Black Scorpion (4 Stars)

This is a superhero film made in 1995, produced by Roger Corman and directed by Jonathan Winfrey. As was typical with all of Roger Corman's films, he laid out the film's concept and retained full creative control. For this reason his role was more than that of a standard producer.

The premise of the series was to create a superhero who was a female equivalent of Batman. The camp nature of the film and the corny wooden dialogue is deliberate.

Darcy Walker is a police detective in Los Angeles. Her father was a tough cop who always succeeded in catching criminals, but he lost his job because he was considered too reckless. If catching a criminal involved collateral damage, he took the risk, and after accidentally shooting a hostage he was fired.

As a cop, Darcy does undercover work, pretending to be a prostitute to catch a killer. She fails in her assignment, but it gives her an idea. She modifies a BDSM outfit to make herself look like a superhero, straight from the comics. Her first mission is to catch the prostitute killer. She knew who he was, even though she couldn't provide proof, so she kills him. Justice is served, even if it's outside of the law. I should say against the law. The police consider her a criminal, so they hunt her while she's doing her job, making the city a safer place. Ironically, the man assigned to catch her is her partner in the police force, Michael Russo.

Like Batman, Black Scorpion doesn't have any super powers. She's just very fit and a skilled fighter with a few weapons at her disposal. She doesn't use a whip, unfortunately. She carries a stick with which she batters her opponents. Less kinky, but more effective. Her signature weapon is her Scorpion Sting. She wears a Scorpion ring that fires electric charges like a Taser.

Just like Batman, when she dons her costume her personality changes. Or maybe her real personality is unleashed. This was an important concept in Tim Burton's "Batman Returns". Darcy is timid and shy at work. She desires Michael Russo, but she's afraid to make a move. As Black Scorpion she bursts into his apartment and takes him by force. She pushes him onto the bed, despite his protests, pulls his trousers down and rides him. But that's not all. When she's finished she knocks him out with her Scorpion Sting. Do you know the parable of the Scorpion and the Frog?

Once upon a time there was a scorpion. The scorpion wanted to get across a river, but she didn't know how to swim, so she asked a frog if she could ride on his back. He was scared, but she promised that she wouldn't sting. He got halfway across the river, and he felt a burning shot through his back. He said, "Oh my! Why did you do that? Now we'll both die". The scorpion said, "I had to. It's in my nature".

When Darcy becomes the Black Scorpion, she has to hurt the one she loves. It's in her nature.

The villain in the film is just as corny as those in the Batman TV series. This is Breathtaker, a masked villain who has a plan to unleash an experimental gas that will make everyone in the city obey him.

Two years later a sequel was made. In 2001 a TV series was made that was far superior to the films. A different actress played the main character, it was even more camp, and it was even more exciting. The concept of the Black Scorpion is so thrilling that it's desperately in need of being remade. A new series would profit from today's higher production qualities.

Sadly, the film is now out of print. I recently found out that the series is available on Amazon Prime in America.