Movie Review: Black Devil Doll at 941 Theater

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Movie Review: Black Devil Doll at 941 Theater

POSTED: Friday, June 5, 2009, 9:27 PM

Filed Under: Movies | Movie Review

"I like to eat white butt," convicted murderer Mubia Abul Jamal (ahem) says before the switch is thrown and he's executed in the opening scene of Black Devil Doll. A slick James Bond credit sequence follows with a funky track that recalls classic exploitation and '70s drive-in films and sets the tone for all to follow. It's a cue you're about to watch some fine-ass muthafuckin' exploitation in this Blackula-meets-Chuckie mash-up.

Mubia, summoned by the Oujia board by Heather, an unsuspecting white girl, emerges anew to wreak havoc on the world, but this time in the body of a puppet. Murder, rape, necromancy and drugging ensue. Puppet Mubia quickly wins Heather over with lines like, "Niggas wanted to be me and all bitches wanted to be with me." In regard to dropping the n-word, he says, "It's the only thing that keeps my teeth white."

Just when you think Mubia is going to add to his body count, he falls in love with Heather. A hilarious R&B backed montage ensues, capped with a raucous sex scene. As these scenes retread, there's more fun in imagining the direction given to the actresses. This flippant irreverence continues ' well-captured with split screen ' with an impromptu car wash scene involving four of Heather's friends, joyously backed by a song called "Pussy Dripping."

Of course, not everything is perfection. Puppet Mubia soon lets Heather know that he just needs to fuck (and subsequently kill) some new ass. They work out an arrangement for her to leave at the "right moment," Heather's friends are stalked one by one. Unlike Heather, all of her friends are silicone beneficiaries, leaving one to conclude at this point that a new metric for survival has been introduced.

The film, however, soon revels entirely too much in its own stupidity (think Eli Roth meets American Pie III). It knows what it is ' the production company is called Lowest Common Denominator ' but without playful subtlety, we're left with predictability and shit jokes. Other than the brilliant use of a Grey's Anatomy poster, the conclusion doesn't offer much. But this is exploitation, so maybe that's part of the point. The free beer will definitely help for the entirety, though there are some corkers in the first half.

Black Devil Doll director Johnathon Lewis will be in attendance, Sat., June 6, 9:30 p.m., $7 including free beer, 941 Theatre, 941. N Front St., 941theater.com, blackdevildoll.com.

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