William Crain

(In French, On Cable TV, March 2022) As with many blaxploitation classics, Blacula seems disappointing today: it has a lot of potential, a great premise, plenty of swagger and distinctive characters, but falters in its execution with low production values, muddy cinematography, awkward staging and a poor sense of space and time. Still, the result is a lot of fun if, like me, you’ve got the Bram Stoker plot outline memorized backwards and forward. Setting its action in 1970s Los Angeles, Blacula runs through the usual genre elements, but the twist of placing it among the black community makes it distinctive enough in the vampire pantheon. The cross-hybridization also works the other way, bringing an element of genre horror into blaxploitation and adding depth to its otherwise crime-dominated nature. Director William Crain gets a few breaks in starring the superb Vonetta McGee but it’s not quite enough: The concept and the legend are better than the execution—Blacula is still worth a look, but it’s certainly ripe for a remake.