Blacula (1972)★★★★☆

Poster

Well, we’ve made it through an entire month. And now it’s February. In the US (and Canada, I think), February is Black History Month. I want to be clear that I am not qualified to, nor do I intend to, go deep into any racial critiques here - but I did seek out movies made by and starring Black artists.

Otherwise, and as always, everything on here is strictly my personal opinion and about my personal enjoyment.

I had fun with this one, and while it’s another pre-PG-13 PG-rated movie, for the most part it’s not too graphic or disturbing. It’s also not too long - and doesn’t feel too long.

I thought it was reasonably well-paced, had an interesting story, and everyone in it did great! It struck a nice balance between camp, drama, and social commentary. It definitely had its moments that felt dated (like “Present Day” being solidly 1972), but the underlying themes and story didn’t (y’know, except for Dracula being a very old story to begin with).

I appreciated that there were explorations of sexuality, gender, and societal expectations (and, of course, race) throughout - in the relationships between Dr. Thomas and Michelle, Michelle and Tina, Tina and Mamuwalde…just about every conversation in this movie feels imbued with meaning. And vampires! Meaning, and vampires.

Also, apparently there’s a reboot expected later this year?

A few write-ups I enjoyed about this movie (there’s a lot out there, especially since it turned 50 years old not too long ago!):