Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde

It's in this movie I seen the mental health of a man, one part nice and caring about everyone he can then after taking a formula becomes selfish and homicidal. Otherwise this movie is so funny 😂😂😂😂 Thanks to Brown Sugar app I got to catch this for my Halloween movie of the night 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿

If anyone actually takes this as a serious commentary on race relations, they need counseling. Immediately.

The tale, as you can probably take from the title, is more or less a riff on the "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" storyline, only this time a black doctor's (Casey's) experiments turn him into a rampaging albino-skinned monster!

Pretty thinly-veiled commentary, eh?

The monster attack scenes look like they should be played for laughs. The ZAZ (Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker) brothers would have had a field day with this. Indeed, if you watch this, you'll find yourself laughing at every scary and/or racially-motivated moment.

But no, it's played straight and all the sadder. Casey is a good actor, an important actor, even. Unless he was intentionally playing this for laughs, there's just no excuse for such inanity.

The least they could have done was have Casey morph into Leslie Nielsen. Now THERE we would have known where we stood.

One star.

Great; I probably just gave Hollywood an idea for a remake.

--Don't take it seriously and you'll have a great time with this film.--

Here's another point of view about the "quality" of this movie. If you're the kind who doesn't take life too seriously, enjoys b-movies and/or blaxploitation flicks, and doesn't mind a classic bad movie every now and then for a good laugh, then you'll enjoy this film. But the point is to not take the film seriously. After all, what film do you know of with a character named Silky the pimp will be a contender for an Academy award!

No, this movie is not *that* scary, though there is lots of suspense. But it *is* funny (make your own jokes as the movie rolls), with lots of action, crazy blaxploitation-style music, kitschiness. . . did I mention Silky the pimp? It is not meant to be a commentary on race relations. It's bad film entertainment at it's worse, er, I mean best! It ranks up there with "Blacula;" it's quality comes from the fact that it is played so "straight."

I recommend this to all other fans of bad b-movies and blaxploitation films like myself. Kick back with this film, some friends, some snacks, and laugh all night!

I remember seeing this film advertised on an Atlanta TV station late night in 1976: then I saw the rating, "R", and being 10 years old with religious parents I knew I'd never see it. Little did I know then that VCRs were just around the corner. Dr. Pride is looking for cures in liver diseases, and he discovers a formula that doesn't do too much for the liver but makes the user a monster. After a botched attempt on an old lady at the hospital he tries it on himself...becoming Mr. White Monster. This film isn't very scary, but its mighty entertaining. I can see how William Crane (the director) probably was making a statement about drug abuse. Bernie Casey is good as the doctor. The film also stars Rosiland Cash and was distributed by Dimension Pictures (Kingdom of the Spiders & Ruby).

This film got little coverage in horror books or magazines I collected growing up, and I only became aware of its availability in the internet age. The premise was intriguing, although I assumed it to be more of a comedy and probably cheaply made. As a fan of Crain's Blacula I was pleasantly surprised to discover his involvement-even more so when "Big Skillet" Ji-Tu Cumbuka shows up--playing a straight talking police detective who reminds one of Samuel Jackson. The film does appear cheaper than Blacula and has less dramatic tension--on the other hand it manages to give its central character a bit more depth than one would expect from the Jekyll and Hyde story having been done so many times previously. The scene where Casey tells the prostitute about his childhood and mother is poignant, and makes his request to her all the more chilling since we realize he has some sincere reason to do his research and wont take no for an answer. A mad scientist with a twist.

The makeup by future fx star Stan Winston who had worked with Casey on the TV movie Gargoyles isn't a big deal by today's standards and despite the title he doesn't really look caucasian but more like a Haitian voodoo zombie. Whether Winston was hampered by budget or it was a conscious decision to make him more of a ghoul is an open question.

There are some story lapses and the ending seems rather abrupt and too basic for a story that had established such a dramatic impetus for the main character--but it has a few amusing lines and is probably worth a look for people seeking an alternative drive-in horror film. 6 1/2 out of 10.