Blacula

Transylvania, 1780: Prince Mamuwalde travels from Africa to the dark heart of Europe to meet Count Dracula, whom he hopes to enlist in his fight against slavery. The Wallachian nobleman, however, turns out to be pro-human trafficking—and a vampire, who turns Mamuwalde into one with a bite. And when the Black bloodsucker awakens centuries later in Los Angeles . . . Hammer horror + Black culture = grindhouse hit. That’s what the cash-strapped suits at American International Pictures figured, and that’s exactly what happened. All the film’s bizarreness and creative ungainliness too often drown out the clever little touches hiding between the broad strokes of this feature debut by William Crain. (Olaf Möller)