Black the Ripper (lost blaxploitation horror film; existence unconfirmed; 1974-1976)

The production note from the 1974 issue of Variety.

Status: Existence unconfirmed

Black the Ripper is an alleged blaxploitation horror film that may have been released around years 1974 through 1976.^[1] The movie was a blaxploitation take on the Jack the Ripper story.

It is thought that Frank Saletri (the writer of earlier genre horror movie Blackenstein) may have been the director, but Black the Ripper is otherwise shrouded in mystery. It was first mentioned in a brief note in the May 8th, 1974 issue of Variety magazine that named Saletri and a cast of unknown actors, and indicated the film was two months into production. This was updated in the February 25th, 1976 issue of Variety, which claimed that the film was planned as a Memorial Day release.

This release didn't happen. Indeed, the movie's existence would not be mentioned again until 2013, when a user of a website for obscure films claimed to have seen it once while browsing torrent files. Another user of the same website released what are supposedly the only known screenshots. Due to the extremely obscure nature of the film, it cannot be confirmed if it finished production or ever saw a theatrical release.

Background

From the early to mid-1970s, a number of movies starring black actors was released in order to appeal to the African-American urban audiences. The genre was nicknamed "blaxploitation" and the resulting films are celebrated today for their freedom to show off a uniquely Black point of view, including several takes on existing horror and other genre properties. Besides this niche focus, many blaxploitation films were independently produced, and the results generally lacked mainstream marketability, playing mainly in smaller theatres in larger urban centres.^[2]

Available Details

Those who claim to have seen the movie have noted that the film seemed hastily put together and was overall incomplete, with several seemingly missing scenes. There is an opening credit sequence with a song credited to Mara Farmer, but no ending credits. In the opening credits, alongside Frank Saletri as director, Michael Finn is listed as writer. While not confirmed, it is possible that this is the same Michael Finn who directed the 1974 genre film The Black Connection. This theory is more plausible sinceThe Black Connection was filmed in Las Vegas, where Frank Saletri was known to have lived.

Plot

The film is claimed to open in a karate studio, where a character named Mike is training students. The training is interrupted by a phone call from a student who calls Mike to inform him that he will not be in due to his sister being murdered. The student further discloses that he had told his sister not to go to a character named Sideback. Mike begins to take the investigation into his own hands after the police are of no help and begins to track down Sideback. As Mike is asking a prostitute questions about the murder, a voice (who many claim sounds familiar to Antonio Fargas) is heard off-screen and the character Sideback appears.

A fight between Sideback and Mike breaks out. Both are then arrested and taken to jail, but are cleared when another murder occurs. After this, the film is said to take a strange turn, shifting focus to a mild-mannered Caucasian accountant named Todd, whom we first see interacting awkwardly with his attractive black secretary Carla. Todd asks Carla out on a date, and when she politely declines mutters "You deserve everything you’re going to get, strumpet" to himself as he walks away. The film then cuts to Todd sleeping where he dreams of picking up a black prostitute in Victorian-era London.

The film cuts back to Mike who is somehow now in charge of the police investigation, and also in a relationship with Carla (any scenes establishing either of these things are presumed to be among thr lost). He receives an anxious call from her, as she has noticed the case in the paper and had overheard Todd mumbling to himself. The cops agree to keep on eye on Todd. Later in the evening, Mike is at Carla's house but has gone for food when Todd strikes, killing Carla's roommate. Mike then returns and sees Todd trying to kill Carla. This leads to the final fight and results in Todd being thrown out of a third-story window.

Cast and crew

Directed by Frank R. Saletri
Written by Michael Finn
Hugh Van Putten, possibly Mike
Bole Nikoli
Renata Harmon
Marva Farmer
Dale Bech

It is also possible though not confirmed that Antonio Fargas (previously best known as informant Huggy Bear on Starsky & Hutch) played the character Sideback.

Availability

The existence of Black the Ripper has yet to be confirmed. While a few people have claimed to have seen it on torrent and the website Dailygrindhouse.com has an article that goes into great detail about the film, it is not available in any official form, and no-one named as connected with the production has come forward to confirm their involvement. At best it seems to have been hastily produced (or perhaps salvaged after being initially scrapped, which would help explain both the disjointed nature of the finished film and its extreme obscurity) for a possible minor local release, similar to many blaxploitation films of the time, and simply was not thought worthy of preservation.

Gallery

Supposed still frame from Black the Ripper. This apparently takes place during the police investigation into the slayings.
Supposed still frame from Black the Ripper. This apparently was from a scene where a group of characters are hanging out.
Supposed still frame from Black the Ripper. This apparently shows Mike (black jacket) interrogating a former pimp known as Sideback (orange outfit).
Another supposed still frame from Black the Ripper.
Another supposed still frame from Black the Ripper.
Supposed still frame from Black the Ripper. This apparently was from a flashback sequence.