As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL.
Session: Black Vampires Matter (Week 1)
Movie: Blacula (1972)
Directed by William Crain
A Black vampire is stalking Los Angeles, while the authorities try to track him down. Horror ensues.
Reaction and Other Folderol:
Unlike the rest of the class, I actually went into this session with high expectations. I haven't seen a lot of blaxploitation films, but I did enjoy Shaft. And having watched hundreds of movies over the years in this class, I've come to the conclusion that the films of the 1970s are the ones that speak to me the most.
And Blacula didn't disappoint. There were ways that it was a campy romp, but it was also a good serious Dracula movie. The acting, particularly by William Marshall in the titular role was outstanding. And there were a lot of clever subtle touches that just made it a great movie. The Hues Corporation, performing in a couple of bar scenes were a nice touch as well.
The plot does, unfortunately depend on one unlikely coincidence -- that one of the first people Blacula meets looks exactly like the wife he had 200 years earlier before he had been cursed to be a vampire. But it's easy enough to shrug and just accept that.
I didn't realize -- it took Keith point out -- some of the ways this film was made to appeal to its target demographic. Dracula, who appears in the prologue looks more like a southern Colonel. And police in riot gear in post-Watts Los Angeles are the aggressors, attacking Blacula and his beloved.
Blacula can't be considered one of the greats of cinema, but there's no denying that it accomplished what it set out to do, and it's a really good film. I toyed with the idea of rating it a 10, but in the end decided that I just couldn't go there with it. Nevertheless I did give it a 9.5.
Ratings
Me: 9.5
Bob-O: 7.5
Christina: 9.5
Dave: 9.2
Ethan: 8
Joe 10
Cats: No cats. Big sad
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