A stunning mountain top mansion set. The shot of an airplane going through the sky that looks like it's on fire. An even spookier graveyard with a spooky funeral and an even spookier looking butler. Be prepared to be taken back to the type of film that dominated the silent era and some early horror classics. Add in a mostly all black cast and plot line surrounding voodoo and black magic, and you've got all the elements for an eerie horror film that is unique in the type of horror films that came out of the 1970's.
The death of an elderly matriarch four relatives to her burial, all whom have never met her. The old woman arranged on her deathbed for the letters to be sent out, and the eerie presence of butler Jean Durand instantly adds to the mystery. The four relatives stay for the reading of the will, and that leads to an evening of bizarre situations for the guests who had no idea what they were in for.
Among them are the beautiful Janee Michelle and the sarcastic Mike Evans, with him initially seeming apparently trying to drive Michelle off the mountain pass road. Durand, sexy but mysterious and possibly dangerous, explains as much as he can, but it's best to watch this unfold without too much detail because that makes it very intriguing.
TV actor Victor French is completely different than Mr Edwards from "Little House on the Prairie" here, completely serious and even resembling Burt Reynolds a bit. I must say that this was certainly better than I expected considering that many horror movies of the seventies were high on graphic violence and low on actual chills. This could be described as a blaxploitation gothic thriller, but I did not see it as blaxploitation at all. It's just a Gothic horror movie that requires lead black characters because of the setting and the theme, that's all, and that makes it really unique in fright movies of the 70's that it has an old fashioned feeling to it with new world values.
The death of an elderly matriarch four relatives to her burial, all whom have never met her. The old woman arranged on her deathbed for the letters to be sent out, and the eerie presence of butler Jean Durand instantly adds to the mystery. The four relatives stay for the reading of the will, and that leads to an evening of bizarre situations for the guests who had no idea what they were in for.
Among them are the beautiful Janee Michelle and the sarcastic Mike Evans, with him initially seeming apparently trying to drive Michelle off the mountain pass road. Durand, sexy but mysterious and possibly dangerous, explains as much as he can, but it's best to watch this unfold without too much detail because that makes it very intriguing.
TV actor Victor French is completely different than Mr Edwards from "Little House on the Prairie" here, completely serious and even resembling Burt Reynolds a bit. I must say that this was certainly better than I expected considering that many horror movies of the seventies were high on graphic violence and low on actual chills. This could be described as a blaxploitation gothic thriller, but I did not see it as blaxploitation at all. It's just a Gothic horror movie that requires lead black characters because of the setting and the theme, that's all, and that makes it really unique in fright movies of the 70's that it has an old fashioned feeling to it with new world values.