[.ca] Blacula

From Amazon.com:
William Marshall, a Shakespearean actor with a rich baritone voice, enriches this otherwise bland blaxploitation vampire film with his strong, seductive performance. He's Manuwalde, a European-educated 18th-century African prince who appeals to the Count Dracula for help in ending the slave trade. Dracula, never known as a great emancipator, puts the bite on Manuwalde's troubles, dubs him "Blacula" (the only time the name is uttered in the film), and imprisons him in a casket. Stirred to life, so to speak, centuries later in Los Angeles by gay antique hunters, he steps into the soulful '70s and splits his energies between feeding his bloodlust and wooing a young beauty (Vonetta McGee), a dead ringer for his long-dead wife. Thalmus Rasulala (Friday Foster) is a modern medical professor turned urban Van Helsing, and Elisha Cook Jr. has a bit part as a coroner with a hook for a hand. The potential for a clever urban black twist on the European vampire myth is lost in this dull, thoroughly conventional tale. Marshall is under enough sloppily applied facial hair to make him a wolfman, and his victims walk around with a plastic blue pallor. But despite the limitations, Marshall creates a magnetic, aristocratic character and infuses his monster with a sense of loss and sadness in the climax. It was followed by a sequel, Scream, Blacula, Scream, and inspired Blackenstein. For a more interesting and thoughtful African American take on the vampire legend, look to Ganja and Hess. --Sean Axmaker

That Mumawalde really is one weird dude:
1972's Blacula gave birth to the horror subgenre of the blaxploitation genre. Its title probably turns more people away than draws them in, as it's hard to believe a film with such a campy, race-infused title could be any good (and might well be offensive). Blacula, however, is not only a surprisingly good, somewhat serious film - it also works quite well as a horror movie. It essentially follows the traditional mode of the Dracula story, and William Marshall succeeds in evoking the dual persona of the vampire as a creature to be both pitied and feared. Blacula features some wonderful lines of dialogue that we will never hear again in the politically correct modern world, but for all its focus on African-American players in the drama, the racial element of the film is unimportant to the story itself - which, I suppose, was the whole point of the blaxploitation movement. I have no idea why Prince Mumawalde thought Count Dracula an important diplomat who could use his influence to stop the slave trade, but he did - and he was quite wrong. Dracula got so riled up that he cursed the African prince with both his name and affliction, dubbing him Blacula and locking him away inside a coffin so that he would endlessly hunger for the human blood he could never possibly attain. There he lay for two centuries until a pair of exceedingly gay antique dealers bought Dracula's castle and threw a veritable hissy fit over the wonderfully ornate coffin they found in a secret room. It's not hard to guess what happens when they return to America with their newly-acquired antique wares - there are soon two less outrageously gay men in the world. Blacula then gets his first look at the new world around him - and almost immediately encounters a woman who is the spitting image of his beloved bride. With Tina (Vonetta McGee) as our Mina, all we need is a Van Helsing character, and he soon emerges in the form of Tina's sister's main squeeze Dr. Gordon Thomas (Thalmus Rasulala, who is perhaps most familiar as Raj's father on What's Happening!!!). With a number of corpses turning up with holes in their necks and then disappearing altogether, Gordon comes to believe that a vampire is on the loose. These characters aren't too hard to convince; when Mumawalde tells Tina his true story, she reacts to the words slave trade but doesn't bat an eyelash over Mumawalde's claim that he was turned into a vampire by Dracula two hundreds year earlier. The final confrontation, which you know is coming, plays out rather well, with Marshall bringing his Shakespearean training to bear in order to give the scene a serious quality that it would probably have lacked otherwise. Blacula is far from perfect in conception and execution, providing a number of really funny scenes and lines of dialogue. My favorite moment comes early on, when one of Dracula's henchmen conks Mumawalde over the head with a pot or something - he obviously throws it across the room, coming closer to hitting a member of the production crew than Mumawalde himself. Then there are the oil lamps that spontaneously combust, of course. The whole film is just a little too outrageous to take completely seriously, but the depth and probity of Marshall's performance maintains an aura of respectability, some of the vampire scenes are somewhat eerie (although there's a woeful lack of blood each time some vampire puts the bite on another victim), and the ending achieves a poignancy that rises far above the blaxploitation origins of the film. As a pretty decent horror movie as well as a blaxploitation classic, Blacula really is a must-see.

