MovieChat Forums > Blacula (1972) Discussion > the begining conversation had me hooked

the begining conversation had me hooked

posted 19 years ago by beatles1
15 replies | jump to latest

I just wanted to write a little message on why I dug this movie so much and also a few things I thought could have been done bettter but honeslty weren't that big a deal. I saw Blacula yrs ago when I was a kid and then it never came on tv anymore. I always loved low budget little horror flicks: anything from Halloween-just the first one, Dawn of the Dead, Shock Waves, the blob-and the second. So now I am buying all my old favorite horror flicks-hey they rarley ever come on tv.

So anyway when I rented blacula a few months ago the first thing that really grabbed me was the conversation Dracula and Mamawalde were having. It was real smart, sophisticated and sharp. Not bad for a shoe string budjet little flick. You could tell the filmakers wanted something to say about racisim and how different peoples attitudes were about it. Also both actors took there roles seriously in wanting to portray dignified aristicratic characters. Poor Mama maybe if he wouldn't have called Dracula an animal he might have let them go. That must have really insulted him. When he said the classic lines of cursing him Blacula that was classic. I was all in it! True horror dialouge! The when it cut to that cartoon with the funk song going with the credits that was great. I don't even like funk music much but that piece made me feel like dancing. The chilli peppers only wish they could so something like that! There was defitneley some creepy stuff going on to! The scene where he stalks that girl going to her house to develop the film was pretty errie! Also when that cabbie runs out of the morgue and attacks that stupid guy who didn't lock the door! Even the music at times kind of gave me the creeps like when tina ran from mama the first time when he startled her. But I think Marshalls performance was really kept me going through the film. He is the Black version of Count Dracula. Everything from the way he speaks which is sharp and mature, elegant. Right down to the way he puts his cape on. I love when he says to Dr thomas good evening gentlemen I say were you looking for me! That is Dracula all the way.

So now for things that bothered me a little in the film that was just to easy to point out although as I said before they weren't that big a deal. First off did anyone ever think that how could mamawalde just know his way around La so good after being locked away for some 200 years. You would think he'd have some culture shock in a strange new city and time. How did he know exaclty where to find Tina at the club! I was in LA last yr and I had a hard time finding things! Also I wish more would have been told about how Dracula was killed and don't you think other vampires could have hidden away for yrs killing when they needed to-kind of like interview with the vampire. But the thing that bothered me the most is tina just falling head over heels over Mamawalde and she only met him two times! That's ridiculous. When he tells her he was locked in a coffin for 200 years murdered by dracula and turned into a vampire: she is like wow heavy but still hold me! No way any person with a half brain would be like you are a nut get out of here! That was just pushing it. The movie would have better to just have him befriend and slowly romance her without telling her his life story. That's just pushing it to the extreme. None of the characters in La were'nt very bright and sterotyipical like the gays and redneck police officers who were making lewd comments I could have done without. Dr thomas was really the only smart cool interesting character in the movie aside from Mamawalde. Everyone else was just bland and sterotypical. I think the filmakers wanted him the be the black Van Helsing. He had it all together. I liked it when he was looking at the pictures of Mamawalde and he just knows it's him.

So anyway there is my little review of a movie I loved when I was a kid-hey does anyone remember Son of Sevengoolie. He used to show horror movies late at night on channel 48! I still Love Blacula now it is a classic horror film that is scarey good fun without any sex and blood gore like half of todays movies. Now that I am older I can see some things that weren't to cool with it but hey it was low budjet and I guess they were trying to keep with the times -the 70s like the two gays and redneck polic officers. Probably wouldn't be to pc today. If it were remade today that stuff would be totally cut out and with more realistic characters and maybe change a few things around. I think a good idea if they did remake it would be to have dracula come out from hiding when he finds out mamawalde has awaken and tries to get him to join forces together but winds up battling one another-kind of like freddy and jason! Oh well just rattling on here. I hope you liked reading my message and if you want to reply please do. I accept all comments good or bad. Hey maybe I can learn something. Have a good one pamoviefan. You're behaving like some animal! really?

[–] Clams 19 years ago

Yes, indeed, William Marshall was a very good actor. I never would have guessed if I hadn't read it here that he was from Gary, Indiana. I always thought he was British with that regal voice of his.

Incidentally, somebody posted on the user comments forum that it was Marshall's idea to change Blacula from a funky, jive-talking vampire to an African prince enslaved by Count Dracula, so that prologue was probably written by him. That makes a lot of sense because I honestly think he was completely incapable of playing the character that way, and the fact that he made them change the character around like that proves to me that he wouldn't have wanted to either.

[–] exchronos 19 years ago

The reason why Tina knew him and was okay with the whole vampire thing is because she was his wife reincarnated, and the love they shared centuries ago was still within her subconscious memory. It's a common theme in vampire films and literature, and has been ever since it was used for Dracula (thinking Mina is his reincarnated wife). Also it was always a theme in the Universal mummy movies, and explored a little more in-depth in those films.

How'd he know L.A.? Two theories here.

