Quarantine Black Movie Marathon Day 2: Blacula (1972)

remember these reviews as SPOILER FREE

Hi again,

Last night’s movie in our Quarantine Movie Marathon was the 1972 blaxploitation horror film, Blacula. The film was directed by William Crain, one of the first successful black filmmakers to have graduated from a major film school. The film stars William Marshall as Mamuwalde, an 18th century African prince who— while visiting Transylvania to advocate for the abolition of the slave trade— is captured and turned into a vampire by Count Dracula who renames him “Blacula.” Dracula imprisons him in a coffin for centuries and leaves his wife to die in the crypt containing Blacula’s coffin. Blacula wakes up in 1972 after a gay couple purchases the coffin at an estate sale.

I’ve seen one or two blaxploitation movies and this one is by far my favorite. It has the perfect balance of kitschiness, horror and a sprinkle of political commentary. Of course, being a film from the early 70’s, there are some problematic moments— particularly surrounding the gay couple who discovers Blacula and with the usual splash of sexism throughout. There are definitely some parts that you kind of wish just weren’t there and which definitely remind you that this film is very much of its time. However, though these moments made me uncomfortable (and, frankly, didn’t really stand out as necessary parts of film), I worked around them as remnants of that era and managed to really enjoy the rest of the movie.

Blacula has all the good qualities of a b-movie. The film knows to not take itself too seriously and has plenty of over the top moments (my favorite being the whole scene with the taxi driver vampire in the morgue). However, I also felt an underlying feeling of sincerity when watching this movie. It came from many different places— the performances, the directing, the music, and even the over the top horror moments— and gave the film an added layer of depth (I’m positive there are dozens of college essays on this movie).

Let’s end with this Blacula’s music because I think it kind of embodies what’s so great about the film. The score is a skillful mix of the classic funk soundtrack of many blaxploitation films and staple horror movie sound effects. Let’s just say, if I wanted to take a spooky walk through a cemetery but also kind of wanted to soul train walk while I did it… this is what the background music would be. Also, the fact that there was a whole performance by The Hues Corporation which mingled wonderfully with the surrounding scene makes this movie deserving of its cult following in the black film world.

Additional Random Thoughts

very confused why there is a white woman on the poster of this movie??
In the first scene where Tina encounters Blacula, all I could focus on was how incredible her outfit was— particularly her shiny purple heels.
Oh man, the makeup they used to make the vampires “pale” was painful— they were in desperate need of some Fenty Beauty
Vampire Taxi Driver is my new hero
….. are we supposed to side with the police in this movie?
Should I get an afro?????

Has anyone seen Blacula? What was your favorite part? What did you think about the problematic moments and how they influenced the experience of the movie?

See you soon,

Sofia