Grindhouse Fest: Black Snake (1973)

-Grindhouse Fest is the special section in Celluloid Dimension where you can discover all the goodies from the golden age of exploitation cinema. Have fun!

Black Snake (1973) Directed by Russ Meyer

Russ Meyer’s portrayal of colonial slavery is a very frivolous and farcical one. But what can you expect from a guy who turned female voluptuousness into a film genre of its own; if Russ Meyer’s kitschy, humorous hedonism isn’t your thing then Black Snake is likely to be your worst nightmare, but if you’re an ardent advocate of his liberal sense of humor then Black Snake will be a tawdry but thoroughly enjoyable blaxploitation comedy from the master of exploitation erotica. Charles Walker (David Warbeck) travels to the Caribbean Island of St. Kitts to track down his missing brother Jonathan (David Prowse). On the island he stumbles upon the heartless slavery regime operating on a plantation ruled by the authoritarian and nasty Lady Susan (played by Anouska Hempel, an anatomical paradox in Russ Meyer’s mythology of buxom women). Aside from Lady Susan’s merciless whipping, he also encounters other vile characters such as the hysterical and violent supervisor at the plantation, played by a deranged scene-stealer Percy Herbert. The politics of this campy piece are manifestly anti-colonialist, and Russ Meyer takes pains to make that statement loud and clear by giving the downtrodden a revolutionary spirit and for the tyrants their well-deserved popular comeuppance. It is funny and barbaric in an absurdist perspective – even the sloppy editing seems to equally embrace the absurdist perspective – hence its absurdism should be taken more at face value than in a solemn manner. Blatantly over-the-top, full of grandiose over-acting and delightfully shot with the luscious compositional breadth of Panavision’s anamorphic format. It’s not Russ Meyer’s best, but it’s awesomely facetious and colorful enough to be one of his most hysterical pictures.