Black Snake (1973) Online

Lurid doesn't even begin to describe this slave plantation melodrama directed by the one and only Russ Meyer, and it's an unusually provocative and sleazy project even by his standards. Annouska Hempel, now Lady Weinberg, plays Lady Susan Walker, a whip-wielding harpy who runs a sugar cane plantation on a Caribbean island in the 19th century. She keeps the slaves in line by dealing out rough and ready punishments, aided and abetted by her slave driving foreman Joxer (a scenery chewing turn by Percy Herbert) and her black French military force led by foppish gay (!) Captain Raymond Daladier (Snoop-lookalike Bernard Boston). The slaves are variously whipped (in very dubiously sexualised, Sadeian s&m scenes), tortured, insulted (there's liberal use of the word "nigger") and murdered. Into this hotbed of exploitation (on the part of the characters and the filmmakers!) comes 70s Brit B movie lead David Warbeck, as a English gent wanting to find out what happened to his disappeared brother, the previous husband of Lady Walker. Believe you me, he doesn't want to know.

The film intriguingly charts the slaves' political journey from placid sufferers under the rod of their bosses, kept in line by violence from others and their own colonially installed Christian beliefs although occasionally stirred by a firebrand martyr, to fully Africanised rebellion, turning the tables on Lady Susan, Joxer and the rest and meting out as good as they got. One feels very little for the whites who get killed (although they are such florid characters that it does seem a kind of shame to let them go) but also there's an uneasy feeling that the blacks when in charge of their own lives won't be exactly uninfected by the violent circles of history, a feeling which belies the touchy-feely images of contemporary black and white couples with whom the film ends. There's a sense to which, behind all the film's monstrous fustian, it is a catastrophic vision of a humanity in which every human fights for his or her own lusts, survival and will to power, all of them heading for the fire (a bit like Shakespeare's monstrous Titus Andronicus, with whom it shares an uneasy mix of lurid violence and dark humour).

There's something wholly unacceptable about Meyer's slavery film, as if he were taking one of the most sensitive areas of history and using it to mock everyone whether on the left or right of the political spectrum with a vision of humanity as utterly insane and corrupt. In a weird way, there's something positively Blakeian about the film's vision of a depraved world presided over by a monstrous and lustful female will, populated by Satanic selfhoods and involving Biblical prophecy, crucifixion and the consumption of a Babylonian Whore by fire. Yes, finally the Russ Meyer of Black Snake can be safely sat alongside the Marquis de Sade, William Shakespeare and William Blake.

I saw this movie about 6-7 years ago at the midnight premier on German cable television and I do not wonder why many people don´t know this flick, because it´s the most unusual work director Russ Meyer ever did: there are no women with outsized tits, and the typical grotesque humor is also missing. Instead of it "Black Snake!" is a plain final speech against any form of colonialism, suppression and slavery. Main actress Anouska Hempel leads her plantation like a cruel mistress treats her subordinates, but at the end the exploited revolt and take bitter revenge against their tormentors... Perhaps this film is the most political statement Russ Meyer ever did, although it also contains a big circumference of sexual symbols and a lot of violent sequences. People who love B-movies or the exploitation films from the 70s will surely like this one. However, inveterated Russ Meyer fans should take care: this is not business as usual!!!

Black Snake is a film that is somewhat hard to categorize. Despite being a Russ Meyer film, it doesn't have enough nudity to be a bona fide soft-core romp. While it sometimes tries to be funny, it doesn't have nearly enough humour to be a comedy. Even though it's about the evils of slavery, it's just not serious enough to work as a drama. While there are quite a number of scenes of violence, it never builds up any tension to make it a thriller. And irrespective of the exotic location, there is no adventure element to the narrative either. Black Snake is definitely, however, an exploitation flick. Taking the above into account, it really is very difficult working out what exactly Meyer was attempting to achieve with this film. At times he seems to be presenting the story about the atrocities of slavery absolutely straight but at others he most certainly isn't. It's not hard to see why this film struggled to find an audience – it doesn't really seem to be aimed at anybody! One thing is for sure though, like many early 70's productions it certainly seems to have one foot in the blaxploitation bandwagon. Although it's difficult to see that particular genre's core audience getting much out of this flick.