Great movie!:
i saw this for the first time on Black stars back in october and i been inticipating to see it for years! its a very good movie! i love vampire movies from the 30's 40's 50's 60's and few from the 70's which is the only type ill watch!!! only 5 movies vamp movies from the 70's is what i like which includes this! Yorga! Satanic rites of dracula! love at first bite and Nosferatu The Vampyre's remake! considering im only 16 years old this movie is a action pack classic 70's african american classic!!!!!!!!!!!! i hope the KKK dont read this review considering im white! Lol

Blacula Bytes!:
A 1970's twist on the vampire cliché, BLACULA (1972) rises above its modest budget and "blaxploitation" genre to become a well-made cult-movie horror flick that has its share of the shocks, scares, and cheesy gore that endear movies of the era to contemporary horror fans. And fans of cult films and B-movies can now rejoice, as Dracula's "soul brother" has been resurrected once again--this time getting his "bytes" in digitally via DVD from MGM. 18th-century African prince Mamuwalde and his wife meet with the original Count Dracula to seek his aid in abolishing the burgeoning slave trade. But Dracula isn't the least bit interested in aiding the oppressed, and he instead puts the bite on Mamuwalde and turns HIM into a vamp--it is the Count himself who dubs Mamuwalde with the moniker BLACULA--then seals the prince in a coffin so that he will suffer through eternity with his new, and now unquenchable, thirst for blood. Fast forward nearly two centuries, where a couple of Los Angeles antique dealers are examining a batch of recent acquisitions, one of which is the "box" in which Mamuwalde is imprisoned. As expected, the two inadvertently free Mamuwalde and loose the bloodsucking brother to the ghettoes of L.A. (i.e., L.A. á la the 1970s). For the most part, Mamuwalde's "meals" are comprised of the city's low-lifes, but when he encounters a woman who resembles his long-dead wife and tries to win her affections, he crosses swords with mainstream society and starts down the path towards his inevitable defeat and destruction. The film is elevated above its meager budget and exploitative script by the excellent and believable title-role performance of the late William Marshall. The deep, rich voice and Shakespearean training of this dynamic African-American actor brings dignity and intelligence to any role he plays, even an off-beat character like the vampire Blacula. Horror and SF fans are likely to recognize Marshall in guest-star parts on TV shows like the original THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., classic STAR TREK (Dr. Richard Daystrom in the episode "The Ultimate Computer"), and THE WILD WILD WEST; and in starring or supporting roles in other genre films such as SKULLDUGGERY (1970), ABBY (1974), AMAZON WOMEN ON THE MOON (1987), and SORCERESS (1995). Those who spend time in front of "the tube" on Saturday mornings might also remember seeing Marshall on PEE-WEE'S PLAYHOUSE, on which he portrayed The King of Cartoons from 1987 to 1991. Some of the actors filling supporting roles in BLACULA also add to the film's quality and charm. These include Thalmus Rasulala, a ubiquitous character actor of TV and film; the lovely Denise Nicholas, probably best known for being one of the stars of the 1970s TV comedy-drama ROOM 222; Gordon Pinsent, a Canadian actor who has appeared on numerous TV shows and films; Vonetta McGee, who has starred or guest-starred in numerous TV shows and several films, including the genre flick REPO MAN (1984); and Elisha Cook, Jr., a familiar character actor who is often recognized from his portrayal of hoodlum Wilmer Cook in the classic noir film THE MALTESE FALCON (1941). The DVD from MGM--released as part of the company's "Soul Cinema" line, though it could have just as easily fit in with their "Midnite Movie" series--offers an anamorphic widescreen copy of BLACULA in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, and it appears that the print used for the transfer was in great shape. No extras are offered other than the theatrical trailer, but the very reasonable price makes BLACULA painlessly accessible to any horror-film collector.

Alright Then...:
This is quite a...bizarre...movie. I thought it would be some sort of a comedy or maybe a black comedy or maybe even a horror black comedy. It's not really any ot these. I think it's supposed to be a horror, but the story's so old and the plot in this movie is so predictible it's not scary. I don't think it was supposed to be a comedy, but I found humor in how fake it looked when Blacula transformed into a bat. I have to admit, they could have made a great whack-ass comedy type parody out of this, but they tried to take it seriously and got...this. I think someone like Marlon or Damon Wayans should remake this and make it intentionally funny. But seriously, this is a baaaad movie. Stay away.

Afrocentrism meets vampirism:
"Blacula," directed by William Crain, tells a story that begins in Transylvania in 1780. Prince Momuwalde, a Black African, comes to the legendary Count Dracula to seek his aid in ending the slave trade. Instead of helping the prince, the evil count transforms him into a vampire: Blacula! "Blacula" is an interesting and entertaining blend of the vampire and "Blaxploitation" genres. After the atmospheric opening sequence (and cool opening credits!) the action shifts to urban America in the 20th century. A lot of elements make this film fun to watch: the fashions, hairstyles, music, and dance moves. William Marshall brings both an animalistic ferocity and an aristocratic elegance to the title role; I would definitely rate his work among the best of cinematic vampire portrayals. Marshall is superbly complemented by Thalmus Rasulala, who brings gravitas and intelligence to his portrayal of the scientific investigator who is on Blacula's case. Yes, some aspects of the film might strike some viewers as cheesy or dated. And the script fails to fully develop the fascinating concept of an African vampire; I felt that some of the political and cultural issues raised in the opening sequence could have been better explored. Still, "Blacula" is a real treat for fans of both Black cinema and horror films.