Review of Scream Blacula Scream (1973) by Chris W — 03 Nov 2010

This, the follow up to "Blacula" is a little bit more campy (both in general, and in a stereotypical blaxploitation way), but not quite as fun or good. It's okay enough, but is noticeably less good, and that's a disappointment. The tie-in with voodoo is decent I suppose, but the film just leaves a lot to be desired. Also, it's maybe a couple of minutes longer than its predecessor, but the terrible pacing makes it feel at least 30 minutes longer.

Too bad it drags, because this could have been a real scream (hehe). William Marshall returns as Mamuwalde/Blacula, and onces again gives a good performances (far better than he needs to, really). With his hight and booming deep voice, he makes for a striking and imposing vampire. Pam Grier co-stars in this (much to my delight), and, while her performance is good, ishe's been better. Unfortunately, neither she nor Marshall can fully save this, but they do ensure that the film is still watchable.

The original was no masterpiece, but they at least tried to aspire to somehting beyond mere exploitation. This is just lazy. I do still kind of recommend it, but only for the absolutely curious.