The key elements of Black Snake seem to be harsh racist language, bloody violence and a (very) little bit of nudity. The storyline is unremittingly grim, with a group of nasty individuals lording over a slave colony – a sexy female plantation owner, a thuggish Irish foreman and a black enforcer. An accountant travels to the island under a false name to try and find his brother who disappeared there. As it turns out the brother is now a mute vegetable who roams about the island independently. Throw in a rape, a shark attack, numerous whippings, a crucifixion, a burning and an attempted buggery and you have the makings of an exploitation movie. While it's a Meyer film it would be remiss not to comment on the women. There are only two in the picture, a slave girl and the sadistic plantation owner played by Anouska Hempel. The latter looks and acts the part but she really isn't a patch on Meyer's usual strong women. It seems that RM later realized himself that Black Snake was a step too far in an unfamiliar direction. After this film he would go back to basics with a string of 70's films that are far more typical - Supervixens, Up! and Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens.

This is definitely a lesser Meyer work no doubt about it. But still, it's entertaining in its grimy nastiness. It's just very difficult to label and is most certainly one for Meyer completists only.

I had to watch this film because the plot was so outrageous and the film lived up to expectations. In fact it makes for quite uncomfortable viewing at times. Unlike other Meyer films, the sexual antics are down to a minimum. Some of the scenes of violence are unnecessarily gratuitous and offensive. The plot is chaotic and some of the acting and lines are dreadful.

The film is a strange combination of sado-masochistic fantasy combined with a window of the brutality and immorality of the slavery and fails on all counts. It's as though Meyer was trying to make up for the sexploitation/ blackploitation by having a higher moral message. Meyer knows we feel a bit guilty about getting turned on by the blatant dominatrix connotations of the early scene showing Lady Susan wielding a whip in a provocative outfit. He then tries to steer back to the righteous path by turning it into a film about the triumph of good over evil. However, because they cancel each other out, you end up with nothing.

Because it so bad in so many ways, it is actually worth watching if you appreciate the art of making an awful film in the worst possible taste. Perhaps, because it is so bad, we almost let Meyer get away with the unacceptable.

Made one year before ILSA, SHE-WOLF OF THE SS, BLACKSNAKE could have easily been called SUSAN, SHE-WOLF OF THE PLANTATION and it probably inspired the producers behind the Nazi sexploitation epics to go ahead with their more infamous films because the stories are identical: a gorgeous, horny, head strong (but stupid) blonde woman degrades and kills many people under her control, whom all hate her and want her dead. Sounds familiar? Director Russ Meyer and David Friedman, the producer behind the ILSA flicks, are good friends and they started their careers together. So, obviously, there's a connection there. Looking at BLACKSNAKE, I can't help but think that Russ Meyer wanted to move on and do something else than his typical busty women epics because XXX movies were all the rage during the mid 1970s, and Russ Meyer films, though filled with nudity and kinkiness and violence, were never even close to real porn. His films started to look positively quaint next to DEEP THROAT and other hard-core porno blockbusters. Meyer knew he couldn't compete with such films and BLACKSNAKE is sorta the end result of such a quandary in his career. He obviously wanted to branch out into different uncharted territory. But BLACKSNAKE bombed at the B.O. and Meyer quickly returned to making VIXEN type of films that, even if they still weren't pornographic, they were most definitely more over-the-top than any of his previous films.

It's no wonder BLACKSNAKE was a B.O. failure. It's just terrible. Trash-o-rama. Jaw-droppingly bad. It's a quasi-campy take on slavery, if you can imagine that. The end result is jarring. One minute, we're in typical Meyer territory: exuberant, playful and silly, and then the next minute, super serious meditation on slavery and violence. Huh? It just doesn't work. The slavery/racism aspect is woefully mishandled and veers this movie in the true exploitation category. But BLACKSNAKE is not as sleazy as ILSA SHE WOLF OF THE SS and those kind of films, so I imagine fans of the latter were disappointed by it, which would explain the almost lack of interest in this movie from either exploitation fans or Russ Meyer fans. Meyer blames the failure of BLACKSNAKE because, and I quote, "It didn't have enough breasts in it." Well, I'm sorry Russ, but the film is just bad, breast or no breasts. But he's right though about the low breast quota. Except for Anouska and the maid, the film's cast is male. Meyer replaces his usual bevy of buxom babes with throng of hunks with massive pecs, in the form of anonymous black actors playing the slaves and the big David (Darth Vader) Prowse. And with Anouska's right hand man around, who is portrayed as a ruthless but clever gay man who enjoys the power he has over the men, one can only wonder what Meyer was really trying to create here.

