Blacula
Director: William Crain
Cast: William Marshall, Vonetta McGee, Denise Nicholas
Scream Blacula Scream
Director: Bob Kelljan
Cast: William Marshall, Don Mitchell, Pam Grier
Reviewed by Brian M. Sammons
I love Scream Factory’s Blu-ray two-packs. They take two flicks that might not be economically sensible to upgrade, update, produce special features for, and release on their own because of their largely cult appeal, and put out a beautiful product. Not only are such Blu-rays a must have for fans of said cult films, but for fright flick collectors of all sorts. Their latest one-two punch of awesome is the 1970s Blaxploitation horror classics Blacula and Scream Blacula Scream. So grab some garlic, a good, sharp stake, and let’s hunt down one of the grooviest bloodsuckers ever, Blacula.
Now despite my groovy crack, this isn’t your typical Blaxploitation flick as you might think of them. It isn’t inherently cheesy in that wonderfully 70s way, nor is about a black hero going against the white man for a laundry list of criminal and raciest reasons. Both the hero and villain here are black, and the white people in this movie are largely okay people. Blacula is basically a retelling if the Dracula story, with the principle cast being played by African American actors. As such, it is far more serious than a film called Blacula had any right to be. It is also has real moments of fright in them, the highlight being a dead lady vamp coming back to life in a morgue, a scene that was shot yeas before something similar was written in Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot, or film in the Tobe Hooper adaption of that novel. So point goes to Blacula on that one.
As for a general overview of the story, it begins in 1780 when an African prince named Mamuwald goes on a trip to Europe to protest the slave trade. He and his wife make the bad decision of visiting castle Dracula where the famous vampire insults the prince and his bride. A fight breaks out, naturally Dracula wins, but he’s mad, so he curses the prince to become a vampire like him, even rechristens him Blacula, and then seals him up in a coffin inside a locked room. Nearly two hundred years later, a pair of flamboyant antique collectors goes to Transylvania buys the lot, and brings is all back to Los Angeles. The Blac Drac wakes up, noms on some people, and then finds a pretty lady and looks exactly like the wife he lost so many years ago. Hmm, that was done long before Francis Ford Coppola made his Dracula flick. Who knew Blacula was so influential?
What follows is a pretty decent vampire movie that is a wonderful time capsule of the 1970s. Not only in terms of awful fashion and groovy music, but of rather shocking homophobia, where everyone gay is referred to as f*****s. And how sad is it that 43 years later things haven’t changed all that much. Well, you would think that if you caught any of the Twitter twits complaining about the last The Walking Dead episode where two men dared to kiss, but that’s a sad argument for another day.
Scream Blacula Scream is the sequel that followed a year later, and it’s pretty much more of the same. More surprisingly serious vampire action. More bad fashions. More questionable dialog that would not fly today. There is the addition of a new element, African Voodoo, but that’s about it for new. Both are good movies and worth your time to give them a watch.
In addition to the two for one deal this new Blu-ray offers, there are a number of special features on here to help seal the deal. For the original Blacula there is an audio commentary with author, filmmaker, and exploitation expert David F. Walker. A photo gallery and trailer can also be found here. The sequel has no commentary but does have a 13 minute interview with actor Richard Lawson, photo gallery, and yes, a trailer.
So if you are expecting something goofy or silly in these two movies, you will be surprised. Hopefully presently so. Both Blacula movies are more than decent vampire films, wrapped up in a glorious, butterfly-collared, suit of all things 1970s. I enjoyed the hell out of these movies, and I think you will too. Two get both in one good looking package, be sure to pick up this new Blu-ray from Scream Factory. Consider it recommended.
