Movie Info
Movie Name: Scream, Blacula, Scream
Studio: Power Productions
Genre(s): Horror/Blaxploitation/B-Movie
Release Date(s): June 27, 1973
MPAA Rating: PG
When a voodoo cult member named Willis Daniels (Richard Lawson) decides to go up against the cult’s new leader Lisa Fortier (Pam Grier), he accidentally summons Prince Mamuwalde aka Blacula (William Marshall) from the dead. Now Blacula is among the living again and spreading his vampire curse. Prince Mamuwalde discovers that Lisa might offer an escape from his neverending curse of the vampire through her powerful voodoo and offers him hope for the future.
Directed by Bob Kelljan, Scream, Blacula, Scream was a follow-up to the hit horror/blaxploitation Blacula in 1972. Sometimes called Blacula II, the movie also had the fun working titles of Blacula Lives Again! and my favorite Blacula Is Beautiful. The movie was met with average to negative reviews.
Scream, Blacula, Scream just didn’t have the fun that Blacula had. The movie decided to tie a voodoo film to a vampire film and the movies didn’t mix well. Stylistically the movie looked like it might have had a bigger budget, but it just didn’t seem as edgy as Blacula. Like Blacula (and many blaxploitation films), the movie has one of the main character that is working in tandem with the police to stop the vampires.
Part of what did work in Blacula was William Marshall as Prince Mamuwalde. He was a tortured soul who wanted his wife back (and by chance found his wife in a reincarnated form). Here, Prince Mamuwalde has nothing to tie him to the world. He attempts to restore his humanity through blaxploitation star Pam Grier, but it just doesn’t have the same amount of power as the first film’s storyline.
The movie does go more “vampire” which is a plus. The vampires are very goofy and ‘70s style to go with the film. For the most part, the vampires are pretty worthless and aren’t very threatening until the end of the movie when the final showdown with Blacula occurs. I wish in both this film andBlacula had utilized the vampires better.
Scream, Blacula, Scream is what it is. The movie isn’t the best film nor is it the worst film and now comes off more like a comedy. You kind of get what you expect…especially if you saw Blacula. You see Blacula dispensing of pimps, dealing with prostitutes, and telling “his” people to respect themselves…the vampire just used a weird forum to do it.
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