Blacula

[Zone Fighter]

Blacula (1972)

William Marshall - Prince Mamuwalde
Vonetta McGee - Luva/Tina
Denise Nicholas - Michelle
Thalmus Rasulala - Dr. Gordon Thomas
Gordon Pinsent - Lt. Jack Peters
Charles Macaulay - Dracula
Emily Yancy - Nancy, Photographer
Lance Taylor Sr. - Swenson, Undertaker
Ted Harris - Bobby McCoy
Rick Metzler - Billy Schaffer
Ji-Tu Cumbuka - Skillet
Logan Field - Sgt. Barnes
Ketty Lester - Juanita Jones, Cabbie
Elisha Cook Jr. - Sam
Eric Brotherson - Real Estate Agent

An African Prince, Mamuwalde, tries to make a politcal alliance with Count Dracula. He wants the count to support the banning of slavery, but Dracula laughs at the idea and insults Mamuwalde by suggesting that he'd like to buy Luva, his wife, . Mamuwalde calls the count a beast, and tries to leave. Dracula bites Mamuwalde turning hi into a vampire and locks him in a coffin so the new vampire will forever thirst for human blood but never be able to satisify his thirst. Then he walls the princess in the room with the coffin. Centuries later the contents of Dracula's castle, including Mamuwalde's coffin are sold, to two antiques dealers, one white, one black, both homosexuals. Everything is shipped to Los Angelas. Where the antiques dealers unknowingly release the vampire, becoming his first two victims.

Mamuwalde meets Tina, a woman who could be his wife's twin. He believe she is Luva reborn.

The Van Helsing of this film is Dr. Gordon Thomas, medical investigator and the boyfriend of Tina's sister Michelle.

I had not seen this before and wasn't sure what to expect. The trailer, which is on the DVD, made the film look a lot sillier than it actually turned out to be. William Marshall, whom I remembered as the brilliant but insane inventor of the computers used on Star Ships in the original Star Trek, did an excellent job as the proud prince cursed to be a vampire. Blacula isn't a bad little modern setting, low budget vampire film. I'd change the title and remove the silly scene of Dracula saying he curses Mamuwalde with his name, prouncing him to be "Blacula" and the repeat of that dialogue when the newly freeded Mamuwalde recalls it. This is a much better vampire movie than "The Satanic Rites of Dracula".

The film does include the N word and a word beginning with F which originally meant a bundle of sticks, firewood, but became slang for homosexuals and is politically incorrect now.

Mamuwalde is more dangerous than Dracula. Most of Mamuwalde's victims succeed in making more vampires themselves. At the end Mamuwalde goes on a rampage, killing those who dare to hunt him.

I'll rent the sequel "Scream Blacula Scream" later.

"Vampire's reproduce geometrically. The first night there is one, the second night two, then four..."
-- Dr. Gordon Thomas

[amphiboid]

This is a cool, cool film, one of my favorite 70's flicks, hands down. It happens to have a fairly solid story, it's pretty scary, and it's basically serious. It's also very well produced, looks great for a low budgeter.

I think that Rasulala's character meant to say that vampires multiply "exponentially," but HEY, it was the 70's, and, by golly, who cares? "First they're triangles, then trapezoids, then they become cubes...that's the REALLY freaky part, when they become cubes..."

At one point I think he says something like "You better sit down for this, baby, 'cause I got something real heavy to lay down on you."

[Xenorama ™]

it's a fun movie, all in all. i think the "f" word in question came from a shortened version of the Yiddish word "what does this say about me?ellah" (sp, more than likely) and then the more, er, ignorant folk confused it with the sticks or the current British slang for a smkoe (cig, i mean).

where was i? oh, yeah, the movie is fun- i don't think i've seen the sequel. i also liked him as Daystrom, the computer inventor from Star Trek.

[amphiboid]

Oh yeah, and you know what was cool? That scene where they dig up the "interior decorator" to see if he's a vampire...........and he is!

All of a sudden, the interior decorator character's "comic relief schtick" is not there, and he's just this horrible, vicious, screaming green-skinned thing!

A really shocking, scary scene!