Possibly the first blaxploitation horror movie, Blacula is a fun romp that, while always treating its subject matter seriously, includes enough off beat humor and situations to entertain the whole way through. The late, great William Marshall stars as Mamuwalde, leader of an African kingdom that comes to Count Dracula’s castle in Transylvania in 1780 for money and help to bring his people into the 18th Century. Also looking for favor among the heads of Europe, Mamuwalde hopes to end slave trade. Too bad for him that Dracula is a complete and utter bastard and even delights with the prospect of Mamuwalde’s wife Luva added as a potential slave for his household. After a hugely one sided fight where Mamuwalde unleashes all of his African fury on their chump asses, Dracula overcomes him with the help of his evil female vampire harem and locks Mamuwalde in a coffin after biting him and turning him into a vampire. Mamuwalde is locked in a secret crypt, unable to feed for the rest of time, and Luva is walled up with her husband just because Dracula is a real jerk.

Blacula is the perfect example that if you take your subject matter seriously, then for the most part the audience will too. The movie, when not kicking some fine funk and soul tunes, has a nice gloomy atmosphere. Marshall makes not only a fierce monster, but a haunted, driven man consumed by forces he can not understand or control. He is not a vampire that chooses his victims, but a creature that is powerless to stop his craving for blood and the stronger urge for his love. Marshall plays the part with equal menace and tragedy.

Another novel approach is that Tina (the reincarnation of Luva) knows who Blacula is, the monster he is, and chooses to go to him of her own free will. Most vampire movies are the seduction of an innocent woman who just can’t help herself in the presence of the stronger male. It is usually up to another male, a rival to the vampire’s affections, to save the powerless woman then vanquish the evil and subject the woman to yet another form of coercion under the guise of love. Tina knows what fate awaits her if she goes to Mamuwalde’s side and she does so anyway, empowering her as it ultimately damns her. Her friends are faced with the virtual no win scenario: if they kill Blacula they rob Tina of the truest and purest love she will ever experience, but if they fail to destroy the vampire, their friend will be lost forever.

The movie also succeeds as a jump inducing horror movie with many effective set pieces. One of the fondest and earliest memories I have of watching this movie for the first time is when morgue attendant Elisha Cook Jr. is carelessly gabbing away on a payphone. The cab driver that ran over Blacula earlier in the movie and was vampirized starts to rise from the morgue slab. She attacks Cook in a slow motion screeching flurry which climaxes with his prosthetic arm being wrenched off as he is dragged screaming away. It is easily the most horrific shot in the movie and comes virtually out of nowhere to jolt the viewer. What made the scene even scarier for a young tyke like me at the time was that the cabbie was played by Ketty Lester who would go on to play Hester Sue on Little House on the Prairie. Imagine watching Little House for years and then seeing one of the kindest main cast members transformed into the undead. Truly shocking and yet today I find that the scene still has the same dynamic impact.

Equal parts funky and scary, Blacula is a winner. It’s silly in all the right places while never taking away from the tragic main thrust at its center. Filled with memorable images such as Blacula’s street fight with the police, various vampires lurching into frame, Marshall’s amazing eyebrows and sideburns as he lets his vampire side out as well as the haunting final images of Blacula’s staked bride and his mournful self immolation by the sun’s rays, Blacula is sure to have something for everyone. Unfortunately the theatrical trailer is less respectful and treats the movie in the manner of a comedy.

• A small fun fact is that William Marshall went on to play “The King of Cartoons” on Pee Wee’s Playhouse years later.