BLACULA/SCREAM BLACULA SCREAM

A double-bill of low budget schlock from the early 1970s.

BLACULA opens in the austere dining room of one Count Dracula (Charles Macaulay). The place is Transylvania, the year is 1780. Dracula addresses his guest Mamuwalde (William Marshall) fondly after having had a most enjoyable evening in his company. Or is it Mamuwalde's sexy wife Luva (Vonetta McGee) that the Count is most interested in?

The mood turns sour when Mamuwalde asks for Dracula's support in his plight to abolish the slave trade. Dracula is unsympathetic to the cause and, furthermore, chooses this awkward moment to vocalise his lust for the busty Luva. Mamuwalde understandably kicks off but, following an amusing fistfight, is overpowered by Dracula's henchmen.

Dragging the unconscious Mamuwalde down into a crypt beneath his castle and laying him into a coffin, Dracula takes a chunk out of his victim's neck and places a curse on him, proclaiming, "A hunger will grow in you, a hunger for human blood". He then christens Mamuwalde with the much snappier moniker Blacula and locks him in the crypt with Luva …

Following the snazzy animated opening titles, the film catapults without delay into the 20th century. Well, that is "Transylvania, Present Day" (1972) where a camp gay couple of interior decorators buy some antiques from Dracula's castle and ship them over to their warehouse in Los Angeles.

The couple unpack their new acquisitions and chat excitedly about positioning their "gorgeous" antique coffin in their bedroom to freak visitors out. Alas, their plans backfire when the coffin opens and out lunges Blacula - no doubt aroused by the deep gash one of the men has made in his arm.

Predictably, our festive couple swiftly expire. The next time we see them is in coffins of their own … and a pair of black detectives stand over them baffled. An investigation, of course, ensues.

But none of this curtails Blacula's fun over the remaining hour as he grows into the sights and sounds of early 70s black America and ultimately falls for Tina - a dead ringer for his true love Luva.

BLACULA is pedestrian in look and camera movements, and unevenly paced in terms of plotting. It starts off well but the main gag soon grows old and the so-so humour that follows ranges between camp, juvenile and tasteless.

Also, it's fair to say the film is heavily schizophrenic in tone. Is it a horror film? At times, certainly. A comedy? When it remembers to be, although there are extended periods of straight-faced drama. A tragedy? Marshall seems to think so, judging by his heartfelt performance.

In its favour, there are a few genuinely tense scenes - a chase down a corridor here, a showdown confrontation there - and the odd moments of horror that exist are filmed with a sincere, dark glee. Although there are minimal FX on display, what we do get is pretty poor. Blacula's facial hair as a vampire is lamentable. The most the low budget extends to in terms of grue is a bit of fake blood on Marshall's lips.

Elsewhere, visually this is very much a product of its time, offering a wealth of flared trousers, pimp-talking jive, huge Afros and glitter balls. The disco soundtrack pushes the Blaxsploitation buttons in further still, although the occasional scenes of nightclub acts singing disco on stage are unnecessary padding.

When there's not disco on the soundtrack, the original score is sensational and melodramatic, adding a surreal overplay to the horror scenes that is curiously effective. Ultimately though, BLACULA exists as a gimmick - an attempt to take a popular fictional character and relocate it in the then-lucrative Blaxsploitation genre - and the film is not strong enough in terms of William Crain's direction or the script by Raymond Koenig and Joan Torres to come across as anything more.

But BLACULA was successful enough to spawn a sequel in 1973. SCREAM BLACULA SCREAM is a fantastic title for a film and on the surface it appears to be the better movie: Pam Grier is the love interest, the budget's clearly bigger and there's lots more horror motifs being played out effectively - voodoo, cult rituals etc.

The story this time around primarily concerns Lisa (Grier), another busty dame who this time is a member of a dodgy voodoo cult. When the cult's queen dies, Lisa is voted as her replacement by the rest of the group.

However, the former queen's son Willis (Richard Lawson) is irate. Also smarting is Ragman (Bernie Hamilton), who gives Willis some bones with which to chant a sinister spell onto.

The result is the resurrection of Blacula. But Blacula is not happy to be back in the land of the living and thanks Willis for his troubles by biting his neck.

Still, Blacula's purpose for being brought back is to teach new queen Lisa a lesson. Which he initially does, murdering people around her, resulting in the cops treating her as prime suspect. But in time Blacula realises he needs the help of Lisa and her beau Justin (Don Mitchell) if he's ever to be free of his curse …

Marshall is a more aggressive vampire in SCREAM, at times almost approaching being convincingly scary. The art design and the consistent red hue suggest a more focussed visual approach this time around too. And the ante has definitely been upped in terms of horror. But the unwise humour still creeps through, and the overall effect is one of more effort, less fun.

SCREAM is undeniably darker and more stylish than it's predecessor, arguably more Gothic at times too. But, and despite the presence of Grier in her prime, it's not as captivating. It doesn't expand on it's central conceit and therefore feels like a punchline that's been repeated one time too many. It's little wonder that the franchise didn't extend any further.

The films in this Region 2 proposition are presented in one 2-disc package.

On disc 1, there's BLACULA uncut in a reasonable 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer. Colours are strong and detail is moderately sharp, although some grain is evident and background information is not as profound as it could be.

The English mono audio track flows without concern, offering good clear playback of dialogue and that funky soundtrack.

SCREAM is also offered in anamorphic 1.85:1. The sequel copes with it's strong colour schemes fairly well, although while there's less grain images are generally softer here.

In a curious way, the BLACULA films don't need pristine presentations: any flaws in picture quality further add to the attractive notion that these films are very much relics of their era.

Again, SCREAM is supported by a solid English mono audio track.

In both cases, the films are backed up by static menus and scene-selection menus allowing access to each film via 12 chapters.

The only extras on these discs are original theatrical trailers for each film. Both trailers are presented in 1.33:1 The BLACULA trailer is the better of the two, making the film look much more horrific than it is. There's a great use of echoey voiceover here too.

It's great to see the BLACULA films finally arrive on UK DVD. It's also good to see that each film has been given it's own disc. But at the end of the day the films are throwaway fun that soon wears thin. The end result is two films that occasionally amuse, sometimes hint at brilliance, and yet ultimately outstay their welcome.

Review by Stuart Willis