Russell Richardson – Black Cinema Connection

Original Release Date: 12/21/99 (Video)
Genre: Horror
Rating: R
Director: Ted Nicolaou
Studio(s): Big City Pictures, Full Moon Pictures
Running Time: 90 mins.

Cast: Russell Richardson (Kwame), Freda Payne (Gran), Jennia Fredrique (Teesha), William L Johnson (Gene), Tarnell Poindexter (Little Mikey), William Stanford Davis (Pere), Troy Medley (Louis), Frederic Tucker (Shadow Man), Lamar Haywood (Agent), Jay Williams (Emcee), Danny Wooten (Gem).

Story: Seventeen- year-old Kwame has grown up listening to his grandmother talk about her magical powers. He and his friends perform in an up-and-coming hip-hop group. They are approached by Pere, a ruthless gangster who tries to extort them. Frustrated and angry, Kwame publicly refuses the offer and insults Pere in the process. Pere sends his thugs to beat up Kwame’s grandmother landing her in the hospital. Despite his grandma’s warning that placing a curse on someone can have unintended consequences, Kwame performs a voodoo ritual and summons the dark spirit known as the Shadow Man to exact revenge on the criminals. When the Shadow Man asks Kwame what he will pay in return for his help, Kwame says that he will give anything except his Grandmother.

The Shadow Man uses magic to give life to an old ragdoll, and sends it after Pere and his henchmen. Kwame soon learns that with the death of each of his enemies, the ragdoll then kills someone he cares about. When his girlfriend, Teesha, is targeted, his grandmother uses her magic to secretly trade places with Teesha. When the ragdoll kills her, the deal with the Shadow Man is broken as Kwame said his grandmother could not be harmed. Though Teesha is safe, Kwame mourns for his dead friends and grandmother as he realizes there’s a fearsome price to pay for dealing with the Shadow Man and his “killing” magic.