems to be recovering well. Malcomb confesses his attraction to Doctor Walker, who explains she intends to marry Eddie as soon as the surgeries are complete. Malcomb's acceptance of her statement has sinister overtones, and he later sabotages the "DNA solution" used during Eddie's leg surgeries.
As a result, Eddie becomes a moaning, shambling monster reminiscent of Boris Karloff's Frankenstein. He is compelled to leave the house to kill, though he returns in time for his ongoing schedule of "DNA solution" injections.
The police visit Doctor Stein when the body count reaches three, but Doctor Stein is ignorant of the fact that there is a monster living in his basement. Doctor Walker has become suspicious of Malcomb, and spends her time in the lab, examining the various solutions used during Eddie's surgery.
One night, returning from his usual senseless rampage, Eddie hears screaming coming from Winifred's room. He enters to find Malcomb at her bedside, and interrupts an attempted rape. Malcomb runs from the room, and Winifred does nothing but scream in horror until he returns with a gun. He empties the gun into an unaffected Eddie as Winifred flees.
Doctor Stein meets Doctor Walker on the stairs, where she tells him Eddie is the monster. Together they run to the lab.
Winifred busies herself with a needle and a bottle (perhaps preparing an injection of sedatives for the monster). When Eddie draws near, he seems moved by her terror, and backs away, remembering that she is his fiancee. Doctor Stein enters from the side and attacks him. After a brief tussle with his creator, Eddie leaves the house.
The police arrive to console Doctor Walker and discover Doctor Stein's body.
Eddie finds a brunette attempting to start a Jeep, and spends several long minutes unsuccessfully chasing her around an empty industrial warehouse. The police have called for the Los Angeles County Canine Corps. The dobermen surround Eddie, knock him to the ground, and "eat" him.
Blaxploitation
Blaxploitation or blacksploitation is a film genre which emerged in the United States circa 1970. It is considered an ethnic sub-genre of the general category of exploitation films. Blaxploitation films were originally made specifically for an urban black audience, although the genre's audience...
horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
loosely based on Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
's Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
. It was made in an attempt to cash in on the success of Blacula
Blacula
Blacula is a 1972 American horror film produced for American International Pictures. It was directed by William Crain and stars William Marshall in the title role about an 18th century African prince named Mamuwalde, who is both turned into a vampire and locked inside a coffin by Count Dracula...
, released the previous year by American International Pictures
American International Pictures
American International Pictures was a film production company formed in April 1956 from American Releasing Corporation by James H. Nicholson, former Sales Manager of Realart Pictures, and Samuel Z. Arkoff, an entertainment lawyer...
. However, Blackenstein fared poorly in comparison to its predecessor.
Plot
Eddie Turner (John De Sue) stepped on a land mine in Vietnam and lost all his limbs. His fiancee, Doctor Winifred Walker (Ivory Stone), thinks she's found help for him in her former teacher and colleague Doctor Stein (John HartJohn Hart (actor)
John Hart was an American motion picture and television actor, born in Los Angeles, California. In his early career, he appeared mostly in Westerns...
), who has recently won a Nobel Peace Prize for "solving the DNA genetic code".
In a tour of Doctor Stein's home-slash-laboratory, Doctor Walker is introduced to his other patients: a ninety-year-old woman with the appearance of a fifty-year-old woman (Liz Renay
Liz Renay
Liz Renay, née Pearl Elizabeth Dobbins was an American author, actress and convicted felon, who appeared in John Waters' film Desperate Living ....
), and a Frenchman whose lower legs have been successfully re-attached with the help of Doctor Stein's "DNA solution".
Doctor Walker is startled when she sees one of the Frenchman's legs is tiger-striped, which Doctor Stein attributes to "an unknown RNA problem" which he hopes to correct during the course of treatment. His assistant, Malcomb, seems overly interested in her reaction to this sight.
Meanwhile, Eddie is being verbally abused by the orderly at the Veteran's Hospital. When Doctors Stein and Walker arrive to ask if he'd be interested in submitting to surgery that may correct his limblessness, he consents.
Doctor Stein gives Eddie new replacement arms using his trademark "DNA solution", and Eddie seems to be recovering well. Malcomb confesses his attraction to Doctor Walker, who explains she intends to marry Eddie as soon as the surgeries are complete. Malcomb's acceptance of her statement has sinister overtones, and he later sabotages the "DNA solution" used during Eddie's leg surgeries.
As a result, Eddie becomes a moaning, shambling monster reminiscent of Boris Karloff's Frankenstein. He is compelled to leave the house to kill, though he returns in time for his ongoing schedule of "DNA solution" injections.
The police visit Doctor Stein when the body count reaches three, but Doctor Stein is ignorant of the fact that there is a monster living in his basement. Doctor Walker has become suspicious of Malcomb, and spends her time in the lab, examining the various solutions used during Eddie's surgery.
One night, returning from his usual senseless rampage, Eddie hears screaming coming from Winifred's room. He enters to find Malcomb at her bedside, and interrupts an attempted rape. Malcomb runs from the room, and Winifred does nothing but scream in horror until he returns with a gun. He empties the gun into an unaffected Eddie as Winifred flees.
Doctor Stein meets Doctor Walker on the stairs, where she tells him Eddie is the monster. Together they run to the lab.
Winifred busies herself with a needle and a bottle (perhaps preparing an injection of sedatives for the monster). When Eddie draws near, he seems moved by her terror, and backs away, remembering that she is his fiancee. Doctor Stein enters from the side and attacks him. After a brief tussle with his creator, Eddie leaves the house.
The police arrive to console Doctor Walker and discover Doctor Stein's body.
Eddie finds a brunette attempting to start a Jeep, and spends several long minutes unsuccessfully chasing her around an empty industrial warehouse. The police have called for the Los Angeles County Canine Corps. The dobermen surround Eddie, knock him to the ground, and "eat" him.
Cast
- John HartJohn Hart (actor)John Hart was an American motion picture and television actor, born in Los Angeles, California. In his early career, he appeared mostly in Westerns...
- Ivory Stone
- Joe De Sue
- Roosevelt Jackson
- Andrea KingAndrea KingAndrea King was an American film and stage actress. She was sometimes billed as Georgette McKee.-Early life:Andrea King was born Georgette André Barry in Paris, France...
- Nick Bolin
- Karin Lind
- Yvonne Robinson
- Bob Brophy
- Liz RenayLiz RenayLiz Renay, née Pearl Elizabeth Dobbins was an American author, actress and convicted felon, who appeared in John Waters' film Desperate Living ....