Blacula (1972)

Interesting facts

• Budget: $500K

Blacula is a 1972 American blaxploitation horror film directed by William Crain. It stars William Marshall in the title role about an 18th-century African prince named Mamuwalde, who is turned into a vampire by Count Dracula in the Count's castle in Transylvania in the year 1780 after Dracula refuses to help Mamuwalde suppress the slave trade. The film co-stars Vonetta McGee, Denise Nicholas, Gordon Pinsent and Thalmus Rasulala.

Production

According to director William Crain, Blacula was born by American International Pictures' financial troubles in the early '70s. "The rumor was that they were in the red, and so they were going to do a Black vampire," he said. The original script was called Count Brown's in Town, and was "full of 'shuckin' and jivin.'"

Horror scholar Dani Bethea noted the film's similarities with the 1819 short story The Black Vampyre; A Legend of St. Domingo.

After William Marshall was cast to play the lead, he worked with Crain and the producers to heavily retool the main character of Blacula, who was initially more of a straightforward villain. His character name was changed from Andrew Brown to Mamuwalde, and his character received a background story about being an African prince who had succumbed to vampirism from the original Dracula.

Many members of the cast and crew of Blacula had worked in television. William Crain had directed episodes of The Mod Squad. William Marshall had previously worked in stage productions and in episodes of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Nurses, Bonanza, Star Trek and Mannix. Thalmus Rasulala, who plays Dr. Gordon Thomas, is best known for roles in episodes of The Twilight Zone, Perry Mason and Rawhide.

Blacula was in production between late January and late March 1972. It was shot on location in Los Angeles, with some scenes shot in Watts and the final scenes taken at the Hyperion Outfall Treatment Plant in Playa del Rey.

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