In the early days of cinema, approximately five hundred ‘race films’ were produced – movies featuring an all-black cast shown only in minority neighbourhoods. The majority were written and directed by white people in an attempt to improve race relations, yet still contained stereotypes commonly found in other forms of media at the time. Less than a hundred remained after World War Two. Hence, when segregation was dissolved in the early seventies, there was a significant vacuum of stories from underrepresented communities. The opportunity for black artists to provide their much-needed voice had come and a new genre was born: Blaxploitation.
Blaxploitation remade familiar Hollywood stories with black people in prominent positions – both behind and in front of the camera. Through sequels and reimaginings similar to the industry process today, the genre quickly cultivated a large audience which branched across ethnicities, unlike the limited race films prior. The first to put a spin on horror was William Crain’s Blacula. These portmanteau titles remained a consistent staple of Blaxploitation films, providing a clear advertisement for what audiences could expect. In this case, a vampire flick about an African prince (Mamuwalde, played by William Marshall) being cursed and entombed by Count Dracula, only to be accidentally released in Los Angeles two hundred years later where his bloodlust runs rampant.
These productions were still affected by discrimination from within the industry. Only independent studios were willing to distribute Blaxploitation films, with white executives remaining unconvinced on a return of investment despite the genre’s growth in popularity. Restrictive budgets combined with wordplay titles meant many producers didn’t take the genre seriously at all. Until Crain and Marshall fought back, the original intentions of American International Pictures were to portray Blacula as a jive-talking, vampirical caricature starring in ‘Count Brown Comes to Town’. This is not to say that elements of fun campiness aren’t featured, Marshall strolls around in a cape throughout despite trying to remain anonymous, but the overall picture touches upon much more serious subject matters.
Mamuwalde’s enforced craving for blood acts as an allegory for slavery, with its abolishment being the purpose of his Transylvanian visit at the start. He’s then plunged on the streets of L.A to fight for survival as pathologist Dr Gordon Thomas (Thalmus Rasulala) and partner Michelle (Denise Nicholas) close in. Their protagonist/antagonist dynamic are associated with a level of understanding compared to the animosity aimed towards the police, who’s incompetence holds back Thomas’ investigation and ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ attitude results in more innocent deaths. Whilst these themes had been explored in previous films, it had never been done so from this perspective and, although admittedly not featuring strong female characters, Blacula’s progessive nature remains relevant today.
Celebrating Blacula’s 50th anniversary with a screening at Watershed, hosted by Bristol Black Horror Club’s Adam Murray, provided another reminder of how important representation is on the big screen. It’s quite easy to fall into the trap of taking Blaxploitation at face value, but underneath the B-movie stunts and witty one-liners are the foundations of numerous Black filmmakers today.