'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.
