Blacula

Ridiculous fun, just the way I like it

1972

Director: William Crain

Starring: William Marshall, Vonetta McGee, Thalamus Rasulala

Required.

THE SETUP:

Dracula curses black guy to be “Blacula.” Guy then wakes up in 1972 and believes he’s met the reincarnation of his long-lost wife.

DISCUSSION:

This is a ridiculous attempt to meld blaxploitation and horror, which doesn’t succeed very well at being either, though I found it completely charming and entertaining. In the first scene, the soon-to-be-Blacula [Mamuwalde] and his wife are dining with Count Dracula, they get in an argument about slavery, and Dracula throws Mamuwalde in a coffin and makes him Blacula, leaving him there for eons.

Then comes a cool [but too long] animated opening credits sequence heavily influenced by Saul Bass, with the cool and grooving Blacula theme by Barry White collaborator Gene Page.

Wouldn’t you know, it’s those pesky interior-designer fags that loose Blacula on the world! Super-swishy fags are often held up for ridicule in blaxploitation films, perhaps because while the movies portray blacks as standing up against the unfair stereotypes they are saddled with, it helps boost their case by pointing the finger of ridicule toward someone else. “We’re not as bad as you think,” it seems to say, “and we certainly aren’t nearly as bad as those swishy FAGS!” Anyway, some dippy American interior designers who are, to put it lightly, “out n’ proud,” inexplicably go through the ancient castle, and just as inexplicably, decide to take the CASKET, of all things. They take it back to America, where they awaken Blacula and he kills them. Regardless of what you think about how comparable the gay experience is to the black experience, it’s disappointing that one minority group has to score points by putting down another. But the whole thing is so ridiculous it’s more amusing than anything and not worth taking seriously. There’s another depiction of swishy gays [black this time] in Friday Foster. They are also treated as unquestionably worthy of contempt.

Anyway, so Blacula sees this woman who he is sure is the reincarnation of his wife, and essentially becomes obsessed with her. The story goes on and on as he tries to possess her, and then on to the tragic ending. It’s pretty amusing throughout.

Of note is a completely delightful performance of two songs by The Hues Corporation, who would go on to bring the world “Rock The Boat.” They have an amusingly naïve 70s choreography, and one of them is in white tights with his wang hanging down his leg. One of the songs, “There He Is Again,” gets better the more you listen to it.

It ain’t Foxy Brown, but it’s kind of a hoot.

SHOULD YOU WATCH IT?

Ya sure should.

RELATED MOVIES:
SCREAM, BLACULA, SCREAM is the sequel, which does feature Pam Grier, but just isn't as good.
ABBY features Carol Speed and William Marshall, and is about a woman possessed by a sex demon.
SUGAR HILL is another blaxploitation / horror gem, about a woman who gets revenge for her lover’s murder by raising an army of zombies!