THE ANGRY BLACK GIRL AND HER MONSTER starts out narrated by the
"angry Black girl" of the title. She tells a few of her growing-up experiences, which are familiar as tragic stories we have heard many
times before.
Back in 1972 Samuel Z. Arkoff produced a pastiche of Dracula called
BLACULA. Similarly, several filmmakers have made films trying to
give classic stories a more contemporary setting (e.g., Jack the
Ripper, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and the Phantom of the Opera).
Now Bomani J. Story has done this with Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN,
setting the new version in an African-American neighborhood.
(Although the neighborhood that this takes place in is supposedly
controlled by a murderous drug gang, it is surprisingly green and pleasant-looking.)
The story follows the plot of FRANKENSTEIN, with director Story
staying closer to the plot of the Shelley novel than either James
Whale or Terence Fisher did. Much of the enjoyment of this film
derives from seeing where its plot points connect to the same plot
in the original. Where the original Frankenstein was fascinated by electricity, Vicaria (the "Angry Black Girl" of the title) is
fascinated by lightning, but both Frankenstein and Vicaria
antagonize their teachers. (Vicaria's first name is an homage to
the "Victor" of the novel; her last name is never specified, but it
is referred to as sounding German .)
Vicaria speculates that if death such as the death she is seeing
all around her is a disease, then perhaps it can be cured. She
also has a fascination on famous (Black) scientists and their
discoveries and inventions.
Once we get to the middle of the film, however, it no longer seems
to be using the plot of the Shelley novel. Ultimately, the viewer
then must decide what presentation best fits the Shelley.
[-mrl/ecl]
Released theatrically 9 June 2023. Rating: +1 (-4 to +4), or 6/10.
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt19896150/reference>
What others are saying: <
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_angry_black_girl_and_her_monster>
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