Blackenstein
To celebrate Black History Month, the Cinémathèque québécoise will be screening 15 iconic Blaxploitation movies. This genre, that hit its peaks in the 70s in the US, in a volatile and dissenting political, economical and social context, broke the color codes. The outdated portraits gallery which reduced Black people to servile objects is being replaced by a new esthetic of identy empowerment. This movie cycle intends to shed light on a rich and heteroclite filmography where various sub-genres intersect (action, martial arts, horror, western, drama) to disrupt the essentialist perception of Afro-American (life) experiences.Pam Grier, Tamara Dobson, Diahann Carroll, Richard Roundtree, Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte are showing, to those willing to see, that Black is beautiful!
“From the gory aftermaths of ripped flesh to the exterior shots of Dr. Stein's statuesque mansion sy night, this movie looks great!!” — Hollie Horror, LETTERBOXD
Experience Mary Shelly’s horror classic through a Vietnam-shattered, micro-budget, entrail-smothered lens! You may have heard of BLACKENSTEIN, but the real story is even more bizarre: In 1973, criminal-lawyer-turned-wannabe-monster-movie-mogul Frank R. Saletri wrote and produced this grindhouse hit about a Black soldier mortally wounded in Vietnam transformed into a rampaging monster by a mad scientist in Los Angeles. Almost a decade later, Saletri himself would be murdered gangland-style in a crime that remains debated – and unsolved – to this day. John Hart (TV’s “The Lone Ranger”), 1940s Hollywood starlet Andrea King (THE BEAST WITH FIVE FINGERS) and even former mob moll/stripper Liz Renay (DESPERATE LIVING) star in this jaw-dropper, restored for the first time ever! (AGFA)
