On Screen: “Black Creek”
Black Creek
Perhaps no other art form has remade itself as frequently and as dramatically in such a short life span as the movies.
Remember the grindhouse movies? They’re not dead. If you’re clicking randomly around streaming services, you might stumble onto “Black Creek.”
Historically, the grindhouse movie is defined as a low-budget, exploitation film, characterized by gritty, graphic violence and raw, vulgar sexual content. Usually shown in rundown neighborhoods from the 1960s-80s, the name came from the way theaters would “grind out” films in double or triple features all day long.
The grindhouse movie was not known for its quality — indeed, most were characterized by inept, amateurish acting and poor filmmaking technique. The action-drama-Western “Black Creek” is no exception.
Martial arts master Cynthia Rothrock co-wrote, produced and stars as tough Rose Jennings, a sheriff’s sister who seeks revenge against Damien Sinclair (Richard Norton), the sinister leader of a band of outlaws who not only brutally murdered her brother but has totally terrorized the entire southwestern town of Black Creek.
Now at 68, augmented by prodigious amounts of plastic surgery, chunky Cynthia Rothrock can still kick and fight like Jean Claude Van Damme or Steven Seagal. Having earned black belt ranking in seven styles of martial arts, the Martial Arts History Museum gave her the official title of The Queen of Martial Arts in 2016.
As the plot unfolds, this action icon is joined by Xiyang (Don Wilson), a half-Chinese, half-Native American warrior who lives in the desert with reformed Roy (R. Marcus Taylor) and a perpetually braying donkey.
The only creditable acting emanates from the late Richard Norton, who embodies the ruthless, maniacal villain with a hardcore penchant for beheading, scalping, and disemboweling, citing esoteric themes of retribution and redemption.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Black Creek” is a brutal, bloody, grindhouse 3 — available to rent or buy on Apple TV, Amazon Prime and Fandango.
Susan Granger is a product of Hollywood. Her natural father, S. Sylvan Simon, was a director and producer at M.G.M. and Columbia Pictures. Her adoptive father, Armand Deutsch, produced movies at M.G.M.
As a child, Susan appeared in movies with Abbott & Costello, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Margaret O’Brien, and Lassie. She attended Mills College in California, studying journalism with Pierre Salinger, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism.