Blackenstein

Blackenstein (1973)

To Stop This Mutha Takes One Bad Brutha

Eddie is a Vietnam veteran who loses his arms and legs when he steps on a land mine, but a brilliant surgeon is able to attach new limbs. Unfortunately, an insanely jealous assistant (who has fallen in love with Eddie's fiancée) switches Eddie's DNA injections, transforming him into a gigantic killer.

Date of release
1973-08-03
TMDB
3.2 / 10 (47)
Runtime
1h 27m
Genres
Science Fiction, Action, Horror
Director
William A. Levey

Casting

Interesting facts

Blackenstein is a 1973 American blaxploitation horror film directed by William A. Levey, and starring John Hart, Ivory Stone, Andrea King, Roosevelt Jackson, Joe De Sue, Nick Bolin and Liz Renay. It is loosely based on Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Released on August 3, 1973, 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, with most reviews agreeing that the film was "a totally inept mixture of the worst horror and blaxploitation films".

Filming and development

Filming was done predominantly around the Greater Los Angeles area during October 1972. The opening sequence features the Hollywood Burbank Airport. Doctor Stein's castle was filmed at Villa de Leon in Pacific Palisades with exterior/interior shots filmed on location and Griffith Park was used for the monster's nonsensical killing spree and demise.

According to director William A. Levey, non-actor Joe De Sue was cast in the title role because he was a client of criminal lawyer turned writer/producer Frank R. Saletri, as was celebrity cult icon Liz Renay who plays one of the monster's victims.

Saletri also wrote, produced and directed the never-released blaxploitation horror film Black the Ripper and wrote the screenplays for two unmade Sherlock Holmes films, Sherlock Holmes in the Adventures of the Werewolf of the Baskervilles and Sherlock Holmes in the Adventures of the Golden Vampire, the latter of which was to star Alice Cooper as Dracula.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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