Episode 15: Blackenstein - Shock, Schlock & Shambling Science

B-Movie Blitzkrieg Podcast – Episode 15Blackenstein (1973)Sharpen your scalpels and warm up the thunder sound effects… The B-Movie Blitzkrieg Podcast is cracking open the slab for Blackenstein (1973) the blaxploitation-flavoured Frankenstein riff that dares to ask: what if Mary Shelley, Vietnam War trauma, and disco-era exploitation cinema all collided at once?This week, Duncan & The Baz descend into a world of mad doctors, revenge-fuelled monsters, and a script that seems to have been reanimated from at least three different drafts. Directed by William A. Levey and produced by low-budget legend David F. Friedman, Blackenstein tells the tragic tale of Eddie Turner, a wounded Vietnam vet rebuilt by experimental “science”… and promptly turned into a lumbering agent of rage with a very loose grip on narrative logic.There’s social commentary buried somewhere under the monster makeup, mixed with gothic horror tropes, soap-opera melodrama, and some truly baffling character decisions. Is it an underrated oddity with something to say, or just another stitched-together curiosity from the grindhouse operating table?---In This Episode:Blaxploitation meets Frankenstein…bold fusion or tonal tug-of-war?The Baz grapples with the racial eithics or lack-there-of of the filmmakersDNA right…but hybrid animal DNA?…what in the Moreau is going on here?Bad attempts to locate the film’s plot against it’s runtime… with mixed results.---Top 5 Rad/Sad & Bad Moments:The monster’s design errrmm.The “Science” of the movie.Tiger Leg for the win.Racial ethics be damned said the writer and director of this movie.The ending...mans best friend is a Blackensteins worst foe.We dig into whether Blackenstein deserves reappraisal as a socially conscious horror experiment, or if it’s best enjoyed as a messy midnight-movie relic held together by thunderclaps and good intentions. Either way, it’s a fascinating slice of ’70s exploitation that refuses to stay buried.---So power up the generators, check your stitches, and remember…just because you can reanimate a movie idea, doesn’t mean you should.Until next time, stay bold, stay bizarre, and always question the ethics board.Here at B-Movie Blitzkrieg… the bizarre meets the brilliant, one B-Movie at a time.---Next Episode is Dropping 30th JanuaryLock the doors and hide the bananas… Episode 16 unleashes Shakma (1990). Expect killer primates, unethical experiments, RPG-gone-wrong energy, and one of cinema’s angriest baboons. It’s dungeon-crawling terror with fangs, fur, and a body count…and yes, Shakma will scream.TIMECODE:00:00:00 - THEME SONG00:00:45 - INTRO00:05:47 - PLOT00:10:00 - TOP 5 RAD/SAD/BAD MOMENTS00:19:23 - BEST/WORST LINES00:23:08 - PLOTHOLES00:26:45 - SCORE00:28:30 - CLOSE