- Blacula
Infobox Film | name = Blacula
caption = Original 1972 theatrical poster
director = William Crain
producer =Samuel Z. Arkoff Joseph T. Naar Norman T. Herman
writer =Raymond Koenig Joan Torres
starring = William MarshallVonetta McGee Denise Nicholas Gordon Pinsent Charles Macaulay Thalmus Rasulala
music =Gene Page
cinematography =John M. Stephens
editing = Allan Jacobs
distributor =American International Pictures
released =August 25 ,1972 (USA )
runtime = 93 min.
country = USA
language = English
budget =
amg_id = 1:5991
imdb_id = 0068284
preceded_by =
followed_by = "Scream Blacula Scream ""Blacula" is a 1972
blaxploitation horror film produced forAmerican International Pictures . It was directed by William Crain and stars William Marshall in the title role. The film deals with the character of Mamuwalde, an African prince transformed into a vampire and then imprisoned in a sealed coffin by Count Dracula, only to find himself released in the 1970s. "Blacula" was the first film to win the "Best Horror Film" award at the 1972Saturn Awards .A sequel, "
Scream Blacula Scream ", was released in 1973, in which Marshall resumed his role as Blacula/Mamuwalde.ynopsis
In 1780, Prince Mamuwalde (Marshall), the ruler of an African nation, seeks the help of Count Dracula (
Charles Macaulay ) in suppressing the slave trade. Dracula, who along with his other evils is revealed as aracist , not only refuses to help but also turns Mamuwalde into avampire (denigrating him with the name "Blacula" into the bargain) and imprisons him in a sealed coffin. Mamuwalde's wife Luva (McGee) is also imprisoned but, not being a vampire, dies in captivity.Almost two centuries later, in 1972, the coffin has been purchased as part of an estate by two
gay interior decorators, and shipped toLos Angeles . The men open the coffin and become the vampire's first victims. Mamuwalde travels around the city and soon encounters Tina (McGee), who appears to be areincarnation of his deceased wife, and beginsstalking her. This brings the vampire to the attention of Dr Gordon Thomas (Rasulala), who is helping Lt. Peters (Pinsent) with the investigation of the series of strange murders that are occurring, and whose girlfriend Michelle (Nicholas) is Tina's sister (by an unlikely coincidence, Tina and Michelle are also friends of Bobby, one of the murdered gay men).The film continues as the vampire kills several more victims and romances Tina, who falls in love with Mamuwalde. Meanwhile Thomas, Peters, and Michelle are following the trail of victims and come to realize that a vampire is responsible and Mamuwalde is their culprit. In the final scenes, the police shoot at Mamuwalde and Tina; he is unharmed but she is mortally wounded. Mamuwalde saves her by turning her into a vampire. Thomas, Peters, and Michelle find Tina and kill her with a stake through her heart. Mamuwalde decides that he does not want to go on after losing his love a second time and walks out through a subway tunnel into the sun to kill himself. We then see Mamuwalde melt and worms suck his flesh, and eat his bones.
Response
The film was not reviewed by most mainstream critics, but those that did were typically unfavorable toward the film. Despite this, the film has a strong cult following, and William Marshall's performance in the lead has been widely praised. The film also won the first ever
Saturn Award for Best Horror Film.The film found a new audience in the early '80s, when Elvira featured it on her syndicated TV series, "Movie Macabre". It has since become a cult classic, and is now available on
DVD and as a rental on iTunes, fromMGM Home Entertainment , the current copyright owners of the AIP catalog.Legacy
"Blacula" was a financial success when it was originally released. It was immediately followed by a sequel, "
Scream Blacula Scream " (1973), in which the vampire is made corporeal again by aVoodoo practitioner. The success of the film also inspired the making of several other blaxploitation/horror crossovers in the mid-seventies, including "Abby", "Blackenstein ", "Dr. Black and Mr. Hyde ", "Ganja and Hess ", "The House on Skull Mountain ", "J. D.'s Revenge " and "Sugar Hill", although none of these films were as successful commercially as "Blacula". Rumors circulated that Brides of Blacula and Son of Blacula were to have been made as well. Some more recent horror films with predominantly black casts were "Def by Temptation " (1990), "Vampire in Brooklyn " (a 1995 film which shares many themes and source material with "Blacula"), the anthology "Tales from the Hood " (1995), and "Bones" (2001).References in popular culture
*
Dr. Dre 's hit single "Keep Their Heads Ringin' " (from the "Friday" soundtrack) had a reference to Blacula.
*Jefferson Twilight, a vampire hunter that specializes in hunting black vampires in the cartoon series "The Venture Bros. ", uses the word "Blacula" to refer to all black vampires, citing at one point that "African-American vampire" is not universally applicable (i.e. there are no "African-American" vampires in England), and he doesn't know thepolitically correct term for a black vampire.
*"The Simpsons " has also referenced the character and film "Blacula" multiple times:
**In "Simpson Tide ", Homer is watching TV, and hear an announcer's voice say "Next, on Exploitation Theatre..."Blacula", followed by "Blackenstein ", and "The Blunchblack of Blotre Blame"!"
**In "All's Fair in Oven War ", a clip from the fake film "Blacula Meets Black Dracula" can be briefly seen.
**In the "I've Grown a Costume on Your Face" segment of "Treehouse of Horror XVI ", Dr. Hibbert dresses as Dracula forHalloween , but Mayor Quimby confuses him for Blacula. When Hibbert appears offended by this, Quimby whispers to his bodyguard "Get him the standard racist remark apology letter. It's in the middle drawer."
*In a segment from the "Anthology of Interest I " episode of "Futurama ", Fry's old boss Mr. Panucci states "There's only three real monsters, kid:Dracula , Blacula and Son of Kong. Now, quit picking your nose and knead that dough!"
*In "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy ", there's a character named Dracula who looks to be an aged version of Blacula with the mannerisms ofFred Sanford . A full-sized puppet of this Dracula was used inCartoon Network commercials and as the narrator during the "Grim and Courage Hour", which showedBilly and Mandy andCourage the Cowardly Dog cartoons.
*Themusic video for theGnarls Barkley song "Who Cares" revolves around the misfortunes of a jaded black vampire character named Blacula.
*There is apornographic spoof of Blacula titled, "Lust of Blackula".
*Daniel Carver was Blacula for Halloween on a 2006 episode ofThe Howard Stern Show .
*In the novel "Anno Dracula", Prince Mamuwalde is mentioned in passing as a notable non-Caucasian vampire.
*Cartoon Network'sRobot Chicken made a reference to Blacula in one of their sketches.
*Tom Delonge of Blink-182 has been seen wearing a Blacula shirt in the "Adam's Song" music video
*TheFrankenstein Drag Queens from Planet 13 have a song entitled "Back in Blacula" on their albumSongs from the Recently Deceased
*In the illustrations ofAndrew Craven [http://www.birminghamfineart.com] , Blacula is re-represented in 'Penny Dreadful and the Blacula Encounter' where he is the subject of one of Penny's decadent adventures.
*In the2008 filmForgetting Sarah Marshall , the character Peter Bretter watches scenes from Blacula for inspiration while composing a musical based on the story of Dracula.References
External links
*
* [http://www.blackhorrormovies.com/blacula.htm African-American horror movies]
* [http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/blacula/ Rotten Tomatoes: Blacula]
* Via CBS News.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.