Black Mamba (film) explained

Black Mamba
Director:George Rowe
Starring:John Ashley
Marlene Clark
Pilar Pilapil
Eddie Garcia
Country:Philippines
Language:English

Black Mamba is a 1974 horror film directed by George Rowe and starring John Ashley, Marlene Clark, Pilar Pilapil, and Eddie Garcia.[1] [2]

Premise

A doctor gets involved with a woman who practices witchcraft and can turn into a python. She intends for a young child to be her next victim. The doctor tries to stop her.[1]

Cast

Production

The film is notorious for depicting an autopsy performed on a real human corpse. A real corpse was exhumed from one of the local prisons and used on film. "It is a wild film," said Ashley, ""very graphic, very gory."[3]

The film was originally known as Witchcraft. Ashley said it co-starred one of the top female stars in the Philippines and that he made it just before his involvement in Apocalypse Now. He says the film was financed by a Chinese man involved in the advertising business.[1]

Release

Black Mamba was not widely screened.[4] The film was released in the Philippines but not the US. A person bought it and took it to Hong Kong to redub it but ran out of money.[3]

The film remained unreleased until after Ashley's death in 1997.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Trash Compactor. Volume 2 No. 6. The John Ashley Interview Part 2. 1992. 6. John. Lamont.
  2. Stephen. Vagg. A Hell of a Life: The Nine Lives of John Ashley. Diabolique Magazine. December 2019.
  3. Weaver p 46
  4. Tom Weaver, "Interview with John Ashley", Interviews with B Science Fiction and Horror Movie Makers: Writers, Producers, Directors, Actors, Moguls and Makeup, McFarland 1988 p 45-46
  5. Web site: Poggiali. Chris. Slinking Through the Seventies: An Interview with Marlene Clark. January 20, 2011. January 9, 2015.