Black Mamba (film)
Black Mamba is a 1974 horror film directed by George Rowe and starring John Ashley, Marlene Clark, Pilar Pilapil, and Eddie Garcia.[1][2]
Black Mamba | |
---|---|
Directed by | George Rowe |
Starring | John Ashley Marlene Clark Pilar Pilapil Eddie Garcia |
Release date | 1974 |
Country | Philippines |
Language | English |
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
- John Ashley
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]
References
- Lamont, John (1992). "The John Ashley Interview Part 2". Trash Compactor (Volume 2 No. 6 ed.). p. 6.
- Vagg, Stephen (December 2019). "A Hell of a Life: The Nine Lives of John Ashley". Diabolique Magazine.
- Weaver p 46
- 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
- Poggiali, Chris (20 January 2011). "Slinking Through the Seventies: An Interview with Marlene Clark". Retrieved 9 January 2015.