Cult Film Week: Blacula

Howdy all!  Day 3 of Cult Film Week and I’m trying to think of doing another horror movie or maybe a blaxploitation film     Then it donned on me, why not do both? The 1970’s were notorious for following existing trends and making it their own at the same time.  Hmm that doesn’t sound familiar at all, right gang?   So sharpen your disco heel to a point, keep a crucifix handy and get ready smack a sucka down!  This is Blacula!

Hmm looks like White Devil to me...

Spoilers are solid, baby!

Director William Crain (Mod Squad, The Rookies, Dr. Black, Mr. Hyde, The Kid from Not-So-Big and The Dukes of Hazzard) tells a tale of a notorious vampire Dracula but not in the way you think.  In 1780 Prince Mamuwalde (William H. Marshall of Tarzan, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Star Trek, The Hell with Heroes, Skullduggery and Honky) ruler of the Abani African Nation and his bride Luva (Vonetta Mc Gee of Hammer, Shaft in Africa, Detroit 9000, Brothers, The Eiger Sanction, Hell Town, Bustin’ Loose and L.A. Law) goes before Dracula in the hopes he will aid them in suppressing if not out and out destroying the slave trade.   Dracula being the typical heartless white man spurs Mamuwalde’s pleas, mocks him and orders his servants to teach this idle dog some manners.  Mamuwalde holds his own only to anger the Count further to the point he damns him with his curse of the undead, locks him in a coffin and leaves him there to rot.  

Beginning of Terror or is he holding gas in?

192 years later two *ahem* interior decorators (wink, wink)make their way to Transylvania, buy the Count’s castle for a steal and deplete all his furnishings including the coffin Prince Mamuwalde is still trapped in.   Our boys are celebrating at their good fortunes unwillingly release Mamuwalde from hi slumber and awaken his thirst.   Upon finding the corpses of the interior decorators, Dr. Gordon Thomas (Thalmus Rasulala of What’s Happening!!, The Fitzpatricks, Kojak, The Trial of the Moke, The President’s Mistress, T.J. Hooker and Born American) His girlfriend and assistant nurse Michelle (Denise Nicholas of Ring of Passion, Baby, I’m Back, Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper, In the Heat of the Night and Ritual)  and her sister Tina view the body of their childhood friend Bobby McCoy.  Dr. Thomas is wily in noticing the victims’ throat wounds and proceeds to channel his inner Van Helsing cautiously.   After making short works of those two snack cakes, the prince proceeds to explore Los Angles 1972 only to run into the reincarnation of his late bride known as Tina (Vonetta McGee), stalks her causing her to panic and evade him.   Not the best first introduction but hey give the cat some credit, it has been almost 200 years since he courted a lady. 

 Lt. Irritable Whitey calls out Thomas and is demanding to know what all this pathologically reports are about this victims.  Rather than side with the doc that it could be an odd happening he chooses the easy course of Panther activity or snowbirds shaking down some loose cash for their fix.  Thomas manages to convince Lt. Peters to offer an assist and bear with him that he needs more time to amount his theories to proof.   Meanwhile, Mamuwalde having no sire to show him the vampire ropes is making vamps left and right.  If this were Angel or Moonlight well you got about 4 feral feeders already and the crap is just gonna keep rolling down hill.

I told you to not go through East L.A. No tip now!

Now aside from some of the dialogue in its racist and sexist tendencies, this is a surprisingly good flick.  Marshall towers over most of his fellow actors and has a commanding voice like that of Christopher Lee’s Dracula.   Hell I would love to see a resurrection of Mamuwalde in modern era because he is more of a victim than a monster.  William Marshall worked with the film producers in giving Blacula a bit more dignity by altering this typical American and going the fallen noble route instead.  Prince Mamuwalde rather than one Andrew Brown created a sophisticated cultured man trapped in the realms of life and death rather than an undead man stickin’ it to the man.   Personally it makes for a decent movie and a well thought out screenplay.  Marshall’s performance alone is totally worth the viewing.