Blacula (1972)

An ancient African prince, turned into a vampire by Dracula himself, finds himself in modern Los Angeles.

Director:

William Crain

Writers:

Joan Torres (screenplay), Raymond Koenig (screenplay)

Stars:

William Marshall, Vonetta McGee, Denise Nicholas

1 win.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
William Marshall	...	Blacula
Vonetta McGee	...	Tina
Denise Nicholas	...	Michelle
Thalmus Rasulala	...	Dr. Gordon Thomas
Gordon Pinsent	...	Lt. Jack Peters
Charles Macaulay	...	Dracula
Emily Yancy	...	Nancy
Lance Taylor Sr.	...	Swenson
Ted Harris	...	Bobby McCoy
Rick Metzler	...	Billy Schaffer
Ji-Tu Cumbuka	...	Skillet (as Jitu Cumbuka)
Logan Field	...	Sgt. Barnes
Ketty Lester	...	Juanita Jones
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Sam (as Elisha Cook)
Eric Brotherson	...	Real Estate Agent

Storyline

Interior decorators buy the coffin of an African prince bitten by Dracula centuries before and bring it back to Los Angeles. The African prince starts feeding his hunger while following a woman who looks like his departed wife.

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Plot Keywords:

prince | dracula | vampire | comic relief | swahili | 

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Taglines:

Warm, young bodies will feed his hunger, and hot, fresh blood his awful thirst!

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 August 1972 (USA)

Also Known As:

Blacula - den sorte vampyr

Filming Locations:

6501 Yucca St, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

American International Pictures (AIP), Power Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While the film was in its production stages, William Marshall worked with the producers to make sure his character had some dignity. His character's name was changed from Andrew Brown to Mamuwalde and received a background story about his being an African prince who had been turned into a vampire.

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Goofs

In the opening fight scene, some candles are knocked out of a candelabra on the table only to return in the next shot.

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Quotes

Waitress: [to Mamuwalde] Hi! What'll you have?
Mamuwalde: Make it a Bloody Mary.

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Connections

Version of Dracula (1972)

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Soundtracks

"What the World Knows"
Performed by The Hues Corporation
Written by Wally Holmes
Produced by Wally Holmes and Norman Ratner

User Reviews

Not as scary as I remembered

I saw Blacula in the theatre when I was 5 or 6 years old. It scared the bejeesus out of me!!! I had nightmares for weeks, and my mother was very angry at my cousins for taking me to see it. I wasn't allowed to watch a horror flick again until I was old enough to go on my own and buy my own ticket (and even then I stayed away for a while. . . the next one I saw was Nightmare on Elm Street when I was in highschool!!!).

Anyway, I saw the movie for the second time two nights ago, 29 years later.. . and it was not as scary as I remembered. However, I can see how my young mind was terrified at the time. AND, I can see how my teenaged cousins loved it so much. In 1972, this movie was at the early end of the blaxploitation era, and besides the fact that the main character was a bloodsucker, the characters were generally positive (i.e. no pimpin' drug-dealin' gangstas) You'll be hard pressed to find another early seventies black movie that can say that!

I think, for the time, it was a pretty good low budget horror movie. They deserve their own category, you know.