BLACKSNAKE stars David Warbeck, who is lusted after by Anouska and her right hand man. Poor David. He looks totally befuddled by the whole experience. He did seem to have fun making the movie but you can clearly see that, at times, he has no idea what's going on. And then there's Anouska Hempel. She's a beautiful woman...for the 1970s, not the 1870s. With her makeup and hair, she looks like a typical 1970s Brit pin-up babe than a turn of the century dominatrix. And her wardrobe is hilarious. At one time, she actually unzips her leather boots! I didn't know they had zippers in those days. But the character she plays is, in itself, really degrading (no pun intended). She's nothing but a cipher to the object of lust and scorn of every men (and that woman) on the island. For example, one night, when David and Anouska are getting it on, her annoying slave driver walks in the room, knocks David unconscious and tries to rape her, groping her savagely. The next day, the slave driver is still working for Anouska and the two act as if nothing had happened. It's totally ludicrous. Under any circumstance, had her character been a real person, Anouska would have whipped the slave driver senseless and kicked his butt off the island. Or even killed him. But the fact that the woman keeps him on her plantation after he tried to rape her is stretching the flimsy story and characters' credulity to the max.

Ridiculous details like this, and the thoroughly startling blaxploitation angle makes BLACKSNAKE a strangely unpleasant but watchable movie. Watchable in the train wreck variety. I just couldn't help but watch the film for the utter baseless aspects of it all (the excellent cinematography sorta makes it easier to watch). So, this being an exploitation film, I guess it succeeded in doing what it was supposed to do. But BLACKSNAKE is mainly for Russ Meyer completists.

Black Snake (1973)

*** (out of 4)

Outrageously insane film from Russ Meyer, which is best described as Roots as a comedy. An evil blonde woman running a slave plantation beats her slaves at any chance she gets but soon the slaves fight back. This is so incredibly insane and politically incorrect that it's no wonder it bombed at the box office and nearly took Meyer broke. You'd think the film was going after laughs ala Blazing Saddles but that's not the case because the film is actually trying to be serious one moment in regards to racism but the next minute it's trying to be your typical Meyer comedy. I just don't get what the hell he was going for. The stereotypes are in poor taste, everything from the way the slaves talk to the way they behave. With all of that said, the film is unlike anything I've ever seen and there comes a point where you just have to roll your eyes and laugh at how stupid it is. I admit that this thing is so over the top that I couldn't help but laugh. Should I feel bad for that? Perhaps but I really don't know what the hell this film was trying to say or if it was trying to say anything at all. Perhaps it was trying to be like a Mel Brooks film but if so, it certainly crosses the line of good taste. Perhaps blaxploitation? Perhaps Meyer was on drugs at the time? If anyone knows the answer I'd love to hear it.

I had watched every Russ Meyer film I could rent in chronological order from an underground video store in preparation for a screening of "Faster Pussycat" at Film Forum, where I worked at the time. There were probably a couple titles unavailable, but I saw pretty much all of them. My feminist roommate hated them, because many of them seemed to glorify and sexualize violence against women--something I am very strongly against. My argument, however, is that all the characters in Meyer's films are awful, the men and the women, which is what makes them so campy and over-the-top melodramatic. I grew to love the rhythms of his editing, which were genius and signature, and his delicious, stylish cinematography. When I got to this film, my entire attitude toward him changed. With one film, he proved himself to be a true cinematic master and auteur. Black Snake is visually stunning, terribly disturbing, powerful, and a tour de force. I actually asked Meyer about a DVD release (he personally answers the phone at his office), which I felt was a great compliment to the quality of this film. He seemed annoyed by the question. I hope he changes his mind and offers this on DVD. It's a great work of cinematic art.

'Black Snake' marked Russ Meyer's return to self-financed independent movies after short contract with 20th Century Fox which spawned two films. 'Black Snake' was also Meyers only experiment in Blaxploitation subgenre and it served, as the author himself said, his statement film about racial bigotry. But returning into independent film territory didn't mean return into top form. 'Black Snake' stays far behind from Meyer's best works. The film is not unwatchable as Meyer's energetic directing style and dynamic editing helps to carry the movie along with vigorous pace.

Shot in location of Barbados 'Black Snake' tells a story that takes place in 1835 at the time of colonial slavery. Charles Walker (David Warbeck) travels to San Cristobal Island to search his missing brother Jonathan. Posing as a bookkeeper, Charles arrives at Blackmoor Plantation ruled by disgustingly cruel and ruthless mistress Lady Susan (Anouska Hempel) who loves to torture men (white and black). Small clues are starting to point that Lady Susan who was briefly married to Jonathan might have killed the man.

Gorgeously photographed trashy period film about slavery that definitely offers some thrills to the fans of director and the genre.

Checking through a Russ Meyer boxset that I had picked up in the X-Mas sales,I was shocked to discover that I had somehow skipped over seeing Meyer's Blaxploitation Horror Black Snake,due to it being put on a double bill DVD with Meyer's shockingly dull Western Wild Gals of the Naked West.Feeling that it was time to make up for my past oversight,I got myself set to see Meyer's poisonous snake in action.

