It Came From the Basement: Dr. Black and Mr. Hyde
By John Seal
January 5, 2005
Dr. Black and Mr. Hyde (1975 USA)
The story: Dr. Henry Pride, an acclaimed African-American M.D. who practices at the Watts free clinic, has been experimenting with a special drug designed to treat hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver. When he tests the drug on himself, the results are shocking, leading to a string of violent murders that baffle the local fuzz.
The Film: Shot on a shoestring budget on location in Watts, a world famous, poverty stricken African-American neighborhood in South Central Los Angeles, Dr. Black and Mr. Hyde is yet another variant on the classic Jekyll and Hyde theme of man’s scientific hubris. We’re introduced to our tragic hero at a local research center, where Henry Pride (Bernie Casey) is displaying his experimental lab work on the regenerative processes of liver tissue and cells to a trio of distinguished foreign visitors. Having won a prestigious medical award in 1971, he’s determined to find a treatment for the disease that killed his mother—hepatitis.
Cut to the Watts Free Clinic, where the good doctor hands out advice and treatment to local prostitute Marie (Linda Monte), who has the undisguised hots for the medicine man. Pride is already romantically involved with his research assistant, the beautiful Dr. Billie Worth (Rosalind Cash), and he spurns Marie’s advances. He’d rather spend another long night in the lab, where he injects a brown rat with his latest experimental drug. When the rat turns white and develops a mean streak, the good doctor decides he needs a human test subject, and when an indigent and deathly ill nursing home patient is dropped off at the clinic, he decides to give her a booster shot with the secret serum. Alas, the results are fatal, as the poor woman turns a whiter shade of pale and tries to strangle a nurse before shuffling off her mortal coil.
That night our intrepid medico takes the fatal step that pioneering scientists always take in these pictures: he injects himself with the untested drug. After an agonizing minute or two spent rolling on the floor, his evil alter ego surfaces: a white man with white contacts and a white ‘fro. Soon Mr. Hyde is trolling the local red light district in his flashy Rolls Royce, bashing heads, abusing scantily clad hookers, and murdering pimps, including outrageously attired cokehead Silky (Stu Gilliam).
Following the ghastly murder of a prostitute, the L.A.P.D.—in the shape of square white officer O’Connor (Milt Kogan) and hip African-American wordsmith Jackson (Ji-Tu Cumbuka)—get in on the act. Jackson gets the film’s best line when interrogating an uncooperative witness: “Brotherman, this situation is rapidly becoming insalubrious. Meaning we about to stomp a mud hole in your ass!” Our intrepid peace officers are soon hot on the heels of Pride, leading to an exciting finale atop the world famous Watts Towers.
The cast and crew: Former San Francisco 49er Bernie Casey plays the aptly named Dr. Pride, an icon of the Watts community. Casey was always a fine actor, consistently delivering subtle and complex performances in films ranging from the broad comedy of 1984’s Revenge of the Nerds (where he plays the president of the Tri-Lam’s national fraternity) to serious fare such as Once Upon A Time…When We Was Colored (1995). His co-stars are equally talented, including the beautiful Rosalind Cash as co-worker and fiancee Billie. Cash, who died young in 1995, is probably best remembered as Charlton Heston’s love interest in The Omega Man, another film featuring black folks turned into white killing machines. The erudite Ji-Tu Cumbuka got his start opposite Elvis Presley in 1969’s urban drama Change of Habit, established himself during the black action explosion of the ‘70s, and was last seen as a hot dog vendor on an episode of the television series CSI. Former teen heartthrob and Star Trek veteran Marc Alaimo appears as Silky’s coke connection, a honky drug pusher named Preston.
Dr. Black and Mr. Hyde was directed by William Crain, still coasting on the success of his previous hit, Blacula. The surprisingly well-written screenplay was penned by the otherwise unknown Larry LeBron but was based on a story by Lawrence Woolner, one of the Woolner family of exploitation filmmakers. (In a remarkable display of chutzpah, Robert Louis Stevenson receives no credit whatsoever.) Dr. Black and Mr. Hyde was shot by low budget cinematographer Tak Fujimoto, who has since moved on to lens major studio productions such as The Truth About Charlie (2002) and The Manchurian Candidate (2004). In between these assignments, Fujimoto also managed to fit in work on the infamous 1977 talking vagina film, Chatterbox. This film also features early work by makeup creator Stan Winston, who seems to have used a bag of flour and a pair of white contact lenses to create the less than impressive Caucasian ‘special effects’ seen here. He’s since moved on to ‘A’ list assignments on the last two Terminator films.
Nostalgia value: If you like outrageous 1970s clothing, lots of jive talk, and funky wah wah guitars, this one’s for you.
The print: VCI’s long-out-of-print video is in watchable shape, and seems complete.
DVD prognosis: Far worse 1970’s black action films than this —paging Blackenstein!— have already made it to DVD. A digital upgrade for Dr. Black and Mr. Hyde seems inevitable and well deserved, and it’s even possible that VCI still own the rights: the film was produced by Dimension (not the Miramax subsidiary), source studio for a recent VCI drive in double pack featuring biker flicks The Bad Bunch and The Hi Riders.
Ratings:
Film: A/solid B. The film is silly but enjoyable, and has a cast that works harder than the script probably deserves.
Print: B-. Washed out, but generally in good shape.
DVD worthiness: Another B. It’s not at the top of my list, but I’ll definitely upgrade when the time comes.
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