‘The black prince of shadows stalks the earth again!’
Scream Blacula Scream is a 1973 American blaxploitation horror film directed by Bob Kelljan from a screenplay by Maurice Jules, Raymond Koenig and Joan Torres.
This is the only sequel to the 1972 film Blacula. The movie was produced by American International Pictures (AIP) and Power Productions. It was made under the working titles Blacula Is Beautiful and Blacula Lives Again!
Main cast:
William Marshall, Don Mitchell, Pam Grier, Michael Conrad, Lynne Moody, Bernie Hamilton, Richard Lawson.
Plot:
After a dying Voodoo queen, Mama Loa, chooses an adopted apprentice, Lisa Fortier (Pam Grier) as her successor, her arrogant son and true heir, Willis, (Richard Lawson) is outraged. Seeking revenge, he buys the bones of Mamuwalde the vampire from the former shaman of the voodoo cult, and uses voodoo to resurrect the vampire to do his bidding.
However, while it brings Mamuwalde back to life, he quickly bites Willis upon awakening. Willis now finds himself in a curse of his own doing: made into a vampire hungering for blood and, ironically, a slave to the very creature he sought to control…
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Reviews:
“Marshall has the kind of pseudo-Shakespearean dialog and delivery that Vincent Price and others have been polishing at Hammer. And Miss Grier, a real beauty, has a spirit and enthusiasm that’s refreshing. Also, she can scream well, and that is always important in these enterprises.” Roger Ebert
“Marshall is again excellent as Mamuwalde/Blacula, this time not motivated by love but by the destiny of ending his curse once and for all. He has a horde of pasty vampires at his command, and the climatic vampires vs. police fiasco set in a dark mansion is a highlight. Lots of scenes stick out…” George R. Reis, DVD Drive-In
“Scream Blacula Scream is a blaxploitation horror film that takes its influence not just from its predecessor, but the burgeoning subgenre as the whole. This makes for an undeniably entertaining film, but one of lower quality. Further, the morality and social commentary of the first film is lost in the muddled mess that makes up the sequel.” J.C. Macek III, Pop Matters
“It was impressive enough when Blacula got it right, and for the sequel to nail it, too, seems almost too much to ask.” 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting
“This sequel is maybe just hair off from Blacula as a whole; some stretches drag, so much so that the mere appearance of a young Craig T. Nelson is noteworthy. But it’s rather fun and gory enough to hold your attention when it wants to, though the film unfortunately peters out at a climax that doesn’t come close in rivaling the splattery theatricality of Blacula’s first send-off.” Brett Galman, Oh, the Horror!
“Still, the sequel is about as fun and accidentally funny as the first, just in different ways. So it’s hardly a disappointment, even if it’s a shame that Grier was stuck with a fairly passive damsel in distress role when she really should have been kicking Blacula ass. She was born to do such things.” Phil Brown, Dork Shelf
“This sequel is less dramatic than Crain’s 1972 film, but what it lacks in pathos it makes up for in pure absurdity. Scream Blacula Scream is almost a parody of Blacula, with some out of sight performances by Grier, Richard Lawson, and the returning William Marshall. The Universal Horror vibe of vampire romance takes a backseat to the voodoo cult craziness of zombie films from the ’30s and ’40s.” Adam Frazier, Geeks of Doom
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Choice dialogue:
Willis: “I ain’t afraid of no power!”
Blacula: “Your only justification for crawling on this Earth is to serve me.”
Cast and characters:
- William Marshall as Prince Mamuwalde / Blacula
- Don Mitchell as Justin Carter
- Pam Grier as Lisa Fortier
- Michael Conrad as Lieutenant Harley Dunlop
- Janee Michelle as Gloria
- Lynn Moody as Denny
- Barbara Rhoades as Elaine
- Bernie Hamilton as Ragman
- Richard Lawson as Willis Daniels
- Arnold Williams as Louis
- Van Kirksey as Professor Walton
- Craig Nelson as Sarge
- James Kingsley as Sergeant Williams
Trailer:
Wikipedia | IMDb | Art of the Title
