Blacula (1972)

The Sunday “Bad” Movie posts have existed for almost nineteen full months now.  That’s nineteen months where I would average at least one bad movie a week.  That’s 82 weeks of bad movies.  Most of the people reading this are probably thinking that I am some kind of weirdo who hates himself and likes to use bad movies as a form of torture.  That’s partially true.  But there are other reasons for my desire to watch bad movies.  I find a lot to like in them.  The effort put into many of them, the absurd stories, the potential that went unmet because one of the components was not up to standard.  I enjoy them because of the good rather than despise them for the bad (in most cases).  There is also a wealth of knowledge to gain by watching bad films, as there is when you watch good films.

I gained a lot of this knowledge by watching movies for the Sunday “Bad” Movies.  A big part of it comes down to thinking of what to write and following through by writing the post.  The other big part comes from broadening my horizons and watching movies from classifications and genres that I wouldn’t normally seek out.  Micro-budget films, poorly received musicals, martial arts films, and children’s movies are just a few that come to mind.  This week it was the Blaxploitation craze of the 1970s that I dove into when I watched Blacula.

As you may be able to figure out, Blacula is basically the story of Dracula with black people instead of white people.  There are white people in it, but they are not the main characters in any way whatsoever.  Long after Dracula turned him into a vampire, Blacula (William Marshall) awakens in 1970s Los Angeles.  He encounters a woman named Tina (Vonetta McGee) who reminds him of his love from when he was human.  At the same time, he is killing and sucking the blood of people throughout the city.  Tina’s sister Michelle (Denise Nicholas) and police pathologist Gordon Thomas (Thalmus Rasulala) try to stop any harm from befalling Tina.

I don’t know much about the Blaxploitation area of film.  The little I know is that Pam Grier starred in some of the movies (including the Blacula sequel), the Shaft theme is catchy, Superfly is a cool word, and Black Dynamite spoofed it.  I had never actually watched a movie of the subgenre.  Blacula seemed like a good starting point.  It takes a familiar tale in Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula and exploits the black culture with it.  Having the familiarity eased the introduction by being grounded in a story that isn’t entirely dependent upon the black culture of the 70s.  Or, at the least, it isn’t as dependent upon the stereotypes that white people place upon the 1970s black culture.

Although the story in Blacula might not be rooted in black culture stereotypes, the characters themselves still are.  They talk in a manner that a racist white man of the 1970s would write them as talking.  There are lots of racial slurs being bandied about.  Honky, nigger, all of that stuff.  Blacula is also an extremely strong and deadly character, managing to rid the film of all white characters.  And let’s not forget their names.  Obviously, the name Blacula is rooted in him being black.  Before being turned into Blacula, his name was Prince Mamuwalde.  His girlfriend was Luva.  These names are not names that could be given to characters of any racial background.  They could only be associated with black characters.

The characters are not the only thing in Blacula that fits the stereotype of the black culture.  Something I know about Blaxploitation films without having watched any before now is that they use funky music.  It may not be straight funk, but it’s always close.  This movie was no different.  In the middle of the movie, the action takes a back seat as all of the characters stop in at a nightclub to enjoy some music.  In much the same way (but on a bigger scale) as Birdemic (not Blaxploitation, but fitting of this comparison), the musicians perform while the main characters dance around the club.  The music is funky and fun, becoming a highlight without actually meaning much of anything to the story that is unfolding.

As a first foray into the Blaxploitation films that I have yet to completely immerse myself into, Blacula was all that I could have hoped for.  It brought familiarity to make the transition easier, it was fun, it had good music, and it highlighted some of the things I’ve come to expect from Blaxploitation through the reputation the subgenre has earned.  I enjoyed the movie and look forward to watching other Blaxploitation films in the future.  Blacula was a good place to begin the journey.

Notes:

• I covered the idea of movies with similar stories in the posts for April Fools, and Jonah: A Veggietales Movie.
• A micro-budget film I covered was Rock, Paper, Scissors: Fall of the Original Six.  A poorly received musical I covered was Glitter.  A martial arts film I covered was Miami Connection.  A children’s movie I covered was Old No. 587: The Great Train Robbery.
• The first Sunday “Bad” Movie post was for Starcrash, 82 weeks ago.
• If you have a movie you would like to see be included in the Sunday “Bad” Movies, feel free to suggest it in the comments.  Or you could message me on Twitter.  Also, give me your thoughts on the Blaxploitation genre.  The good, the bad.  Anything you want about it.  The comments are below.