Buy Blacula
Friday, May 7th, 2010
I’ve always had a particular fondness for this film which I enjoy was a “first” in a lot of ways in 1972, but rather sadly it seems to now be regarded as a bit of a joke by alot of current audiences more’s the pity. Released in early 1972 honest as the Vampire cycle of films in both America and England was coming to a cessation “Blacula”, provided a current twist on the Vampire tale and presented us with a very urbane dusky Vampire played by deep voiced William Marshall. His vampire is ultimately quite a tragic figure when you learn the facts of how he got to that status and Marshall in his performance is not only up to carrying on the vampire myth but also manages to depict his character for most share in a highly sympathetic light that breathed life into the feeble story.
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“Blacula”, begins it’s memoir in 1780 when the elders of an African urge send one of their princes Manuwalde on a special mission to Transylvania to perceive out Count Dracula’s assistance in putting an kill to the illegal slave trade which is being carried out by westerners in their country. Unfortunately Manuwalde and his delicate wife Luva (Vonetta McGee) do not regain a sympathetic audience in the Count who proceeds to attack Luva and when Manuwalde goes to her defense he finds himself knocked out by Dracula’s followers and placed in a coffin with Dracula then placing the curse of the undead upon him and closing him up in a sealed chamber of his castle for all eternity. The tale then shifts forward to 1972 when Dracula’s Castle is being emptied of its contents and two antique dealers choose not only some of the antiques but as a curio the coffin which holds the undead remains of Manuwalde. Shipped attend to Los Angeles the coffin is opened and Manuwalde begins his reign of apprehension killing both of the young antique sellers. Stalking the streets for new victims for his blood lust Manuwalde comes across young Tina who is the absolute reincarnation of his long boring wife Luva and he begins a frantic courtship of her in the hope of getting his beloved wife abet. The murders of Los Angeles residents however continue with the same suspicious bite marks appearing on the victims. These anger the suspicions of Tina’s brother in law Dr. Gordon Thomas (Thalmus Rasulala), who begins to connect the peculiar Manuwalde with the murders. When night club photographer Nancy (Emily Yancy), is killed unbiased as she is developing some photos of Tina with Manuwalde the finished film when discovered by Dr. Thomas reveals a blank area where Mamuwalde was standing which further implicates him. Now that Dr. Thomas knows Manuwalde’s dependable identity, the creep is then on to track him down and retain him away from Tina. She however has fallen in appreciate with the Prince and has completely fallen under his spell. After a scary encounter with Manuwalde and his disciples in a disused warehouse the doctor and police track down his resting location to an electric plant where in the ensuring fight Tina is mistakedly shot. Laying her to rest the broken hearted Manuwalde sees no purpose in continuing and in the ultimate sacrifice evades his pursuers and runs up onto the roof into the early morning light allowing himself to disintergrate into dust in time honoured Vampire tradition.
Passed off as trendy and dated hip action by today’s audiences I derive this record an new and bewitching one. William Marshall as the cursed Blacula of the title does an outstanding job in the role of the tormented man with the curse of the undead on him who sees a chance at second happiness. His vampire while undoubtedly savage and blood thirsty is allowed to expose his sadder side in particular in his scenes with Tina over the losses he has experienced in life. Vonetta McGee in the two roles of Tina / Luva also gives a spacious performance as the young girl drawn to the mysterious stranger who claims she is his wife brought assist to life despite gleaming what he actually is. Most of the shaded characters depicted in “Blacula”, are surprisingly postive ones with Dr. Thomas played by Thalmus Rasulala being a medical investigator who is always two steps ahead of the police in their investigations. The only dated characters in the otherwise incandescent account are the two antique dealers that are unfortunately depicted as pleased stereotypes but apart from that it is a comely film in the acting department. The 1970’s feel to the account is well presented and the flashback beginning at Dracula’s Castle is also top quality. One of mountainous strong points of “Blacula”, is the fantastic and quite gruesome vampire makeup applied to William Marshall which is highly effective and on a worthy more savage side than that venerable by Hammer studios for their vampire creations. The film abounds with many eerie and quite frigtening moments such as the female Cab driver (Ketty Lester), rising from the dull in the Morgue and attacking the night worker (Elisha Cook), Manuwalde’s transformations into a Vampire Bat, his attack on the photographer in the gloomy room and the attack in the Warehouse are all standout scenes that gather “Blacula”, its obliging residence in recent fright circles. Very seventies in its feel and choice of accompanying music that is share of “Blacula’s”, charm and are elements which we as an audience almost 30 years later should not be too judgemental about.
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Being a ample fan of vampire films I contain that “Blacula”, is a respectable tedious edition to the Vampire scare movie group along with the also exciting “Count Yorga, Vampire” of the same period. Today it is certainly viewed as one of the best of the blaxploitation cycle of films so celebrated in the early 1970’s, and it was succesful enough to have its believe sequel the following year with William Marshall resurrected in his noted role as Mamuwalde in “Bellow Blacula Bawl”. “Blacula”, contains some humour and is well balanced in its storytelling and in its scare elements making for very provocative viewing if you are a fan of this genre. Sit wait on and be pleased possibly the first sunless vampire to grace anxiety movies in William Marshall who with his regal bearing and deep sensual shriek creates a most lively vampire character that is really this stories chief asset. Indulge In!
The 1972 film “Blacula” is a powerful better example of the Blaxploitation period, which began with the success of “Shaft” the previous year, than it is as a vampire movie. William Marshall, with his booming announce, plays the title character and gives the film a sense of credibility that probably only James Earl Jones could have matched. Without Marshall’s sense of dignity, “Blacula” would have been reduced to slapstick. The memoir is that interior decorates rob the coffin of Prince Manuwalde andbring it aid to Los Angeles, unaware that the African prince had been bitten by Dracula (Charles Macaulay) centuries before and locked inside. While wandering the nights in his eternal search for human blood, the prince sees Tina (Vonetta McGee), a woman who looks like his dear departed wife, Luva, and he is convinced she is his beloved reincarnated. While Blacula woos Tina, her friend Dr. Gordon Thomas (Thalmus Rasulala) figures out that this guy is a blood-sucking fiend and tries to hunt the vampire down.
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Today the racial humor of this film seems dated, but in 1972 this movie was hip in being self-conscious about its blackness, which was the whole point of the Blaxploitation movement: to dismal movies made by dim casts and crews for shaded audiences, instead of leaving it to Hollywood to ignore and denigrate blacks in the films that had been produced up to that point. The panic scenes are hokey in the shameful, but since they are basically being done for fun by director William Crain, it is hard to complain. Some critics have bemoaned the miss opportunity to form a telling critique of sexual hypocrisy in society, the diagram Bram Stoker’s unique recent did for the Victorian era (if you are inclined to read it that diagram), but the social agenda here is clearly rush and not sex, which is totally appropriate as far as I am concerned. In addition to the 1973 sequel, “Yowl, Blacula, Wail,” other Blaxploitation panic films that followed this one included “Blackenstein,” “Dr. Murky and Mr. Hyde,” and “The House on Skull Mountain.” However, none of them would delight in the reputation of “Blacula,” which remains the defining film of this particular genre.
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