‘I shall place a curse of suffering on you that will doom you to a living Hell…’
Blaxploitation is a subgenre that I have absolutely no experience of. I’ve never even seen Shaft – a film widely regarded as the key blaxploitation text. I have seen plenty of clips from both Shaft and other films within the genre but it remains an area of cinema largely untouched by yours truly. William Crain’s Blacula felt like a good starting point as it treads familiar ground for me being both a horror film and a retelling of the Dracula myth. And, do you know what, I never thought I’d say this about a film that embraces its B-movie roots so readily but I actually wanted more of it by the time the credits rolled. I might even watch the sequel…
The original, old, white Count Dracula invites an African prince (William Marshall) to his castle and turns him into the first black vampire dubbing him ‘Blacula’ – an impressive choice for a cinematic figure not known for his puns. Fast forward a hundred years and Blacula is set loose in modern-day Los Angeles.
The plot, such as it is, doesn’t matter. The real focus here is the grisly death scenes sitting uneasily alongside upbeat musical numbers. It’s quite the sight. Marshall is excellent as the Count and the script, credited to Joan Torres and Raymond Koenig manages to be both intentionally and unintentionally funny in equal measure. If nothing else, it’s entertaining.
Blacula is a film for completists. Either of blaxploitation, vampire movies or horror cinema generally, but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Ridiculous? Yes. But with moments of real greatness.