It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

1780: African prince Mamuwalde (William Marshall) and his wife Luva (Vonetta McGee) visit Count Dracula to enlist his help in the fight against slavery. When Dracula reveals that he is not only in favour of slavery, but wants to buy lovely Luva for himself, Mamuwalde and his wife try to leave but are restrained by the Count's men. Enraged, the vampire bites Mamuwalde, and locks him in a coffin, entombing Blacula (as Dracula names him) and Luva in a crypt.Present day: two hilariously camp antiques dealers buy the contents of Dracula's castle, including the coffin containing Blacula, and ship it to Los Angeles, where they break off the padlock securing the casket. Released from his prison, Blacula sates his thirst with the two antiques dealers, before heading for the streets of L.A. where he encounters Tina, the reincarnation of his beloved wife, who he proceeds to woo whenever he's not biting necks. Meanwhile, scientific investigator Gordon Thomas (Thalmus Rasulala) comes to believe that the spate of recent deaths are the work of a vampire and tries to convince the police of what is happening.The first example of Blaxploitation horror, Blacula succeeds in being both scary and silly, with a side order of camp. Marshall plays his role surprisingly straight, but the general atmosphere is one of lightheartedness, the film even taking time out for a couple of funky musical interludes courtesy of The Hues Corporation (who would later top the charts with their disco hit 'Rock The Boat'). Notable fun frights include the exhumation of a victim who leaps from his grave to attack Gordon, and the creepy return from the dead of a female vampire taxi driver. Also adding to the enjoyment are the stylish opening credits, some cool animated transitions to bat form, the sight of Blacula's hairy face in full on vamp mode, and a touching ending as Blacula ends his own life after losing his love once again.

A movie with a funny racist name that does not really treat the character differently from any other colored character. The movie starts with a cliché thunderclap and castle, where we are introduced to the infamous count Dracula himself and the soon to be blacula. The opening quickly establishes an initial set up and a good first impression of our main character. While the count provides us with the racism expected from the title. The fight scenes – if one can call them that – have poor choreography and are an embarrassment but taking the release date of this film in account (1972) could be considered nostalgic. Almost all the supporting vampires have zero to none acting ability or are overacting on purpose. The music is horrible in creating any kind of suspense but succeeds in other scene's when cutting to African groovy street music. Not 5 min in the movie, we have our first title drop after the count dooms Mamuwalde (Blacula) to his fate. The movie then cuts to what I personally found the most awkward opening ever. After which a flash forward to 150 years later follows. The first scene goes 180° in regards to the opening, where we see a mixed gay couple making the unfortunate purchase of blacula in his coffin and shipping said coffin to Los Angeles where the entire movie takes place. While at first thinking that the title might have been misleading and the movie would be about progress: being open to people of color and partner choices. This presumption is however quickly stomped back in the ground when the above mentioned couple is later multiple times referred to as the 'faggots'. Throughout the movie we have a black main cast with a supportive white cast including generic stormtrooper like cops. The only 2 fleshed out characters are blacula and his nemesis the doctor. Blacula is a funny poetic bitch slapping vampire and the doctor is a smart badass. The movie does a good job keeping the vampire mythos classic with the only missing element being garlic but this would have solved the vampire problem too easy. What was supposed to be a monster movie turns out to be a love tragedy about our beloved blacula missing his deceased wife but having no problems choosing the first black woman he sees as a substitute. The substitute in question is Tina, a character who is very fast love struck by the smooth count to a point of going against her friends. Another remark is that blacula is very OK with being in the future and adapts really well. Without any spoilers the movie is a better love story than twilight but the ending could have been handled much better. Overall the movie isn't bad, passing is good even though it feels like it's missing something. The current rating of 5.6/10 at IMDb fits this movie well. Recommend watching this with friends and/or alcohol.

SPOILERS! This was a film I had heard about for years. I recalled J.J. describing it as "a brother gives a bunch of foxy mammas hickeys," or something of the sort on Good Times.I actually found it quite entertaining. It stacks up well with other 1970s vampire films. I never quite got the "Blaxploitation" tag for films about black characters in the 1970s. The very name of the genre indicates blacks are being taken advantage of. If films with primarily black casts, aimed largely at black audiences is exploitation, what is the rap/hip hop industry?In any case, I found it an enjoyable film. Bass-voiced and classically-trained William Marshall was perfect for the role of Prince Mamuwalde, who came back after 200 years as Blacula. Thalmus Rasulala, a frequent face in TV shows, was outstanding as police detective Dr. Gordon Thomas. (Again, a black cop with an M.D., solving crimes & apparently well-respected by at least part of a large metropolitan police force in the early 1970s is exploitation?)Vonetta McGee and Denise Nicholas are strong as the two female leads, especially McGee in the dual role as the 18th-century princess and the modern-day Tina. No doubt, 99 percent of the audience was rooting for Mamualde to make her a vampire in time to escape and join him in vampiric matrimony. Mamuwalde is the only case I can think of in film history of a vampire suicide, at the end.Overall it is worthwhile watching for anyone who loves the vampire genre, "blaxploitation" films or who is a fan of any of the primary cast members.

Among the films of the Seventies that were classified as black exploitation Blacula still has quite the cult following. No doubt due to William Marshall's voice and commanding presence in the title role. Marshall outside of the two Blacula films is best known for an appearance on Star Trek as Doctor Dengstrom who invents a super computer. Had he come along a little later Marshall would have been giving James Earl Jones stiff competition for the roles Jones got.Marshall plays an African prince who comes over with his wife Vonetta McGee and is entertained by the famous Count Dracula. Marshall is on a mission to stop the African slave trade, but Charles Macauley who plays the infamous count defends the institution and then he and his vampire minions attack the visiting prince and make him a vampire in a sealed coffin with McGee locked in a sealed tomb.Two centuries go by and a pair of gay and flamboyant antique dealers buy the contents of Dracula's castle and unloose Marshall on 20th century Los Angeles. Marshall is one hungry vampire and after 200 years of no feeding. Worst of all he spots Vonetta McGee who is a reincarnated version of his bride. Worse for Marshall she's the sister of Denise Nicholas who is the wife of his Van Helsing Thalmus Rasulala. My reaction to the two stereotypical gay guys was at first to be offended. But on further reflection these two stereotypes and all represent a hopeful future. Blacula follows along the lines of the Dracula legend with all the characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses of the vampire. In the end one of those weaknesses bring his demise about, but not after he wreaks havoc in Los Angeles.And the film is quite a picture of seventies culture, especially black culture. The voice of Marshall, simply marvelous.