Serpent noir

I saw this movie about 6-7 years ago at the midnight premier on German cable television and I do not wonder why many people don´t know this flick, because it´s the most unusual work director Russ Meyer ever did: there are no women with outsized tits, and the typical grotesque humor is also missing. Instead of it "Black Snake!" is a plain final speech against any form of colonialism, suppression and slavery. Main actress Anouska Hempel leads her plantation like a cruel mistress treats her subordinates, but at the end the exploited revolt and take bitter revenge against their tormentors... Perhaps this film is the most political statement Russ Meyer ever did, although it also contains a big circumference of sexual symbols and a lot of violent sequences. People who love B-movies or the exploitation films from the 70s will surely like this one. However, inveterated Russ Meyer fans should take care: this is not business as usual!!!

I had watched every Russ Meyer film I could rent in chronological order from an underground video store in preparation for a screening of "Faster Pussycat" at Film Forum, where I worked at the time. There were probably a couple titles unavailable, but I saw pretty much all of them. My feminist roommate hated them, because many of them seemed to glorify and sexualize violence against women--something I am very strongly against. My argument, however, is that all the characters in Meyer's films are awful, the men and the women, which is what makes them so campy and over-the-top melodramatic. I grew to love the rhythms of his editing, which were genius and signature, and his delicious, stylish cinematography. When I got to this film, my entire attitude toward him changed. With one film, he proved himself to be a true cinematic master and auteur. Black Snake is visually stunning, terribly disturbing, powerful, and a tour de force. I actually asked Meyer about a DVD release (he personally answers the phone at his office), which I felt was a great compliment to the quality of this film. He seemed annoyed by the question. I hope he changes his mind and offers this on DVD. It's a great work of cinematic art.

'Black Snake' marked Russ Meyer's return to self-financed independent movies after short contract with 20th Century Fox which spawned two films. 'Black Snake' was also Meyers only experiment in Blaxploitation subgenre and it served, as the author himself said, his statement film about racial bigotry. But returning into independent film territory didn't mean return into top form. 'Black Snake' stays far behind from Meyer's best works. The film is not unwatchable as Meyer's energetic directing style and dynamic editing helps to carry the movie along with vigorous pace.

Shot in location of Barbados 'Black Snake' tells a story that takes place in 1835 at the time of colonial slavery. Charles Walker (David Warbeck) travels to San Cristobal Island to search his missing brother Jonathan. Posing as a bookkeeper, Charles arrives at Blackmoor Plantation ruled by disgustingly cruel and ruthless mistress Lady Susan (Anouska Hempel) who loves to torture men (white and black). Small clues are starting to point that Lady Susan who was briefly married to Jonathan might have killed the man.

Gorgeously photographed trashy period film about slavery that definitely offers some thrills to the fans of director and the genre.

Black Snake is a film that is somewhat hard to categorize. Despite being a Russ Meyer film, it doesn't have enough nudity to be a bona fide soft-core romp. While it sometimes tries to be funny, it doesn't have nearly enough humour to be a comedy. Even though it's about the evils of slavery, it's just not serious enough to work as a drama. While there are quite a number of scenes of violence, it never builds up any tension to make it a thriller. And irrespective of the exotic location, there is no adventure element to the narrative either. Black Snake is definitely, however, an exploitation flick. Taking the above into account, it really is very difficult working out what exactly Meyer was attempting to achieve with this film. At times he seems to be presenting the story about the atrocities of slavery absolutely straight but at others he most certainly isn't. It's not hard to see why this film struggled to find an audience – it doesn't really seem to be aimed at anybody! One thing is for sure though, like many early 70's productions it certainly seems to have one foot in the blaxploitation bandwagon. Although it's difficult to see that particular genre's core audience getting much out of this flick.

The key elements of Black Snake seem to be harsh racist language, bloody violence and a (very) little bit of nudity. The storyline is unremittingly grim, with a group of nasty individuals lording over a slave colony – a sexy female plantation owner, a thuggish Irish foreman and a black enforcer. An accountant travels to the island under a false name to try and find his brother who disappeared there. As it turns out the brother is now a mute vegetable who roams about the island independently. Throw in a rape, a shark attack, numerous whippings, a crucifixion, a burning and an attempted buggery and you have the makings of an exploitation movie. While it's a Meyer film it would be remiss not to comment on the women. There are only two in the picture, a slave girl and the sadistic plantation owner played by Anouska Hempel. The latter looks and acts the part but she really isn't a patch on Meyer's usual strong women. It seems that RM later realized himself that Black Snake was a step too far in an unfamiliar direction. After this film he would go back to basics with a string of 70's films that are far more typical - Supervixens, Up! and Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens.

This is definitely a lesser Meyer work no doubt about it. But still, it's entertaining in its grimy nastiness. It's just very difficult to label and is most certainly one for Meyer completists only.

I had to watch this film because the plot was so outrageous and the film lived up to expectations. In fact it makes for quite uncomfortable viewing at times. Unlike other Meyer films, the sexual antics are down to a minimum. Some of the scenes of violence are unnecessarily gratuitous and offensive. The plot is chaotic and some of the acting and lines are dreadful.

The film is a strange combination of sado-masochistic fantasy combined with a window of the brutality and immorality of the slavery and fails on all counts. It's as though Meyer was trying to make up for the sexploitation/ blackploitation by having a higher moral message. Meyer knows we feel a bit guilty about getting turned on by the blatant dominatrix connotations of the early scene showing Lady Susan wielding a whip in a provocative outfit. He then tries to steer back to the righteous path by turning it into a film about the triumph of good over evil. However, because they cancel each other out, you end up with nothing.

Because it so bad in so many ways, it is actually worth watching if you appreciate the art of making an awful film in the worst possible taste. Perhaps, because it is so bad, we almost let Meyer get away with the unacceptable.