1976 horror movie
Rating: 9/20
Plot: A black doctor obsessed with healing livers creates a serum that turns him into a honky who kills prostitutes.
You always want to look for some social commentary when watching these 70's blaxploitation movies, but as hard as I tried to find something, I'm pretty sure this is devoid of any subtext or meaning. Sure, the doctor sort of transforms into a pasty-looking hulking Caucasian when he becomes a whore-killin' monster. And there's some criticism of the pre-Hyde doctor since he doesn't do anything to help the black community or understand the ghetto. And the dude's name is Dr. Pryde. You know, I've almost convinced myself that there is some social commentary in this thing. Former American footballer Bernie Casey plays the dual-roles of the good doctor and the horrible Hyde, strangely non-athletically. His screams in this are a little goofy. This story really doesn't go anywhere and is never scary, so it doesn't work as a horror movie. At least it's not as effective as Blacula. I either haven't seen the black Frankenstein movie (Blackenstein, naturally) or have completely forgotten it. My favorite thing about this movie is a pimp character named Silky played by Stu Gilliam, the guy who played the cook in The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again. Gilliam's odd character injects this with a little life when it starts to lose momentum--frequently--and he gets a great scene where he pulls a knife on a car that is pinning him against a wall. The climax also takes place at the Watts Towers in L.A. I had to edit the article on Wikipedia about the towers to include that bit of information. It's an interesting location with which to conclude a film.
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