Scream, Blacula, Scream movie review (1973)

The opening is so confusing that, in reading the movie's synopsis afterward, I couldn't recognize it. And the photography is consistently underlit and murky. Against these disadvantages there are a couple of reasons to see the movie anyway. William Marshall, who created the Blacula role, is back again with his terrifying dignity; and Pam Grier, who has become a box office hit with "Coffy," is the voodoo priestess called in to liberate Blacula from his curse.

They both have a lot of style; so much, indeed, that it stands out in this routine movie. 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.

A really good black vampire movie remains to be made, however. The elements are there, and "Blacula" and this sequel have proven there's a market for the genre. But just hiring black actors, and giving them false fangs won't do; the Hammer Films people have encouraged us to expect lots of moody scenery, unsettling music and campy but sound performances, And a script that makes sense, incidentally. "Scream, Blacula, Scream" is just an interim exploitation effort, and a warm-up for the better vampires in Marshall's future.