BLACK SNAKE

(A.k.a. BLACK SNAKE: THE WHIP; DUCHESS OF DOOM; SWEET SUZY; SLAVES).

Beginning on the scenic San Cristobal Island in the British West Indies, in the searing summer of 1835, an English narrator informs us of how the black locals have been enslaved to labour for the Blackmoor plantation - overseen by the brutal Lady Susan Walker (Anouska Hempel).

We get our first glimpse of uncompromising Susan as she gallops on horseback into the locals' shanty town with her henchmen. At her insistence, an escaped slave is quickly located and dragged into the town square, where he's publicly tied to the ground so Susan can whip his baking torso mercilessly.

Meanwhile, back in the comforts of his stately home at Surrey, well-to-do Charles (David Warbeck) prepares to embark to Blackmoor on a mission to avenge the disappearance of his brother. He persuades his influential friend Lord Clive (Anthony Sharp) to forge a bogus ID for him - the name he will be known as is Ronald - and sets off for the island to ingratiate himself as Susan's new bookkeeper.

Charles arrives on the plantation just in time to witness a revolt from the slaves, observing as they flee into the bushes and make for the beach. They are pursued by foul-mouthed racist Judge, who works for Susan by keeping the slaves hard at work via his tough disciplinary measures.

Charles is shocked to witness how one slave would rather swim to sea and knowingly be devoured by a shark than return to work on the plantation. Unfortunately the remainder of the slaves are not that lucky and Judge catches up with them, ushering back to work. Charles introduces himself to Judge as the new bookkeeper in the meantime, and an instant mutual dislike is established.

The following morning, Charles/Ronald follows Judge into the working fields and witnesses the barbaric workforce some more, wincing every time a slave is beaten or whipped in-between chopping cane.

In the evening, following a tryst with a busty local girl, Charles is granted an audience with his new boss Susan, and her trusty right-hand man Raymond (Bernard Boston camping it up amusingly). Susan relaxes with a glass of wine and then shows Charles round her spacious home - specifically, leading him upstairs. At the top of the stairs, Charles notices a portrait that he recognises as his brother. He quizzes Susan about the subject of the painting, but she prefers not to discuss it - offering him a kiss instead. Moments later, they're in the sack together.

The comedy highlight of the film comes next, when their lovemaking is interrupted by an insanely jealous Judge. He bursts into the room, throws Charles across the floor and proceeds to rape Susan. What follows is much unconvincing grappling and some amazingly gratuitous breast shots, followed by the appearance at the doorway of a muscle-bound brute who saves Susan from Judge's sweaty advances.

Charles recognises the grunting brute as his brother Jonathon (David Prowse), and chases him to the beach in effort to calm him and down and speak with him. Unfortunately, not only does this prove fruitless, but it's also witnessed by Raymond - who now knows Charles' true identity …

BLACK SNAKE offers a fictitious account of slavery and revolt in the 19th Century, taking dubious historical notes as it's background and building a soap opera of racist dialogue and melodramatic fisticuffs set to often miscued library music.

The numerous, shameless close-ups of Hempel's ample bust are perhaps the only obvious pointers (pun intended) to this being a Russ Meyer film, the content elsewhere being decidedly more contentious and violent than in the films he's best remembered for.

The cinematography and editing (Arthur J Ornitz and Fred Baratta, respectively) are above par for such a low budget potboiler, and elevate the film into something truly watchable. It certainly does suffer from a wildly uneven script - lowbrow humour flirts awkwardly with grim racial violence - but the widescreen photography and brisk pacing more than compensate for that.

Storywise, the plot takes in enough treachery, sex and double-crossing to please any fan of daytime soap. The characters, too, are over-the-top in the best "TV movie" style. Raymond is a sexually ambiguous letch with a mean streak; Susan is a sultry blonde slut with money in the bank but morally bankrupt; Charles is the laughably "English" hero of the piece - forever shocked by even the most minor indiscretions ("Oooh, I say" is a favourite line of his).

The dialogue veers between the uncomfortably racist (the "n" word is spat out quite a lot) and the downright hilarious ("I'll cut yer blinkin' nuts off" Judge warns at one point). It's debatable whether the more comedic moments were intentional or not, although the music and the fact that the film is directed by Meyer suggest that they are. Which is odd, given the subject matter and the couple of standout scenes of barbaric violence that shift the tone completely.

As with all good exploitation films though, there is a finale where the audience gets to cheer the underdogs along - although even this is decidedly downbeat. Meyer must have been very angry at the time of making this!

For all the violence and racial abuse that peppers the film though, it must be said that the unrelenting pace, double whammy of Warbeck and Hempel giving spirited performances opposite each other, and the luscious photography, do conspire to make this one of the great man's most "complete" films. And even if you disagree, surely it's worth watching if only for the priceless moment when Charles struggles free from Raymond's grasp, turns to him and gives him a two-fingered salute while shouting "Fuck off!". Lovely stuff.

The film is presented uncut in non-anamorphic 2.35:1 and looks good but not great on this disc. There is minor grain evident, although images are reasonably bright and colours seem accurate.

English audio is presented in mono and played throughout without discernible problem.

Static menus include a scene-selection menu allowing access to the main feature via 6 chapters.

Extras on the disc begin with a trailer reel advertising a selection of Meyer films. Lasting 21 minutes in total, this offers trailers for FASTER PUSSYCAT KILL KILL, BLACK SNAKE, MUDHONEY, VIXEN, WILD GALS OF THE NAKED WEST, SUPERVIXENS, BENEATH THE VALLEY OF THE ULTRAVIXENS, CHERRY HARRY AND RAQUEL, and COMMON-LAW CABIN.

Next up are two UK TV spots, advertising the Russ Meyer DVD collection and the UK DVD release of FASTER PUSSYCAT KILL KILL. These pass 1 minute in total running time.

A reminder of how handsome Warbeck was in his youth, BLACK SNAKE also offers a great exploitation cast, along with a fair amount of social commentary and a couple of surprisingly angry scenes of racial violence. It's also got the expected big boobs and shameless, tasteless laughs along the way. Weird but effective.

Review by Stu Willis