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.
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.