“Scream, Blacula, Scream” (1973)

Studio: American International Pictures (AIP)
Starring: William Marshall, Pam Grier, Don Mitchell, Richard Lawson, Michael Conrad
Directed by: Bob Kelljan
Rated: PG
Running Time: 96 min.

Synopsis: Blacula returns from the grave with the help of a voodoo spell from a man wanting revenge on his former voodoo cult.

REVIEW

Most horror movies sequels are not as good as the first one or just as good, but rarely you find a horror movie sequel better than the first. In my opinion, Scream, Blacula, Scream, is much better than the first film. I enjoyed this sequel very much and thought it had a better story and stronger cast than Blacula. Some of the things I wish they did in the first one they actually did in the sequel.

Returning to the cast as Blacula, William Marshall and joining the film is 70’s action queen Pam Grier, who gives a good performance. In the sequel, an old woman dies, who’s a head of a voodoo cult. She doesn’t get a chance to name a successor before she passes away. Willis (Richard Lawson), the woman’s son, wants to be a head of the group, but the others are against it and vote his sister, Lisa (Grier) as their leader. Willis than seeks revenge on the group and gets advice from an old witch doctor. He gives him the bones of Blacula, which is unknown to Willis, and a spell that he tells him will grant his revenge. After casting the spell on the bones, nothing happens, until later when Blacula sneaks up on Willis and bites him, making him a vampire.

What happens next is that Willis becomes Blacula’s slave and Blacula himself ventures off into the city and makes friends with Lisa and her voodoo gang. Blacula discovers Lisa’s powers and asks her to take his curse away so his soul can be free. Meanwhile, Willis goes on the prowl and takes the lives of others, making more vampires. Willis and some of the others want to rise up and take down Blacula, who is protecting Lisa.

What I wanted to see in the first film happened in the second, where Blacula’s character was more fleshed out. There’s a scene where he’s looking at a globe and looking at his homeland of Africa. Then there’s a quick flashback from the first film, where Dracula bites him. He then seeks out Lisa to cure his soul of Dracula’s curse. Marshall’s performance is far better and you feel sorry for him at times and you pull for him to get the curse taken away. Grier’s character is also a stand-out in the film as well as the others supporting characters. Lawson does a good job as well playing Willis, but you almost forget about him towards the middle of the film. He seemed to be an important character in the beginning, but kind of fades away. Wish they had more storyline with his character. Also featured in the cast is veteran TV actor, Michael Conrad who plays a cop going after Blacula. Conrad is best known to 80’s fan as his role as another cop in Hill Street Blues.

There are also some great creepy scenes throughout the film. The scary mansion that Blacula and his vamps are held up in, adds greatly to the eerie atmosphere. There’s a great scene in the opening, after Willis thinks he failed in his voodoo spell, he sits there and is upset it didn’t work. While behind him, Blacula’s shadow is cast on the wall and the camera zooms in on it which makes it really creepy. Another cool part is when Blacula is chasing a girl through the mansion then Willis joins in on the chase and the girl is running down hallways, racing through doors, and screaming her head off as she tries to escape the two vampires.

A few other eerie scenes are when one of Blacula’s victims is in the funeral home and Lisa is there. The body in the coffin sits up and is now a vampire. It calls over to Lisa as she screams in horror. Then another part is when the police invade the mansion and all the vampires attack the cops like an army of zombies. There are tons of cool action and scares in this scene. I also like how they blend the two worlds of vampires and voodoo, I thought that was kind of cool.

Also, like the first film, they say this has horror and comedy. Like the other one it’s more of a straight-up horror film and really no comedy at all. Of course, there’re a few one-liners throughout. There’s one scene in the beginning after Willis is a vampire and he’s all dressed up and he goes to look at himself in the mirror and he can’t see himself. He complains to Blacula and he tells him that’s part of the curse of being a vampire. Willis says to him, “A brother can’t go without looking at himself in the mirror.” or something like that. Then he asks Blacula how he looks and Blacula just gives him an evil stare.

Again, Scream, Blacula, Scream is a better film than Blacula. Both films have the same vibe, but the sequel just had it together in the way of story, characters, atmosphere, pacing, and scares. To me it’s a film that could stand on its own without the first one. The sequel already includes a flashback on how Blacula came to be. Of course, the first one sets up and shows you how he came to America, but if you didn’t see the first one and just watch the second, you won’t be lost and will be much better entertained.