Shocktober 2025 - Scream Blacula Scream (1973)
“I have gathered you all here to issue a warning. You all know Lisa Fortier. She is under my protection. Not one of you shall harm her. This is a commandment! And if one of you disobeys... you will never imagine the pain I offer. Unendurable, everlasting agony. Now leave me. You are foul. Your faces sicken even me. Good night.” – Blacula
Well, I guess if Count Yorga was deemed worthy to have a sequel, they could do no less for Blacula. It was 1973. The Blaxploitation genre was in full swing and the unquestioned queen of the Blaxploitation movies was, without a doubt, Pam Grier who starred in Coffy, Black Mama, White Mama and Foxy Brown. So, it made sense to cast her alongside a returning William Marshall as Blacula returned to the screen. And that’s kind of where sense ends.
Respected film critic Gene Siskel said of this movie at the time; “"I am pleased to report that Scream, Blacula, Scream—a sequel—is better than the original. A successful sequel is a rarity, but this one doesn't come as a surprise, because the director is Bob Kelljan, the man responsible for Count Yorga, Vampire and The Return of Count Yorga, two of the most frightening horror films ever made." Jeez, Gene, I don’t know what you were smoking, but there’s not one single word of that that I can agree with. I’m more in agreement with Michael and Harry Medved, authors of The Golden Turkey Awards of the early eighties, who awarded Scream Blacula Scream the distinction of being the worst Blaxploitation movie of all time.
Early on in the movie, I became convinced that filming had begun before the script was halfway finished and as the film went on, nothing I was seeing was convincing me otherwise. This is bad. This is hilariously bad. That’s where the entertainment lies. Not even the mighty Pam Grier can elevate this. It starts off with a decent enough plot – which is abandoned before the titles roll, around ten minutes in. Then, it sort of meanders along with no real point.
The film opens with the death of a Voodoo Priestess (not sure if capitalisation is appropriate here, but I don’t want to piss off the Voodoo people). Before her passing, the old lady, Mama Loa, had chosen her adopted daughter Lisa Fortier (Pam Grier) as her successor over her biological son Willis (Richard Lawson) who reacts with pouty petulance, swearing revenge. A shaman of this Voodoo cult sells Willis the instrument of said revenge – the remains of Blacula. Willis conducts a Voodoo ceremony involving a sacrificial dove to resurrect the vampire, but when nothing happens, Willis goes to another room to placate himself with a can of Coors. Patience, Willis, patience. Blacula (William Marshall) resurrects himself, fully clothed and thirsty moments later. We know he’s thirsty, because every time he’s about to attack, he grows some extra facial hair on his cheeks – I don’t know why – he’s not a werewolf. Anyhow, he feeds on Willis, making him his slave. And that’s the end of the whole revenge on the Voodoo Cult plot.
The titles roll.
So now that the interesting plot has been thrown out the window, where do we go?
Well, Willis is now a vampire and his new status is taking a little getting used to. Being vain, he’s dressed up for a party and checking himself out in a mirror, disappointment awaits, giving us this piece of excellent bad dialogue; “You mean to tell me I ain't never gonna see my face again? Hey, look here, man. I don't mind being a vampire and all that shit, but this really ain't hip. I mean, a man has got to see his face.” Given the role of being in control of Blacula and using the vampire for his own ends, Willis could’ve been a decent villain, as we wait for Blacula to turn on him (the film I thought we were going to see) but as it turned out, he’s just a jive talking semi comical stooge – and some of that seventies jive talk hasn’t aged well.
There’s nothing left really but to have Blacula amass his own vampire cult. (The make-up on the vampire minions is among the worst vampire make-up ever seen on screen.)
The L.A.P.D. are hot on Blacula’s trail because an ex-cop helping them out is an occult expert, the ex-cop is also Lisa’s boyfriend. Blacula realises that Lisa has a natural gift for Voodoo, and elicits her help to rid him of the vampire curse so he can be just human Mamualde again. With the police knocking down the door and the vampire minions running interference, Lisa starts the Voodoo ceremony, but is interrupted. In a rage, Blacula kills several police officers, and after seeing this, Lisa refuses to help him any further.
In a blind rage, Blacula rejects his human side and attacks her boyfriend, who refers to him as Mamualde, he snarls; “The name is Blacula! Now, Justin, you shall soon know my eternal agony.” Before he can bite, Lisa stabs the Voodoo doll in Blacula’s likeness she was using for the ceremony and he screams in pain. Freeze frame, and we’re out.
We have no idea whether he bit, did he survive? What happened here? I have a feeling that this might have been resolved in a third film that was never made, or the filmmakers ran out of script and decided to call it a day.
Twelve Screams down – one to go.
See you tomorrow on the big day.
