Blacula is the name of a fictional character that appeared in two
blaxploitation horror films produced for
American International Pictures in 1972 and 1973, respectively. The
character was portrayed by William Marshall. Both films deal with the character of
Mamuwalde, an African prince vampirized and imprisoned in a sealed coffin by Count Dracula, only to find himself released in the 1970s. The first film was produced by Samuel Z. Arkoff and Joseph T. Naar, directed by William Crain, and written by Raymond Koenig and Joan Torres. Blacula won the "Best Horror Film" award at the 1972 Saturn Awards.
Blacula was a financial success when it was originally released. It was immediately followed by a sequel,
Scream Blacula Scream (1973), in which the vampire (with Marshall reprising
the role) is made corporeal again by a Voodoo practitioner. The success of the film also inspired
the making of several other blaxploitation/horror crossovers in the mid-seventies,[citation needed] including Abby, Blackenstein, Dr. Black and Mr. Hyde,
Ganja and Hess, The House on
Skull Mountain, J.D.'s Revenge and Sugar Hill, although none of these films were as successful commercially as Blacula.
Two more recent horror films with predominantly black casts were Vampire in
Brooklyn (a 1995 film which shares many themes and source material with Blacula) and Bones (2001).
Synopsis
In 1780, Prince Mamuwalde (Marshall), the ruler of an African nation, seeks the help of Count Dracula (Charles Macaulay) in suppressing the slave trade. Dracula, who along with
his other evils is revealed as a racist, not only refuses to help but also turns Mamuwalde into a
vampire (and denigrates him with the name "Blacula") and imprisons him in a sealed coffin.
Mamuwalde's wife Luva (McGee) is also imprisoned but not being a vampire dies in captivity.
Years later, in 1972, the coffin has been purchased as part of an estate by two gay interior
decorators, one black and one white (the white one, being Rob Tesar, the rather stereotyped
depiction of the two gay men is one of the more controversial aspects of the film today) and shipped to Los Angeles. The men open the coffin and become the vampire's first victims. Mamuwalde travels
around the city and soon encounters Tina (McGee), who appears to be a reincarnation of his
deceased wife, and begins stalking her. This brings the vampire to the attention of Dr Gordon
Thomas (Rasulala), who is helping Lt. Peters (Pinsent) with the investigation of the series of strange murders that are
occurring, and whose girlfriend Michelle (Nicholas) is Tina's sister (by an unlikely coincidence, Tina and Michelle are also
friends of Bobby, one of the murdered gay men).
The film continues as the vampire kills several more victims (Marshall is effective in portraying his character as someone who
realizes what he is doing is wrong but is unable to resist his compulsions) and romances Tina, who falls in love with Mamuwalde.
Meanwhile Thomas, Peters, and Michelle are following the trail of victims and come to realize that a vampire is responsible and
Mamuwalde is their culprit. In the final scenes, the police shoot at Mamuwalde and Tina; he is unharmed but she is mortally
wounded. Mamuwalde saves her by turning her into a vampire. Thomas, Peters, and Michelle find Tina and kill her with a stake
through her heart. Mamuwalde decides that he does not want to go on after losing his love a second time and walks out into the
sun to kill himself.
Response
The film was not reviewed by most mainstream critics, but those that did were typically unfavorable toward the
film.[citation needed] Despite this, the film has a
strong cult following, and William Marshall's performance in the lead has been widely praised.[citation needed] The two gay characters at the
beginning of the film are rather controversial today, and many viewers consider them offensive stereotypes.[citation needed] Some fans point out, however, that
while the pair do swindle an antiques dealer at Dracula's estate (they even tell him they're swindling him), we are put in a
position to sympathize with them when they are attacked by Blacula and they're forced to fight for their lives, and the depiction
of their genuinely loving relationship was rather daring for the time.[citation needed] The film found a new audience in the early '80s, when Elvira featured it on her syndicated TV series, Movie Macabre. It has
since become a cult classic,[citation needed] and is now available on DVD from
MGM Home Entertainment, the current copyright owners of the AIP catalog. The film
also won the first ever Saturn Award for Best Horror Film.
References in popular culture
- Dr. Dre's hit single "Keep Their Heads
Ringin'" (from the Friday soundtrack) had a reference to Blacula.
- Jefferson Twilight, a vampire hunter that specializes in hunting black vampires in the cartoon series The Venture Bros., uses the word "Blacula" to refer to all black vampires, citing at one point
that "African-American vampire" is not universally applicable (i.e. there are no "African-American" vampires in England), and he
doesn't know the politically correct term for a black vampire.
- The Simpsons has also referenced the character and film Blacula multiple
times:
- In a segment from the "Anthology of Interest I" episode of
Futurama, Fry's old boss Mr. Panucci states "There's only three real monsters, kid:
Dracula, Blacula and Son of Kong."
- In The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, there's a
character named Dracula who looks to be an aged version of Blacula. A full-sized puppet of this Dracula was used in
Cartoon Network commercials and as the narrator during the "Grim and Courage Hour",
which showed Billy and Mandy and Courage the Cowardly Dog cartoons.
- The music video for the Gnarls Barkley song "Who
Cares" revolves around a black vampire character named Blacula.
- There is a pornographic spoof of Blacula titled, "Lust of Blackula".
- Daniel Carver was Blacula for Halloween on a 2006 episode of The Howard Stern Show.
- In the novel Anno Dracula, Prince Mamuwalde is mentioned in passing as a
notable non-Caucasian vampire.
- Cartoon Networks Robot Chicken Made A Reference To Blacula In One Of Their
Sketches.
External links
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