Review of Blacula (1972) by Mike M — 01 Oct 2011

A fun 70's blacksploitation pic that plays well as a straight horror - sort of like a Kolchak the Night Stalker with a wah-wah peddle soundtrack - even without the all-too-obvious urban-for-the-sake-of-being-urban touches: including Blacula's name; how Blacula began as an African noble visiting Translyvania to gain support for abolishing the slave trade; how the white cops initially think the Black Panthers are behind the series of killings; Blacula's serious pork chop sideburns he grows during each transformation; and, how members of the urban club scene think nothing of a grown man walking around with a cape in 1972.

Curiously, the film exhibits a tremendous amount of bigotry toward homosexuals, odd, considering it's a film helmed and produced by minorities struggling for equal rights. Not without its genuine shocks and creepy scenes.

Better than expected.