10 Horror Films You Constantly Have To Defend Loving
8. Blacula (1972)
AIPThe idea of an African-American vampire seems like the cheapest of jokes, but while William Crains movie isnt above those (the titular character belongs to the Eboni tribe), it steers clear of dialect humour and racial caricature. You can find that in the Blade character from Marvels Tomb of Dracula comic book series, whose jive-talkin hero (he refers to Dracula as Fangs) was strangely absent from the big-screen adaptations starring Wesley Snipes. Awakened in 1970s California, where people mock his cape and call him one strange dude, Blacula (William Marshall) meets a young woman he believes to be the reincarnation of his dead bride. He pursues her and ultimately transforms her into a vampire, only to lose her again at the hands of an African-American Van Helsing. Distraught, and unable to live in an era where hes likely to be mistaken for Jim Brown, Blacula wanders out into the day and commits suicide by sunlight. As deliriously campy (some might say cheesy) as it sounds, Blaculas tongue-in-cheek qualities and Marshalls performance elevate it to the front rank of Blaxploitation horror pictures, although in a field that also includes The House On Skull Mountain as well as a forgettable sequel, Scream Blacula Scream, that might not be saying much.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
