Day 28 of my 31 Days of Vampire Movies takes us into the realm of 70s blaxsploitation movies as I bring you one of the most unique takes on Dracula and the vampire genre as a whole. With that said, I bring you, Blacula.
I know, but please bear with me.
Prince Mamuwalde is an 18th century African prince tasked with trying to halt the slave trade by meeting with European royalty. Royalty that just happens to be Count Dracula himself. Dracula turns Prince Mamuwalde into a vampire and entombs him deep inside his castle, giving him the moniker Blacula, and walling Prince Mamuwalde’s beloved wife Luva alive in his tomb and leaving her to die.
Cut to the modern day (the 70s, but you know) where two interior decorators are buying the contents of Dracula’s castle to kit out the fashionable and kitsch wealthy Californians they cater to. They purchase Prince Mamuwalde’s coffin mostly as a joke, but when the inevitable happens and one of them accidentally bleeds on it, Mamuwalde comes back to life and terrorizes Los Angeles. He meets the reincarnation of his wife Luva in Tina, a friend of the interior decorators who were Mamuwalde’s first victims. (Interestingly enough, the characters of Bobby McCoy and Billy Schaffer are openly portrayed as an interracial gay couple in a time where that was almost verboten. I’m not going to say it was sensitive portrayal, but the fact that it was there, and not played strictly for comedy, is something in and of itself.) Anyway, Tina’s sister Michelle and Michelle’s boyfriend Dr. Gordon Thomas become entangled in the trail of bodies Mamuwalde leaves in his wake, and realize that Tina may very well be next.
This could have been another throw-away trash exploitation movie, but William Marshall gives possibly the best performance of his career here. He instills Prince Mamuwalde with a gravitas and pathos that even more ‘legitimate’ Dracula movies didn’t always hit. He met with the producers, director, and scriptwriters to make sure his character was given the dignity he deserved. Prince Mamuwalde is a great character, and honestly deserves to be in a better movie. This is a low-budget production, and the seams show in quite a few places, but this is still one of the best interpretations of Dracula put on film.
It also has one of the best slow motion shots in any movie ever. It should be over the top and silly, but its one of the most chilling vampire attack scenes ever filmed. It takes forever, and perfectly captures what it feels like as time slows to a near halt as something horrible is happening to you but you can’t seem to make yourself move in time to stop it. I won’t spoil it for you, but believe me, you’ll know it when you see it.
Definitely check this one out. It has a sequel, Scream Blacula, Scream, which is also a fun time but not quite as good as the original. There was also a graphic novel released in 2023 titled Blacula: Return of the King, which once again brings Mamuwalde into modern times as he is released from death, this time to fight Dracula, who was conspicuously absent from both movies. Check that one out, too, if you can.