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Blackenstein
[Xenon]
1973; color
Directed by William A. Levey
Starring: John Hart, Ivory Stone, Andrea King, Liz Renay, Roosevelt Jackson, Joe De Sue, Nick Bolin, Cardella Di Milo, Andy C. & James Cousar
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The mere fact Blackenstein is actually subtitled "The Black Frankenstein" on screen (in case anyone couldn't figure out the subtle nuances of the title) should be enough of a clue that this movie scrapes the bottom of the barrel with the best of them. (Or worst, depending on your point of view.) With a few obvious visual nods to the classic Universal / Karloff version from '30s and a Ted V. Mikels circa Astro Zombies look that doesn't let you forget for a second we're in the swingin' '70s, Blackenstein tells the sad story of a 'Nam vet named Eddie who's lost his arms and legs to a land mine. Fortunately, his fiancee, Winifred, who happens to have a doctorate in physics, thinks she can help him. You see, the man she studied under, the too-obviously monikered Dr. Stein, is a Nobel Laureate for "unlocking the DNA code" and specializes in limb replacement. (In a brilliant screenwriting goof no one caught, she credits him with winning the prize for medicine then, about five minutes later, for peace.) Winifred and Dr. Stein think they can make Eddie whole again and he's pretty much game for anything, considering his life can't get much worse. Meanwhile, Dr. Stein's fully limbed lab assistant reveals his secret love for Winifred. She tells him she's still in love with Eddie and that's not gonna change, so he does what any love-crazed lab tech would do - he swaps Eddie's therapeutic DNA injections with dangerous RNA ones. Not only does this lead to a Herman Munster-like forehead mutation and make Eddie's skin bluish, it makes him walk almost exactly like the original version of the monster and turns him into a hell-bent killer. In an interesting twist, Eddie (who's now also sporting an adaptation of the classic Frankenstein turtleneck with jacket look), not only kills with no mercy, he goes so far as to rip off various limbs of his victims in some sort of euphemistic compensation for the ones he'd lost in the war. As the body count mounts Dr. Stein and Winifred figure out what Eddie's been up to but, of course, are too late to stop his final destructive rampage, leading to the classic monster-kills-doctor-and-then-gets-killed conclusion. Blackenstein is almost too over the top in it's sheer cheapness, but somehow it's unbelievable balance of wooden acting, awful editing (including the puzzling and pointless reverse zoom), and one of the kookiest takes on the Frankenstein saga ever make for some of the finest '70s schlock - blaxploitation or not.
—the Kommandant
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