William Marshall as Blacula (1972)

William Marshall as Prince Mamuwalde in Scream Blacula Scream

Watercolors on Paper, 8.5" x 11", 2024

By Josh Ryals

Blacula Graphic Novel (February 2023) | The Comic Anthologist

Blacula was originally a film concept brought to life back in 1972 during the "blaxsplotation" era of the 1970s, on the premise of a creation of a black vampire. Here William Marshall brought a regal performance to the horror character Blacula. This is a review of the same character who after the events of the 1972 film, resurfaces in the 21st Century seeking vengeance for his condition, all the while keeping what left of his humanity intact. This story was brought to life by the writer / artist team of Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander.

with the way my deepdive is going, it really feels like people stole the dracula-van helsing reincarnation plot and the prince mamuwalde-luva reincarnation plot and decided to shove mina and dracula in them

we hate to see it

i deeply enjoyed blacula (1972). the film, one of the really noteworthy in the blaxploitation genre and the first in a well-populated trend of blaxploitation-horror films, oozes 70s suaveness. in the midst of the slick atmosphere, though, the film presents an interesting and highly effective framing of vampirism. vampirism is both the ultimate act of violence done to the most vulnerable in society—gay black men, black working women, etc—but that curse also gives them unmatched strength and power. and yet, by using that power, they are labeled bestial, dangerous, and unnatural. an early invocation of the black panthers brings a contemporary parallel. all of this is exemplified in the charming, dignified, dangerous, tragic figure of the prince mamuwalde, who was given the name “blacula” by the enslaver who saddled him with the curse of vampirism to punish him for daring to act as an equal. cursed to a despised half-life though he is, mamuwalde retains absolute dignity and absolute control—he never kills police officers in a way that would pass the power of vampirism on to them, electing instead to beat them to death with his bare hands; he is not put down like a rabid animal, but instead chooses to die on his own terms. i found blacula (1972)’s reframing of standard vampire movie tropes the tropes to be both refreshing and compelling, and i would highly recommend this film

Where did the big turning point regarding Dracula's character in medium happen where he became a tragic figure angsting about living forever and lost love? Stoker's Count is a being of pure evil who the book implies willingly chose that path and while Bela Lugosi and Christopher Lee glamorized the character considerably, Dracula was still portrayed in their films as a wicked monster. So is it purely an invention of Francis Ford Coppola and Castlevania?  

[Spoilers: A lot of Dracula’s cinematic history and various alterations to its plot]

So, I think part of what’s going on with Dracula by the time we hit the 90s is that the literary tradition that Anne Rice more or less jump-started--in which authors look to vampires as tormented outsiders worthy of our sympathy--had reshaped expectations for vampire media in general. At some point in the 20th century, people realized that maybe it was time to take the figures that literature had routinely vilified in relation to apprehensions regarding race, gender and sexuality and to reposition them as protagonists. I think this is a shift that you can see influencing Frank Langella’s 1979 Dracula even if the Count is still very much the villain there.

With regards to Coppola’s iconic Dracula, though, there is a very specific line of media I believe you can trace to show how we got from Lee and Lugosi’s Counts to Oldman’s. In the 1960s, the beautifully low budget gothic soap opera Dark Shadows introduced the world to the sympathetic vampire character Barnabas Collins, which big plot arc involved becoming obsessed with a woman he believed to be the reincarnation of his lost love Josette. While there were prior Gothic texts that featured reincarnated lost loves (the 1932 Mummy film and H. Rider Haggard’s She), a lot of people feel that Dark Shadows really established the basic plot as regards vampires. This eventually made its way into Dracula adaptations in the 70s, and featured in both a 1974 version of Dracula starring Jack Palance and in the original 1972 Blacula (and I will note for all that film’s failings, Prince Mamuwalde handles his reincarnation plot a lot more gracefully than Dracula generally does). While it was Coppola’s film that really popularized the idea of the Count as a tragic romantic lead, it was drawing on about three decades of prior stories with very similar dynamics.