The plot:

1835:

Reminding Lord Clive about the promise that he made on his dad's death bed that he would help his son whenever he was asked to,sales clerk Ronald Sopwith gets Clive to arrange a trip for him to the last part of the West Indies that is still under colonial rule,due to Sopwith being desperate to find out how his brother Jonathon disappeared on the island.

Changing his name to Sir Charles Walker as his ship reaches the island,Ronald is shaken out of his focus on finding his brother,by the horrible whippings and beatings that he see's the rulers of the island inflicted on their slaves.Finding himself sickened by the island's ruler (Lady Susan Walker) treatment of her slaves,Sopwith begins to fear that Walker may be the answer to the where abouts of his "missing" brother,as he also finds himself getting caught up in helping Susan Walker's slave's unleash a powerful,and deadly revolution.

View on the film:

Whilst the actress herself seems to not be too keen on the movie nowadays, (she brought the TV rights to the movie in 1998,so that it could never be aired again!) and auteur film maker Russ Meyer not getting on at all with the actress, (which led to Meyer charmingly replacing the actress with a much larger chest actress for some insert scenes) Anouska Hempel gives a fantastic performance as the wicked Lady Susan Walker,that still crackles loudly despite Hempel and Meyer's attempts to lower the volume over the years.

Teaming up with Percy Herbet's wonderfully psychotic,prison-warden like Joxer Tierney,and an insane, Captain Jack Sparrow like character called Capt.Raymond Daladier brilliantly played by Bernard Boston,Anouska makes each of the lines in Meyer,Leonard Neubauer and Anthony-James Ryan's terrific hit the viewer like a vicious whip,thanks to delivering each sharp one liner with a real relish,that makes the build up to the "turning the tables" rebellion a joy to witness.

For the last ever title of his that would be co-produced by his soon to be ex-wife Eve Meyer,co-writer/producer/camera operator and director Russ Meyer cleverly uses real locations to give the audience a strong connection to Ronald, (played by a very good David Warbeck) with the bright sunlight showing Ronald and the viewer the scars that Susan and her evil gang have put on all of the slaves,and also showing the "troubles" that are slowly starting to rise to the suffice.Contrasting the brightly lit outdoor scenes,Meyer leaves all of the light out of the scenes in Lady Susan Walker's mansion,which gives the scenes an excellent cold atmosphere,as Meyer shows Susan to be completely oblivious to the unfolding revolution,that is about to boil over onto her palace-like mansion.

Honestly, this is a movie built on a strong premise. The same could have ended up as a gruesome fare or an overly dramatic fare in other hands. In this case, it remains entertaining.

While the story had its good plot going for it (racism and reverse racism, exploitation, inhumanity, revenge and even misuse of religion), what may count as negatives is the average to poor acting of the leading man and the slave driver. Also, the scenes in the darkness could have been done much better. For instance, when Charles runs after Jonathan, I thought for a moment that he'd run back into the house.

A few points are not clear - how was Susan so comfortable with the slave driver after the previous night's incidents? How were Charles and Susan so comfortable after the day's violent incidents? Why did the capitaine keep Charles' secret? Why was Charles captured? What happened to Charles? Anyway, I enjoyed watching the movie, especially due to its premise.

Operating under the firm belief that his brother has been murdered by his evil wife, "Sir Charles Walker" (David Warbeck) decides to travel to the Caribbean Island which "Lady Susan Walker" (Anouska Hempel) has turned into a slave plantation. However, since he needs proof before he can press charges he assumes the new name of "Ronald Sopwith" and goes there under the pretense of being her new bookkeeper. When he gets there he is horrified to discover how cruel the slaves are being treated by not only her but also her Irish foreman "Joxer Tierney" (Percy Herbert) and the man in charge of her security, "Captain Raymond Daladier" (Bernard Boston). He also learns that when they are not whipping the slaves their main occupation seems to be in satisfying their carnal desires. Now rather than reveal any more of this movie I will just say that this picture wasn't too bad as far as "blaxploitation" films go. A couple of criticisms I have concerned the longest intro I have seen in quite a while, a very weak ending synopsis and the lack of substance concerning the character development which caused all of them to seem rather one-dimensional. That being the case, this is certainly not the best film in the genre and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

If you can make it thru "classic Meyer" titles/intro, you can wade thru anything. But would you want to? I did not find a lot there to dig my teeth into. I suppose if you go into it with low enuff expectations you will be delighted (a la Charlie's Angels.) But for my money I'd like a little something more, more visual, more moving. More. I feel like I'm begging for gruel @ the foot of the master . the mans got the goods . but he just won't share.