Blacula (1972)

Director: William Crain

Writers: Joan Torres and Raymond Koenig

Starring: William Marshall, Vonetta McGee, Denise Nicholas, Thalmus Rasulala.

June 2, 2020: It's been a very long time since I've attempted to write about movies again.  I've been away from the keyboard and, as such, may be a little rusty in my writing efforts.  But with the news being what it is today, I decided I needed to...well, do something constructive in a Country that seems to be falling apart, especially in regards to the systemic racism (among other hateful and destructive elements happening around us that I won't bother to pontificate on here).  I can't do much, however, but I can perhaps call a little more attention (and GIVE a little more attention) to cinema that celebrates Black (and, eventually, Queer, as it is also Pride Month) voices.  I in no way seek to use this to promote myself, only to celebrate and discuss a genre that is very dear to me, and for now showcase voices that have been shouted over throughout history.  It isn't much, but it is what I have to offer.

Okay, lame overly-feely intro over, onto Blacula.

Blacula feels like an important film today, and given the news lately it feels right to focus on Black horror cinema.  Not only does it have a dignified (and, y'know, murderous and blood drinking) protagonist (he IS the villain of the piece in the end, because Vampire, but it's hard to see him as such), but the cast is almost entirely Black and has a Black filmmaker in William Crain, who succeeded where few other Black filmmakers could, especially at that particular historical moment.  Considering the titular character becomes what he does due to his attempts to stop the slave trade, a scene where the white police captain assumes two unrelated murders are the work of the Black Panthers despite evidence pointing to the contrary, and featuring two gay characters (though they aren't the most...dignified...portrayals of LGBTQ characters ever, with characters using a certain homosexual slur at least twice (both times by, y'know, cops), Blacula feels pretty damn timely. 

Make no mistake, though, the movie is undoubtedly made on the cheap: most of the key scenes take place in non-descript warehouses and generic small rooms (many of which feel very much like the same room redressed: the funeral home seems to be a room in the warehouse with a big curtain placed in the background.  This isn't so much a criticism, though, as it makes large amounts of the film feel very much like a stage play), makeup effects look a lot like the ones you'd see in a cheap Haunted House attraction, and many actors aren't giving the most nuanced performances you've ever seen. 

What sets it apart is its sense of dignity and importance, and both of those things are largely due to the excellent performance of William Marshall, who gives us a mostly well-rounded and complex character (as complex as allowed, at any rate) in the form of Prince Mamuwalde, a Nigerian Prince turned by Dracula into a Vampire and left to rot until 1972, where he rises again to eat people.

The background of the film is extraordinary: Mamuwalde and his Wife visit Count Dracula (played by Charles Macaulay, giving a hammy and utterly vile and repugnant performance) in Transylvania in what appears to be a state visit.  When the vile Count makes advances on Mamuwalde's Wife (to the point of offering to buy her as a slave) and rebukes Mamuwalde's interest in abolishing the international slave trade (a trade Dracula apparently enjoys).  When Mamuwalde decides it's time to go ("I suddenly find your Cognac as...distateful as your company," an extraordinary line), Drac decides to punish the Prince by turning him into a Vampire, locking him in a coffin and, in an even more evil act, leaving his Wife walled up with the coffin to starve to death.

In 1972, a bi-racial, homosexual antique dealing couple by the now abandoned Castle of Dracula (with suggestion that the 1931 film about Drac is canon, since the Count was apparently ended by Van Helsing) bring the coffin (no mention of the Wife, though) to America and fall victim to Mamuwalde. After escaping, Mamuwalde has a chance encounter with Tina (Vonetta McGee), who looks exactly like his dead Wife.  As such, Mamuwalde starts to court young Tina to be his immortal bride, while her Brother-In-Law, Doctor Gordan Thomas (Thalmus Rasulala, giving an assured, physical performance) starts to suspect a Vampire is in town and seeks to destroy the Undead Fiend.

From there, the film apes Dracula almost entirely: Thomas is very much like Van Helsing, Tina is ostensibly Mina (though there is no Harker expy here), and Thomas' Wife Michelle (Denise Nicholas, undoubtedly one of the most beautiful Women ever photographed, as well as an inspiring activist and novelist) stands in for Lucy (though she is noticeably, and perhaps blissfully, left unharmed).

The Club Scenes really do something for her.

There are some things that will undoubtedly look weird to modern era viewers: Three key scenes take place in a local club, and little actually occurs in said scenes, but does give us one of my favorite pointless side characters ever: Skillet, a random club goer who is friends with the core cast, whose only real purpose is to say (not once, but twice) that Mamuwalde is "one weird dude."  He also makes a statement about wanting to steal Mamuwalde's cape, which I personally can relate to.  It, admittedly, IS a great cape.  (Also, to be fair, Skillet ultimately puts the Doc on Mamuwalde's trail, but I choose to focus on his amazing social skills.)

There are a few spectacular moments of filmmaking happening throughout Blacula, most notably a slow motion Vampire attack when the newly undead Cab Driver runs shrieking down a hallway to eat a hapless (and implied to be a little creepy with corpses and casually racist) lab tech (who has a hook for a hand, which is never explained nor paid off in any way), and a finale that would seem at home in any of Hammer's Cushing/Lee Vampire films (where Doctor Thomas does a pretty amazing flying tackle onto a vampire that looks like both he and the guy he jumped on probably got hurt doing), even as it plays fast and loose with a lot of Vampire rules (it seems some people turn into Vampires after some time, while others it takes moments).

The score also deserves a mention.  Music creator Gene Page combines strange psychedelic synth stings with R&B music stylings to create something that is very contemporary (for '72) but also otherwordly and strange.  It's pretty extraordinary.

Blacula is most definitely a weird film from a weird period in cinema, with some absolutely batshit moments, but at its heart is a dignified and complicated Monster whose main goal is nothing more than finding peace and love with the Woman of his dreams, and I don't know who can't relate to that. Sure, some of it is definitely dated, the cheap effects won't wow you, and some of it is deeply silly, but it's such a blast regardless.

 With all its weirdness, Blacula remains a film that seems ahead of its time in some ways, an absolute product of its time in others, and a really wonderful example of a fun, intelligent and insane piece of not only Black Horror, but of the genre in general.

Final Rating: Three Stars (***) our of Five.  Definitely worth a look.