Black Snake (film)

Black Snake
Directed by	Russ Meyer
Written by	Russ Meyer Leonard Neubauer
Based on	an original story by Meyer and A. James Ryan
Produced by	Russ Meyer
Starring	Anouska Hempel David Warbeck Percy Herbert Thomas Baptiste
Cinematography	Arthur Ornitz
Edited by	Fred Baratta
Music by	William Loose
Production company	Trident Pictures
Release date	March 28, 1973 (1973-03-28)
Running time	82 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$200,000[1]

Black Snake is a 1973 American film directed by Russ Meyer and starring Anouska Hempel, David Warbeck, Percy Herbert and Thomas Baptiste. It was Meyer's return to self-financed projects, following the end of his brief deal at 20th Century Fox. Meyer's only attempt at the Blaxploitation genre, it was filmed in Panavision and was shot on location in Barbados. It was such a box office bomb that a film named Foxy starring Edy Williams, which Meyer wanted to follow this film, was not made.^[1]

Meyer's vision was a period piece about colonial slavery in which a cruel slave-owner and plantation mistress dominates both the black and white men of the island. However, just before filming was to begin the original lead actress fell ill, so Anouska Hempel, a New Zealand-born actress based in the UK, was cast at the last minute. This decision haunted Meyer for years, complaining that the role was unsuitable for Hempel.