“Blacula” Revisited

“Dracula’s Soul Brother!”

So says the narrator in the movie trailer for Blacula, an underrated gem lumped into the Blaxploitation genre that rose up in the 1970s. As directed by William Crain, this contribution to the vampire genre was an arresting, at times touching tribute to the travails of the undead and long lost, reincarnated love. William Marshall, he of the sonorous Shakespearean voice, imparts Blacula, nee Prince Mamuwalde, with a dignity befitting that of an esteemed royal, albeit one with a taste for human blood. Equal parts driven by an unquenchable thirst for the life-giving red and the human longing for his dear-departed wife, Marshall manages to summon forth a humanity and grace from an otherwise “living fiend”, as his sire, the infamous Count Dracula, deemed him. Marshall, at the time best known to TV audiences for a memorable guest appearance on “Star Trek”, is the guiding force in a movie that successfully marriages two distinct genres. Taking place in Los Angeles, circa 1972, the 70’s fashions and pulsing soul music, courtesy of The Hues Corporation (who would hit big with “Rock the Boat” a few years later) frame this horror movie with a can-you-dig-it! attitude that enhances, rather than detracts, from the vampiric goings-ons. It’s all cool, baby.

In 1780, Prince Mamuwalde and his beloved bride, Luva, have traveled from his African home to Transylvania to garner Count Dracula’s assistance in abolishing the slave trade. Upon witnessing the Count’s lasciviousness towards his bride and his amusement at his abolishment request, Mamuwalde minces no words in his disgust at his host’s abhorrent behavior. This only further serves as an impetus for the Count (played with gleeful abandon by Charles Macaulay) to bare his fangs, in more ways than one and reveal the caped personification of evil he takes utter delight in being. He bites and subsequently curses the doomed prince with the name “Blacula”. Dracula then entombs him and leaves his precious Luva to die a lonely, horrible death alongside his coffin.

Fast forward to present-day Transylvania – present day being 1972 – where two interior decorators from LA take a fancy to the now antique furniture and discover a coffin contained in a hidden room. Envisioning a unique addition to their living room setup, they ship the coffin containing Mamuwalde, now Blacula, to Los Angeles. And so the fun begins…

Lending a sure-handed touch to the proceedings is doubting Dr. Gordon Thomas (played with gritty grace by Thalmus Rasulala), who quickly realizes that a sudden influx of bloodless corpses may be the work of something other than your average serial killer. The good doctor, replete with a ‘70s –era super-stache that was an integral part of the protagonists of the day. (Shaft, Superfly, Truck Turner), is Blacula’s Van Helsing-esque foil. (In the sequel, Scream Blacula Scream, the hero, Don Mitchell, carries on that hirsute tradition). The whole cast, which includes Gordon Pinset, Denise Nicholas and Vonetta McGee, among others, makes this a thoroughly enjoyable and at times, scary sojourn into the vampire genre. And with a performance that’s equal parts majestic and terrifying, stately and intimidating, William Marshall stakes his claim (pun intended) alongside Max Schreck, Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee as a most memorable, silver screen rendered, denizen of the undead.

The early 1970’s, spearheaded by the likes of “Shaft”, Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song signaled a filmic revolution in which African-Americans refused to bow down to “The Man” and set about carving their own legacies, with heroes who were ultra-tough and super cool. Blacula, though tagged with the Blaxploitation moniker, isn’t beholden to that specific moment in time. At its funky essence, Blacula is a horror movie and a damned good one at that.