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 Blacula Released 1972 Directed by William Crain  The movie begins in 1780 in Dracula's castle. Prince Mamuwalde and his wife Luva have come as representatives of Nigeria to discuss the opening of diplomatic relations between Africa and Europe and an end to the slave trade. Count Dracula amused at the mere thought speaks on how "useful" slavery is and offers to buy Mamuwalde's wife. In the ensuing fight they discover that Count Dracula is more than a man of wealth and influence. He and his friends are vampires! Dracula then curses the Prince and seals him in a coffin and leaving Luva sealed in a room to die. In present day, and by present day I mean 1972, Dracula's castle is purchased by a pair of antique dealers who are clearly the most sensitive and nuanced portrayal of gay men in cinema history. Naturally they do what anyone would do with a coffin they find in Dracula's castle. They bring it home and break open the lock. So Mamuwalde walks the Earth again and in his lust for blood he discovers a woman that bears an uncanny resemblance to his lost love. His singular focus becomes finding her and reuniting with the love of his life. Things become complicated when he finds that the police are suddenly on his trail.  Okay so that's the setup. But let's talk about Blacula. Not the movie Blacula but Blacula himself. William Marshall who plays the title character is THE reason to watch this movie. The guy just oozes charm. He got style, class, and a velvety smooth baritone voice that could go toe to toe with James Earl Jones. And that's how Marshall wanted it as he was given permission to change the character and his backstory to his liking. He wanted the vampire to be very dignified and he is. Surprisingly so considering the campiness of the film. These things shouldn't work together but they just do.  The movie is pretty silly and campy but that's to be expected of an early 70s AIP horror film. They clearly weren't working with a great deal of money and like a lot of blaxploitation films it's some good scenes bookending stuff that's not so exciting. I wouldn't go as far as to say nothing happens. If you're hoping to see vampires doing vampire poo poo you will. It's not really slowly paced at all but the best stuff is obviously at beginning and last quarter of the movie. I know that doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement but I'm not knocking the film. It's entertaining enough schlock built around one guy who was just really selling it. William Marshall played loving Othello. You could watch the guy read the instruction manual for a refrigerator and it would be entertaining. Never the less this is a really fun shoestring budget early 70s horror. If that's your thing this movie is for you. One of the things I like the most about the movie is how it feels like some kind of time capsule for the early 70s. As cheap and goofy as the movie is it's one of those movies I've seen that most effectively makes me feel like I'm in the setting. That's probably not intentional but they nailed it. And that's for better or worse because man oh man is this movie not great when it comes to gay men. And yet despite myself and my better judgement I can't help but laugh at the incredibly casual homophobia. For better or worse this movie is frozen in time and on that basis alone it's worth the watch.  Blacula is a portmanteau of "black" and "Dracula".  Previous Movies of the Month. CPL593H fucked around with this message at 07:05 on Oct 8, 2021 |
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Oct 8, 2021 06:59
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| # ? May 6, 2024 08:43 |
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Blacula kicks rear end, it’s true. The one long slow-motion shot of the turned woman running almost directly into the camera is buck wild, and the story of how they had to fight for the resources to do it is very cool.
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Oct 10, 2021 06:54
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Babysitter Super Sleuth posted:Blacula kicks rear end, it’s true. The one long slow-motion shot of the turned woman running almost directly into the camera is buck wild, and the story of how they had to fight for the resources to do it is very cool. I don't know that story. What's up with that?
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Oct 10, 2021 18:46
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CPL593H posted:I don't know that story. What's up with that? Crain goes into it in his sections in Horror Noire, but basically he was fighting the whole production to make Blacula more than just a disposable moneymaker, with various things like making sure the night club scene had integrated couples or adding the whole backstory about Mamuwaide being an African prince. He decided he wanted to do that shot and the producers shot him down, but he kept insisting the whole production, refused to change his plans, and essentially started playing chicken with them. They keep saying no, you can’t have a hi-speed camera, he keeps saying that he needs the shot, and eventually on the shoot day for that scene, after the producers had kept saying they wouldn’t do it, a grip truck with a hi-speed pulls up to the site and the producers, having lost the game of chicken, don’t ever bring it up again. Babysitter Super Sleuth fucked around with this message at 19:07 on Oct 10, 2021 |
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Oct 10, 2021 19:05
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I meant to watch this years ago but it's been hard to get through Netflix. The action scenes kind of vibe with The Omega Man at times (same era). A tragic take on Dracula for the most part. Sitting in a coffin nearly 200 years and losing two women before self-inflicted immolation. As I was watching it I pondered the dozens of Dracula/vampire films I've seen. Maybe over a hundred at this point. I need to watch The Brides of Dracula and maybe Blackenstein. Although Blackenstein doesn't appear to have a good reputation. CPL593H posted:William Marshall who plays the title character is THE reason to watch this movie. The guy just oozes charm. He got style, class, and a velvety smooth baritone voice that could go toe to toe with James Earl Jones. And that's how Marshall wanted it as he was given permission to change the character and his backstory to his liking. He wanted the vampire to be very dignified and he is. That's what I was thinking too. Zogo fucked around with this message at 05:16 on Oct 12, 2021 |
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Oct 11, 2021 23:12
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Zogo posted:I meant to watch this years ago but it's been hard to get through Netflix. The action scenes kind of vibe with The Omega Man at times (same era). A tragic take on Dracula for the most part. Sitting in a coffin nearly 200 years and losing two women before self-inflicted immolation. Come on, spoiler tag that incase anyone reading this didn't see the movie. Blackenstein is just boring and was basically a cash in on the success of Blacula. Blacula is one of the better blaxploitation films because the people making it actually gave a poo poo and it was an earnest effort. And they actually had a black director on the film which was unfortunately uncommon of the genre.
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Oct 12, 2021 00:06
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Okay I changed it.
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Oct 12, 2021 05:29
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I actually prefer the sequel but William Marshall fuckin rules.
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Oct 14, 2021 15:34
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This is a lot of fun. It's definitely elevated schlock with Marshall adding some fantastic wounded dignity that gives the movie some heart and sympathy. The jabs the shittiness of police were satisfying too. It can't quite overcome the ridiculousness of the overall script and premise, and the unbuyable main romance, but there's so much verve and it keeps popping out quality surprises. It's such a shame because you think how much more good could have come if there were opportunities beyond blaxploitation to really let all the people truly shine. There are so many good ideas poking through the silliness. What a good time.
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Oct 17, 2021 05:44
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| # ? May 6, 2024 08:43 |
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The thing that bothers me about the plot is that every victim rises as another vampire. The writers were clearly aware of the geometric growth problem, but somehow missed all the possible ways to have lesser undead.
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Oct 19, 2021 17:55
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