Scream Blacula Scream (1973)

Review by Mari Lynne Rupp



Despite the cheesy nearly-offensive name, this movie actually delivers. Not just in blaxploitation cheesiness, but there are some genuinely spooky scenes worth mentioning. Dark Prince Mamuwalde was cursed centuries ago by Dracula, having been double-crossed by him after asking for his help. When a Voodoo priestess chooses her adopted daughter (Pam Grier) as her successor, passing over her own son (Richard Lawson) her son uses the bones of Blacula (William Marshall) to try and exact his revenge. As we vampire fans know, when you try and "use" a vampire, he ends up using "you" instead, as is what happens to the unfortunate Willis(Lawson). Blacula quickly builds his minion army, and casts a greedy eye toward Lisa (Grier) as his new partner. William Marshall's commanding presence rivals that of Christopher Lee, and is just as compelling. There's a resurrection scene, that of Lisa's friend, Gloria, who returns from the dead, and tries to feed off Lisa that will bring chills down your spine. The direction and acting seem superior for a grindhouse movie. So much that one will sigh wistfully, wondering why we don't get movies like this these days. This is one of those rare, rare movies that cross the grindhouse and blaxploitation lines into true horror, an absolutely enjoyable horror movie that fully deserves its position in the anals of vampire classics. 9/10