Did you ever see the following episodes? :

“The Wild Mamuwalde Mystery” The gang visits Velma’s uncle in Los Angeles and runs into an 18th century African prince named Mamuwalde, a vampire who haunts the city! (The episode where Scooby meets BLACULA!)

"A Night Of Nunsense" When the gang gets stranded outside a spooky convent, they stumble onto the path of a ghastly nun! “Jeepers! These Hills Have Peepers!” The gang break down in the Nevada desert and realize they are not alone!

Dracula: I name you...Blacula!

Prince Mamuwalde: Yeah, that's stupid, nobody's going to call me that in the rest of the movie.

Dracula: Fuck.

I miss Prince Mamuwalde :(

Here is Content Abnormal magazine issue #6! Enjoy!

Blacula: Return of the King with Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander | Sig Slayers Classics

The creative team behind Blacula: Return of the King discuss bringing the 70s cult classic to the comics. Writer/producer Rodney Barnes and master illustrator Jason Shawn Alexander take us through what it took to acquire the rights to Blacula and create this new epic graphic novel.

u know, with some exceptions, i gotta say i really have a lot of love for blaxploitation films of the 70s and 80s. theres something very authentic about them even when the stories are goofy and the acting is over the top or straight up bad

like a while ago i watched blacula with some friends, never having seen it before and only knowing about it from jokes, but it actually ended up being a really tragic story imo. there are of course troublesome elements to it, but at the end of the day it ends up being such a potent allegory for slavery and the bonds that black people are still chained by to this day that it was really difficult for me to completely rag on it like i was expecting to. william marshalls performance in particular is just so good that even though prince mamuwalde (blacula) is technically the villain, its impossible not to empathize with his being forced into vampirism, a sort of form of eternal servitude. like idk i was really not expecting a movie titled “blacula” to get me all in my feelings but by the end i really did end up genuinely liking that movie as opposed to the so-bad-its-good feeling i was expecting to get from it

Movie Macabre 106 - Blacula (1972)

Movie Macabre Season 01 - Episode 06 (006) Original Air Date: 01 November 1981

Blacula (1972) Directed by William Crain Written by Joan Torres and Raymond Koenig

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

Starring: William Marshall Vonetta McGee Denise Nicholas Thalmus Rasulala

Blacula was the sixth movie featured on Elvira's Movie Macabre first season. Equal parts supernatural horror and Blaxploitation film, Blacula is a film that continues to have an important spot in horror history. Though I had never seen Blacula, cultural osmosis led me to believe I knew more about this movie.

Prince Mamuwalde is a cultural ambassador sent to open relations with Transylvania and the rest of the world. Dracula, a racist who delights in enslaving people, takes offense to Mamuwalde's demand that he stop all slave trade in Transylvania. So Dracula turns Mamuwalde into a vampire, and curses him with a terrible name.

Luckily, no one calls him Blacula. What follows is a quintessential story about a vampire trying to reunite with their lost love while wrestling with their demons. William Crain's directing tends more towards action than horror, which I think benefits the film greatly. Elements that could seem cheesy come off more exciting. The film makes excellent use of light and shadow.

The story is very character-driven. The four central performances are all captivating in their own ways. We get to know a lot about these characters just based on how they carry themselves or interact with others. These are strong, intelligent, confident characters.

Overall, Blacula was a highlight of these first six Movie Macabre features. It's easy to see how Blaxploitation films, their casts, and their creators influenced so much of American pop culture at the time. Add Blacula to your watchlist if you enjoy supernatural action and character driven stories.

This film also features The Hues Corporation. Most well known for their song "Rock the Boat," the group recorded three songs for Blacula. I saw a lot of reviews complaining about the almost complete performance of "There He Is Again" in the middle of movie. I loved this moment. The song feels like a message, both to the audience and the characters. It doesn't slow the pace of the film. And look at the joy. This is a group of people doing what they love to do. I love to see it.