American International Pictures brought Blacula to American audiences on 25 August 1972.
When I first heard of Blacula as a kid, I thought it was a joke. A Black vampire movie made sense but the title? It sounded like a parody. I only managed to watch it as an adult. And it provided a welcome surprise. It wasn’t just serious (but with humor). It was a great film!
Vampire films often present them as dignified and aristocratic. I generally hate that. But it works here. In fact, it adds to the story. From the first frame, Blacula screams Afrocentrism.
And the ending is heartbreaking and beautiful. Plus, we get a pretty awesome make-up effect.
When it first came out, Blacula received mixed reviews. But over the years, “critics” have reappraised it. Now it receives mixed reviews. I don’t think this says anything about the film. There are two primary reasons. First, “critics” don’t much like horror. Second, white “critics” have not been told they are supposed to like it in the way they have Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song. (But even today, “critics” like Shaft way more than Sweetback.)
Another good thing about Blacula is that its sequel the following year, Scream Blacula Scream, was just as good. The two make an excellent double feature. So I highly recommend you make a night of it. Here is the original:
And here is the follow-up:
Other 25 August Anniversaries
Filmmakers
- Michael Rennie (1909-1971): Actor known for The Day the Earth Stood Still, Cyborg 2087, and Assignment: Terror.
- Van Johnson (1916-2008): Iconic actor in films like Battleground and The Caine Mutiny.
- Mel Ferrer (1917-2008): Actor who did a lot of interesting things in the 1970s like The Antichrist and Eaten Alive.
- Sean Connery (1930-2020): Most people’s favorite James Bond, for some reason. Most notably, he starred in Zardoz.
- Tom Skerritt (1933-): Actor known for Alien and The Dead Zone.
- John Badham (1939-): Director of a lot of interesting films like Dracula and WarGames.
- Marshall Brickman (1939-2024): Co-writer of Sleeper and writer-director of Simon.
- Tim Burton (1958-): Director known for Beetlejuice, Mars Attacks!, and Sleepy Hollow.
Films
- The Wizard of Oz (1939): A young girl escapes her ordinary life for danger is Oz.
- The Disembodied (1957): An adventuring photographer runs into a couple and the wife is a Voodoo priestess.
- The Skull (1965): The skull of the Marquis de Sade takes over a researcher.
- The Legend of Boggy Creek (1972): Bigfoot pseudo-documentary.
- Zombie (1979): The dead come back to life on a tropical island as a doctor tries to find a cure. This is one of the best. Must see!
- Little Monsters (1989): A little boy wakes up in a fantasy world.
- Millennium (1989): An airline disaster investigator learns that it has to do with time travel.
- Desperado (1995): Sequel to El Mariachi.
- Dr Jekyll and Ms Hyde (1995): Spineless man turns into ambitious woman.
- Lord of Illusions (1995): An evil magician is determined to come back from the dead and only Scott Bakula can stop him.
- Severance (2006): Slasher at a team-building retreat.
- Death Note (2017): High school student finds a notebook that kills.
Blacula (1972) poster via Wikipedia under Fair Use.
