Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

This film got little coverage in horror books or magazines I collected growing up, and I only became aware of its availability in the internet age. The premise was intriguing, although I assumed it to be more of a comedy and probably cheaply made. As a fan of Crain's Blacula I was pleasantly surprised to discover his involvement-even more so when "Big Skillet" Ji-Tu Cumbuka shows up--playing a straight talking police detective who reminds one of Samuel Jackson. The film does appear cheaper than Blacula and has less dramatic tension--on the other hand it manages to give its central character a bit more depth than one would expect from the Jekyll and Hyde story having been done so many times previously. The scene where Casey tells the prostitute about his childhood and mother is poignant, and makes his request to her all the more chilling since we realize he has some sincere reason to do his research and wont take no for an answer. A mad scientist with a twist.The makeup by future fx star Stan Winston who had worked with Casey on the TV movie Gargoyles isn't a big deal by today's standards and despite the title he doesn't really look caucasian but more like a Haitian voodoo zombie. Whether Winston was hampered by budget or it was a conscious decision to make him more of a ghoul is an open question.There are some story lapses and the ending seems rather abrupt and too basic for a story that had established such a dramatic impetus for the main character--but it has a few amusing lines and is probably worth a look for people seeking an alternative drive-in horror film. 6 1/2 out of 10.

Sincere scientist Dr. Henry Pride (an earnest and likable performance by Bernie Casey) uses himself as a test subject for an experimental remedy on liver damage he's working on. Alas, said remedy causes Pride to occasionally transform into a murderous albino psychopath with a penchant for killing prostitutes. Director William Crain, working from a clever and engrossing script by Larry Le Bron and Harry Woolner, relates the entertaining story at a steady pace, makes fine use of the gritty urban locations, offers some interesting social commentary on the racial divide between whites and blacks (the successful and upwardly mobile Pride is accused by other African-Americans of being a sell out to "The Man" because he drives a silver Rolls Royce and resides in a huge white mansion in a fancy neighborhood), and stages the attack scenes with real flair, with the tense and rousing "King Kong"-style climax set at the Watts Towers rating as an exciting highlight. Moreover, the often hilarious profanity-ridden jive slang dialogue gives the picture an extra tangy punch, Stan Winston provides the nifty monster make-up, and there's a decent smattering of gratuitous female nudity. The cast have a ball with the outrageous material, with stand-out work by Rosalind Cash as Pride's concerned colleague Billie Worth, Marie O'Henry as sassy hooker Linda Monte, Ji-Tu Cumbuka as no-nonsense homicide detective Lt. Jackson, Milt Kogan as Jackson's equally hard-boiled partner Lt. Harry O'Connor, Stu Gilliam as slimy no-count pimp Silky, and Marc Alaimo as sleazy drug pusher Preston. Johnny Pate's funky'n'jazzy score does the groovy trick. Tak Fujimoto's crisp cinematography is likewise up to par. A fun fright flick.