1. When he bit the two homosexuals, or possibly just whenever a vampire bites anybody, they or he could have attained the information from them (or their blood). Or, since he created them there would be a blood link between them which helped establish a mental link, since vampires supposedly have mental powers such as telepathy (mind reading and/or manipulation).

2. He turned into a bat and scoped out the city's layout. Or when he was walking around he was trying to get a feel for the city, then saw Tina and everything got screwed up. He found her at the club because due to his brief encounter with her he was able to sense her aurora, which he also recognized as his wife's, and used his super senses/powers to track her down.

Hope that helps.

Sincerely,
Exchronos

[–] tyreeka18 19 years ago

No that dosen't help sorry!!!!!!

[–] stones78 9 years ago

get lost, dope.

[–] FrankZitto 19 years ago

"Yes, Tina was the reincarnation of Blacula's wife and that's why she was able to believe him and establish such a quick rapport. You might be interested in a little trivia I read somewhere: The actress who played Mumawalde's wife looks exactly like the actress who played Tina. In fact, the Tina actress was supposedly the reincarnation of the wife actress."

It's the same actress. Her name is Vonetta McGee. She played two parts, his wife and the role of Tina. Yes she was reincarnated into the Tina in the movie.

Exchronos hit it on the nose. The same appllied to all other vampire films.

[–] witter1980 18 years ago

The part with the cab driver woman coming out of the morgue and attacking the guy still gives me the creeps..just the way they filmed her slow -motion like that..eesh...but i have a question...all Blacula's victims (and pretty much all victims in vampire movies) are brainless bloodsuckers..why? did the experience drive them crazy? because Blacula, Dracula, Lestat, Count Yorga etc....they're not like this ..they can think , carry conversations with people, interact...not just come running out screaming and bite..they're CHARACTERS

"Oh Renfield you disappoint me so"-Dracula

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] roomsixproductions 18 years ago

Great summary of the flick, Sarasotalts-1! I agree, Blacula was a class act.

"Where are all the good men dead, in the heart or in the head?"
- Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)

[–] GroovyDoom 18 years ago

Actually if you remember, Blacula himself changed into a sort of inhuman monster when he attacked. The other vampires are the same way, we just don't see them as much. The policemen spot Bobby on the street meeting a friend and walking back to the warehouse with him, and he looks normal. Likewise, Nancy (the photographer) looks normal, too, when she stumbles out onto her front porch and the policeman comes to help her. Then she suddenly goes all fangs and bites him.

I love "Blacula", but I actually like vampire movies a lot more when they don't have these sudden vampire 'transformations'. I like it better when the vampires are scary looking all the time instead of just when the script calls for them to be biting or chasing someone. "Blacula" is one of my favorites for this reason, because aside from Mamuwalde, we rarely see any of the other vampires when they don't look like ghouls.

[–] cdunbar-3 13 years ago

I agree with you. Vampires are more believable when they are consistently gruesome looking, rather than transforming from attractive to monstrous. For that reason, Nosferatu (the original) is probably my favourite vampire film, though I like many others, especially "Fright Night"--the 1985 version. Chris Sarandon does go from handsome to hideous but that movie is so well done I don't mind that it breaks a few rules.

[–] kerrykop 8 years ago

"The part with the cab driver woman coming out of the morgue and attacking the guy still gives me the creeps."

Here is something to contemplate. listen to her scream as she attacks the guy. Her screams sound a lot like the music that was in the original psycho when the main character who gets slashed in the shower by her attacker.

[–] roomsixproductions 18 years ago

When you watch movies of this nature from that time period, please try to remember to take into account that the movie was made more than thirty years ago, and things have changed A LOT since then.

You are in the future, looking back at the past, so things are always gonna look a bit "behind-the-times" and politically-incorrect, etc. You're not the same person you were back then, either. Some of this stuff looked dated to us back then at the time, so I can imagine how you must feel watching it now.

Add all of that to the fact that these flicks weren't exactly big-budget movies with mega-famous stars/directors, and you get what you get.

"Where are all the good men dead, in the heart or in the head?"
- Grosse Pointe Blank (1997)

[–] Klein_Returns 15 years ago

But it is still a great movie.

[–] nicotinequeen63 14 years ago

We had just moved to East Texas from a tiny, hillbilly, Arkansas town & we had never been around black people or seen a movie with an all black cast. We had been here about a week, when my mother decided to drop my twin sis & me off at the theater for a Saturday matinee. This movie was playing, lol. The ticket seller asked us if we were sure we wanted to see it & being all of 8 years old, we said 'yes sir'. Well, we were the youngest kids & the only white people in that packed theater, & we had the time of our lives screaming our heads off & running up & down the aisle, away from vampires that I was SURE were gonna jump out of the screen. It was more effective than any 3D movie I've ever seen. Well, I never forgot the movie that welcomed me to the real world, so my husband bought it for me for Christmas. I can't wait to resee it. (I recently watched the trailer on Youtube & it was hillarious, so, go check it out)

[–] 9 years ago

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