Blacula (1972)

Director: William Crain

Starring: William Marshall, Vonetta McGee, Denise Nicholas, Thalmus Rasulula

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Blacula! - Dracula's Soul Brother!

Plot: Highly sophisticated African Prince Mamuwalde (William Marshall) gets bitten by Count Dracula, and his fate is sealed forevermore as a vampire. Two centuries later, Mamuwalde is unwittingly transported to modern-day Los Angeles.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again? YES!

#120 on Drive-In Delierium Volume 1 (part of the TRAILER TRASH PROJECT)

Just watch the opening credits and laugh your ass off!

So far, of the 70s Blaxploitation horror flicks I've seen, this one is neck and neck as good as ABBY (1974) and leagues better than BLACKENSTEIN (1973). BLACULA is an interesting film because it succeeds a both a Blaxploitation flick and a horror flick and that's not an easy thing to do. The performances are fun, the music (Gene Page) is great (it's strange, though, watching a horror movie with such a funky soundtrack), there's plenty of action, some great kills (Elisha Cook's death is particularly nice) and a surprising amount of humor.

Let's see...today I think I'll dress left.

William Marshall plays a great vampire. He's tall (6'5"), imposing and has a great deep voice. The rest of the cast does fine, too but without a good lead, you've got nothing.


BLACULA is a gas and I can't wait to watch the sequel, SCREAM BLACULA SCREAM (1973). If it's anywhere near the fun as this one it'll be worth it. William Marshall is back and Pam Grier's in it.