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Scream, Blacula, Scream, 1973
When a dying Voodoo matron decides to pass her position of power onto her apprentice, Lisa (Pam Grier), instead of her son, Willis (Richard Lawson), the latter decides to get revenge by raising Blacula (William Marshall) from the dead. But Blacula will not be controlled by Willis, and instead quickly builds a small army of vampires. Yet instead of vying for power, Blacula longs to have his soul and his humanity restored, and he sets his sights on Lisa as the one to help him.
Grounded in moving character work, this is a surprisingly compelling sequel to the original film.
There are plenty of superficial reasons why someone might not check out a movie: a bad poster, an eye-rolling title, a cringe-worthy tagline. I’ll admit that I’d never paid much attention to Blacula or its sequel because the titles made them sound like the kind of exploitation that I wouldn’t care much for. But I’m glad I finally took the plunge because this film is definitely toward the top of best horror sequels and is just an all around great horror movie.
So much of the credit for how good this movie is rests in the main character, also known as Mamuwalde, and the way that he is portrayed by Marshall. He is a vampire, but one who still retains some of his humanity and longs for his human days in Africa. The movie drops in little moments all throughout the story that force us and Mamuwalde to reflect on what his life was and what it is now. The most poignant is perhaps when he attends an art show featuring a collection of African art and jewelry. The look on his face is bittersweet nostalgia, and also the awareness that his life and loved ones are now history to be set behind museum glass.
I also really loved the portrayal of Mamuwalde’s conflicted feelings about being a vampire. Turning others into vampires gives Mamuwalde power, but we can see that it is empty. When Mamuwalde looks down at the small collection of men and women he’s turned, he has nothing but contempt for them. While many vampire films mostly focus on the angle of erotic control and the vampire as seductor/seductress, there is something mechanical and removed about the way that Mamuwalde systematically turns the people who stand in his way.
The film also has two strong supporting performances in Grier and in Don Mitchell, who plays Lisa’s boyfriend, Justin, an ex-police officer who gets drawn into investigating the spate of deaths in the area. Justin and Mamuwalde have several cat-and-mouse conversations, while the conversations between Lisa and Mamuwalde are more empathetic. In a lesser film, there would be a love triangle with Mamuwalde trying to seduce Lisa. Instead, it’s something more moving, as Mamuwalde sees Lisa as someone powerful enough to help restore his soul.
In the horror department, there’s plenty of good stuff here. An eerie sequence involves Lisa staying up with one of Blacula’s victims, Gloria (Janee Michelle), who at one point arises from her coffin and calls pleadingly to a confused Lisa. There’s also one heck of a final showdown between Blacula, Justin, and a slew of police officers.
From head to toe, this is just a solid horror movie with a fantastic central performance and engaging subplots dancing around him. This is a movie with teeth and with a heart.
Scream, Blacula, Scream, 1973
When a dying Voodoo matron decides to pass her position of power onto her apprentice, Lisa (Pam Grier), instead of her son, Willis (Richard Lawson), the latter decides to get revenge by raising Blacula (William Marshall) from the dead. But Blacula will not be controlled by Willis, and instead quickly builds a small army of vampires. Yet instead of vying for power, Blacula longs to have his soul and his humanity restored, and he sets his sights on Lisa as the one to help him.
Grounded in moving character work, this is a surprisingly compelling sequel to the original film.
There are plenty of superficial reasons why someone might not check out a movie: a bad poster, an eye-rolling title, a cringe-worthy tagline. I’ll admit that I’d never paid much attention to Blacula or its sequel because the titles made them sound like the kind of exploitation that I wouldn’t care much for. But I’m glad I finally took the plunge because this film is definitely toward the top of best horror sequels and is just an all around great horror movie.
So much of the credit for how good this movie is rests in the main character, also known as Mamuwalde, and the way that he is portrayed by Marshall. He is a vampire, but one who still retains some of his humanity and longs for his human days in Africa. The movie drops in little moments all throughout the story that force us and Mamuwalde to reflect on what his life was and what it is now. The most poignant is perhaps when he attends an art show featuring a collection of African art and jewelry. The look on his face is bittersweet nostalgia, and also the awareness that his life and loved ones are now history to be set behind museum glass.
I also really loved the portrayal of Mamuwalde’s conflicted feelings about being a vampire. Turning others into vampires gives Mamuwalde power, but we can see that it is empty. When Mamuwalde looks down at the small collection of men and women he’s turned, he has nothing but contempt for them. While many vampire films mostly focus on the angle of erotic control and the vampire as seductor/seductress, there is something mechanical and removed about the way that Mamuwalde systematically turns the people who stand in his way.
The film also has two strong supporting performances in Grier and in Don Mitchell, who plays Lisa’s boyfriend, Justin, an ex-police officer who gets drawn into investigating the spate of deaths in the area. Justin and Mamuwalde have several cat-and-mouse conversations, while the conversations between Lisa and Mamuwalde are more empathetic. In a lesser film, there would be a love triangle with Mamuwalde trying to seduce Lisa. Instead, it’s something more moving, as Mamuwalde sees Lisa as someone powerful enough to help restore his soul.
In the horror department, there’s plenty of good stuff here. An eerie sequence involves Lisa staying up with one of Blacula’s victims, Gloria (Janee Michelle), who at one point arises from her coffin and calls pleadingly to a confused Lisa. There’s also one heck of a final showdown between Blacula, Justin, and a slew of police officers.
From head to toe, this is just a solid horror movie with a fantastic central performance and engaging subplots dancing around him. This is a movie with teeth and with a heart.