"Dr. Black and Mr. Hyde" is cursed by the same affliction as its protagonist/villain: it is a good movie that constantly morphs into a bad movie, until finally it's nothing more than a bad movie.The plot starts off well, and is very intriguing at first. Dr. Pryde (Bernie Casey) is working with female colleague Billie Worth (Rosalind Cash) on a way to regenerate damaged liver tissue. He donates medical care to patients of a clinic in the Watts projects. There is some interesting tension in the movie's early scenes, as Dr. Pryde speaks frankly with one of his clinic patients, a prostitute named Linda (Marie O'Henry) that he's treating for hepatitis. Linda is an interesting character in the film, as the first time we see her, she's sitting nude on an examination table. A bold introduction for a character, especially a major one, and I don't remember many films where the director has made a move like this. Linda is very sympathetic, and Pryde seems to truly respect her, despite how some may look down on her profession.The attitude toward prostitution in the film is very matter-of-fact, which was fairly daring for a movie made in the early 70s, and it even proves to be a pivotal plot element. Dr. Pryde has an emotional discussion with Linda about how his mother passed away, which he blames on the inhabitants of a whorehouse who refused to help her. The main three actors here (Casey, Cash, and O'Henry) are all in very good form, which helps give the movie an unusual lift in quality.It's in the details that the film starts to go wrong. If the early scenes with Casey had not been so good, it might have been easier to accept that he descends into a dual personality after taking some of his own liver serum, which of course turns him into a rampaging beast. But considering that Pryde shows so much real interest and respect for Linda at the outset, it's impossible to understand why he would betray her the way he does. After taking a single injection of the serum himself, he then decides to woo Linda on a date, lays a big line on her about not wanting her "professional services" and simply wanting her company, and then he reveals that it was all because he wants her to allow him to inject her with the serum. We lose our sympathy for Pryde, and immediately the film unravels.The Mr. Hyde creature is a strange one. One of the characters in the film refers to it as a "haint", which I don't get. My grandmother was southern, and I know full well that a "haint" is a ghost. Mr. Hyde is just Casey with some contact lenses, facial molds, and white makeup. It's funny how the people in the film are so easily duped by the transformation; in one scene, Hyde rampages inside a seedy bar, gets cut, and bolts outside into the parking lot, where he reverts to Pryde. His pursuers don't recognize him at all, despite the fact that he's wearing the same clothes, bleeding, and all that's changed is his complexion. Hyde doesn't even really look "white", as the movie suggests, and it's hilarious that the black folks in the movie pretend to be fooled by it. Perhaps if the makeup had been more shockingly white, it would have been an effective contrast.It bears mentioning that the film's director also made "Blacula", a film that is eons better than this one. "Blacula" was pure silliness too, but it was very entertaining and it never betrayed its characters the way this one does. "Dr. Black and Mr. Hyde" also has a bigger problem: it has no thrills or chills. There is only one mild shock, when an old lady patient suddenly lunges at a nurse. There's also a fairly effective chase scene where Hyde goes after Linda in an abandoned warehouse.Unfortunately, the remaining parts of the movie are fair to awful. The supporting cast is mostly terrible, especially the policemen who are working on the Hyde case, and it seems as if this part of the script is really badly done. The situations in the film make no sense, including one scene where Mr. Hyde uses his car to run down a pimp in an alley, and the pimp takes out his knife and attempts to "stab" the grille of the car in self defense. Whatever! Maybe if he'd hit a vital belt or gasket, he would have had a chance.In a very strange ending, Hyde climbs the Watts towers and is shot down, just like King Kong. The image is surprisingly haunting, a human body inside the twisting metal of the tower, but it's not enough to make up for the gross sins that have come before it. It's worth mentioning that "Dr. Black and Mr. Hyde" is not nearly as bad as one of the other blaxploitation horror riffs, "Blackenstein"--but those of you who have actually SEEN "Blackenstein" will understand that this is not saying very much.

I saw this film years ago on cable and enjoyed it for what it was. I suppose that's because I cam to it without any hype or expectations and enjoyed it all the more for it. The trouble with films like 'Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde' and the more famous 'The Thing With Two Heads' is that the gimmick often promises more than it delivers. Likewise when you get over the premise of 'Blacula', it's nothing more than an extended episode of 'Kolchak:The Night Stalker' held together by nothing more than the excellent William Marshall.But I digress. I think too many people expect these movies to have some meaningful insight into social issues of the day when many mainstream Hollywood films dealing with the same premise would be let off the hook. Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde is nothing more than the Jekyll and Hyde story told with a black actor and should be viewed on that basis alone.As a blaxploitation horror, this is competent stuff, though I'd recommend 'J.D's Revenge' over this as a better example. As a showcase for Bernie Casey this is far more enjoyable and one of the reasons I have remained a fan of this movie after many years.NOTE: DS9 fans will enjoy seeing Casey and Marc Alaimo together some 17 years before their appearance as Cal Hudson and Gul Dukat in the DS9 2-parter 'The Maquis'.