Blackenstein.

Review #2125: Blackenstein.

Cast: 

John Hart (Dr. Stein), Ivory Stone (Dr. Winifred Walker), Joe De Sue (Eddie Turner), Roosevelt Jackson (Malcomb), Andrea King (Eleanor), Nick Bolin (Bruno Stragor), Karin Lind (Hospital Supervisor), Yvonne Robinson (Hospital Receptionist), Liz Renay (Blonde Murder Victim), and Don Brodie (Police Lieutenant) Directed by William A. Levey.

Review: 

It is easy to say a film is bad, you know. But you really need to appreciate the interesting and good films by taking in some truly crappy fare from time to time, and if there ever was a genre that delivers such "palette cleansers", horror is the one to do it, especially because 500 words of saying a film sucks is better than 20. But at least there are some interesting stories to talk about when it comes to films that inspire, uh, nothing. The film was written and produced by criminal lawyer Frank R. Saletri in the only film he is credited with, although apparently, he had others in mind (lawyers getting into film, oh my). In 1982, Saletri was murdered at his residence in a crime that has apparently never been close to being solved. This was the film debut of director William A. Levey. Going from a film like this to something like Skatetown, U.S.A. (1979) is, well, a thing. As I'm sure you can guess, this was a film made to capitalize on the success of films such as Blacula (1972), although it is funny to mention that it managed to come out just a few weeks after the release of Scream Blacula Scream (1973) but this wasn't a particular box office hit. God only knows what kind of further films Saletri would have come up with. You might recognize that the electrical set from the original Frankenstein (1931), as designed by Kenneth Strickfaden, is present here. The film title actually goes by "Blackenstein the Black Frankenstein", while the film poster went with "Black Frankenstein". The fact that the film credits are run from bottom to top is the icing on the cake for amateur stuff.

Somehow, in an attempt to cash in on the success of such films like Blacula (1972), the filmmakers managed to make a film that would make a great pairing with Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter (1966) or Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971)...to snooze with. It makes you appreciate the filmmaking methods of AIP, because at least they know the dangers of lingering on scenes for way longer than they need to be. The gobbleygook sci-fi stuff can't even make me catch my eyes from dozing, because it is coming in such a bland project that is telegraphed in painstaking fashion. Levey apparently served as editor and made a 78-minute film that might as well feel like 98, and the home video release apparently has an 87-minute version (only the theatrical version is the cleanly restored one, amusingly). Terrific. To make sense of the plot is simple: "Blackenstein" (a guy who had his limbs blown off but got the one VA attendant that gives him crap for going to Vietnam before getting this treatment) goes around killing people in the night while receiving injections in the day that takes as long for the doctors to figure out something is up (oh gee who could've switched the stuff out) as you think it would. Despite the lead doctor being a "Nobel Prize winner" in DNA genetic codes, he is either really foolish in his hiring practices or really, really, oblivious. Somewhere in all of this is a guy with a tiger-striped leg and an old woman receiving treatment to try and be younger. Did I mention our title character has a big fro and a black turtleneck to go with a lumpy head that looks like someone drunkenly drawing the Karloff makeup? Reportedly, Sue was cast because he was a client of the producer once and wanted to get into films. With a thankless role that might as well have been played with a burlap sack on his head, you might call it the least definable Frankenstein monster ever, and the fact that the only thing he does is kill folks (either related to revenge or not) seems apt for a film dedicated to make money. Even sleaze films with gore have the semblance of ideas, this one is just lousy as both a Frankenstein hack and as a cheapie. Now don't get me wrong, the cash grab can make some good entertainment, but one would have the same result in spending money to make this film by instead renting a bus to drive around the country while having your head stuck out the window yelling obscenities at nuns. On that note, that's a good place to say to avoid this one.

Overall, I give it 3 out of 10 stars.

Next: The Mummy Returns.

Detour.

Review #803: Detour.

Cast
Tom Neal (Al Roberts), Ann Savage (Vera), Claudia Drake (Sue Harvey), Edmund MacDonald (Charles Haskell Jr), Tim Ryan (Nevada Diner Proprietor), Esther Howard (Holly, Diner Waitress), and Don Brodie (Used Car Salesman) Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer (#797 - People on Sunday)

Review
Detour (by varying accounts) was made on a low budget that was filmed in a few weeks with the movie being released by Producers Releasing Corporation, a low-budget studio that made and distributed their own films in the 1940's, making over 100 films before it was acquired by Eagle-Lion Films Inc, which merged into United Artists by the 1950's. But in any case, Detour has thrived over the 71 years since its release, even being added onto the National Film Registry (alongside other noirs previously reviewed on this show, such as The Hitch-Hiker and Shadow of a Doubt). Nearly half way through the movie, we are introduced to Savage's character with a bright theme as she is picked up by the main character on the road. It's a nice scene because the rest of her scenes depict her as a sharp tongued hostile contrast to Neal, with the two exchanging multiple times in banter that gives the movie a sharp kind of edge.

Neal plays the everyman kind of character well, and it's interesting to see him have to adjust to the ever changing nature of his situation, what with a man plopping dead on a rock and all, with narration helping to set the movie up quickly. It's a movie all about guilt, with a hero that seemingly traps himself into a situation that gets more precarious by the minute. The movie ends on a quote the essentially sums up the movie: "Fate, for some mysterious force, can put the finger on you or me, for no good reason at all." Neal is easy to relate to along with being easy to watch, with a unique sort of ending (Yes, the Production Code of the time dictated that murderers were to not get away with it...but the movie finds a way to get around it of sorts). Detour, despite only having a few characters to focus on, a low budget, and a short run-time of 67 minutes, manages to rise above b-movie status to become a winner, and I would recommend this film for anyone looking for a film noir to watch.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.