Blackenstein
1973·Science Fiction·1h 27m
7.0
★
Eddie is a Vietnam veteran who loses his arms and legs when he steps on a land mine, but a brilliant surgeon is able to attach new limbs. Unfortunately, an insanely jealous assistant (who has fallen in love with Eddie's fiancée) switches Eddie's DNA injections, transforming him into a gigantic killer.
Directed by William A. Levey
vietnam veteran
monster
experiment
laboratory
blaxploitation cinema
scientist
Trailer
IMDB
N/A
Where to Watch
Cast
John Hart
Dr. Stein
Andrea King
Eleanor
Liz Renay
Couple in Bedl
Cardella Di Milo
Nightclub Singer
Don Brodie
Police Lieutenant
Crew
Cardella Di Milo
Original Music Composer
Gordon Freed
Makeup Artist
Mary Shelley
Original Story
Popular Reviews
10 reviews
Alfred HitchTOK
4.0★ · 03/07/26
He may be dead but this brother still has plenty of soul (I’m sorry that was terrible)…
…it’s Blackenstein
Dr Winifred Walker (Ivory Stone) seeks help from her old med school colleague Dr Stein (Jack Hart) to treat her wounded Vietnam vet beau Eddie (Joe De Sue) with an experimental limb regeneration formula. Stein’s incel coded assistant Malcomb (Roosevelt Jackson) is pissed when Winifred rejects his advances, so messes with the formal resulting in Eddie being transformed into a hideous creature of superhuman size of strength….
The Toxic - - uhh I mean Blackenstein!
Blackenstein himself is a pretty awesome, lumbering around Karloff style taking out his beef on whitey (including busty John Waters fave Liz Renay and her white dog), the kills are mostly of the choke-out variety, with cuts to hokey blood (and in one point intestinal) splattered aftermath.
As a competent piece of filmmaking though? This is pretty awful. Why on earth did we dedicate an entire final reel chase sequence to some random woman who couldn’t start her dune buggy - instead of the more obvious choice whose story we are (somewhat) invested in - Dr Winifred?
And while obviously falling into the Blaxploitation genre, this also feels like labsploitation with endless shots of Dr Stein’s lab with bubbling beakers and buzzing electrodes. Clearly they were proud of the set design and it does have a kitsch charm for sure, but there is plenty of padded shots added to reach a barely 77 minute feature run time.
…it’s Blackenstein
Dr Winifred Walker (Ivory Stone) seeks help from her old med school colleague Dr Stein (Jack Hart) to treat her wounded Vietnam vet beau Eddie (Joe De Sue) with an experimental limb regeneration formula. Stein’s incel coded assistant Malcomb (Roosevelt Jackson) is pissed when Winifred rejects his advances, so messes with the formal resulting in Eddie being transformed into a hideous creature of superhuman size of strength….
The Toxic - - uhh I mean Blackenstein!
Blackenstein himself is a pretty awesome, lumbering around Karloff style taking out his beef on whitey (including busty John Waters fave Liz Renay and her white dog), the kills are mostly of the choke-out variety, with cuts to hokey blood (and in one point intestinal) splattered aftermath.
As a competent piece of filmmaking though? This is pretty awful. Why on earth did we dedicate an entire final reel chase sequence to some random woman who couldn’t start her dune buggy - instead of the more obvious choice whose story we are (somewhat) invested in - Dr Winifred?
And while obviously falling into the Blaxploitation genre, this also feels like labsploitation with endless shots of Dr Stein’s lab with bubbling beakers and buzzing electrodes. Clearly they were proud of the set design and it does have a kitsch charm for sure, but there is plenty of padded shots added to reach a barely 77 minute feature run time.
He may be dead but this brother still has plenty of soul (I’m sorry that was terrible)…
…it’s Blackenstein
Dr Winifred Walker (Ivory Stone) seeks help from her old med school colleague Dr Stein (Jack Hart) to treat her wounded Vietnam vet beau Eddie (Joe De Sue) with an experimental limb regeneration formula. Stein’s incel coded assistant Malcomb (Roosevelt Jackson) is pissed when Winifred rejects his advances, so messes with the formal resulting in Eddie being transformed into a hideous creature of superhuman size of strength….
The Toxic - - uhh I mean Blackenstein!
Blackenstein himself is a pretty awesome, lumbering around Karloff style taking out his beef on whitey (including busty John Waters fave Liz Renay and her white dog), the kills are mostly of the choke-out variety, with cuts to hokey blood (and in one point intestinal) splattered aftermath.
As a competent piece of filmmaking though? This is pretty awful. Why on earth did we dedicate an entire final reel chase sequence to some random woman who couldn’t start her dune buggy - instead of the more obvious choice whose story we are (somewhat) invested in - Dr Winifred?
And while obviously falling into the Blaxploitation genre, this also feels like labsploitation with endless shots of Dr Stein’s lab with bubbling beakers and buzzing electrodes. Clearly they were proud of the set design and it does have a kitsch charm for sure, but there is plenty of padded shots added to reach a barely 77 minute feature run time.
…it’s Blackenstein
Dr Winifred Walker (Ivory Stone) seeks help from her old med school colleague Dr Stein (Jack Hart) to treat her wounded Vietnam vet beau Eddie (Joe De Sue) with an experimental limb regeneration formula. Stein’s incel coded assistant Malcomb (Roosevelt Jackson) is pissed when Winifred rejects his advances, so messes with the formal resulting in Eddie being transformed into a hideous creature of superhuman size of strength….
The Toxic - - uhh I mean Blackenstein!
Blackenstein himself is a pretty awesome, lumbering around Karloff style taking out his beef on whitey (including busty John Waters fave Liz Renay and her white dog), the kills are mostly of the choke-out variety, with cuts to hokey blood (and in one point intestinal) splattered aftermath.
As a competent piece of filmmaking though? This is pretty awful. Why on earth did we dedicate an entire final reel chase sequence to some random woman who couldn’t start her dune buggy - instead of the more obvious choice whose story we are (somewhat) invested in - Dr Winifred?
And while obviously falling into the Blaxploitation genre, this also feels like labsploitation with endless shots of Dr Stein’s lab with bubbling beakers and buzzing electrodes. Clearly they were proud of the set design and it does have a kitsch charm for sure, but there is plenty of padded shots added to reach a barely 77 minute feature run time.
denny
3.0★ · 12/17/25
“just in case you forgot what the outside of the building looked like, let’s cut back to that with some thunder and lighting real quick” - the director, probably
this wasn’t an unwatchable movie, but i feel like any messaging was overshadowed by how lackluster it was.
this wasn’t an unwatchable movie, but i feel like any messaging was overshadowed by how lackluster it was.
“just in case you forgot what the outside of the building looked like, let’s cut back to that with some thunder and lighting real quick” - the director, probably
this wasn’t an unwatchable movie, but i feel like any messaging was overshadowed by how lackluster it was.
this wasn’t an unwatchable movie, but i feel like any messaging was overshadowed by how lackluster it was.
ColdMayo
2.0★ · 09/26/25
I mean I kinda watched this just to say "I watched Blackenstein" to my friends. It's far from a good movie, but its worst sin is being boring and having shit dialog. It's not offensively bad so it gets 1 star instead of a half.
I mean I kinda watched this just to say "I watched Blackenstein" to my friends. It's far from a good movie, but its worst sin is being boring and having shit dialog. It's not offensively bad so it gets 1 star instead of a half.
Román Izquierdo
4.0★ · 01/25/25
Strong start.
Strong start.
Lucca Rotunno
3.0★ · 11/29/25