Scream Blacula Scream (1973)

Scream Blacula Scream (1973): written by Joan Torres, Raymond Koenig, and Maurice Jules; directed by Bob Kelljan; starring William Marshall (Blacula/ Prince Mamuwalde), Don Mitchell (Justin), Pam Grier (Lisa), Michael Conrad (Sheriff Harley), and Richard Lawson (Willis): Shaggy, uneven, immensely enjoyable sequel to Blacula moves the action to New Orleans, where an ambitious voodoo, um, guy resurrects Blacula (ie. Prince Mamuwalde) from the bones a fellow voodoo practitioner has stashed under the floorboards. I guess evidence control at the LAPD lost track of Blacula's bones after the end of the first Blacula movie.

William Marshall really towers over this movie with a charismatic performance that manages to convince one of the tragedy of Mamuwalde, turned into a vampire against his will by Count Dracula while Dracula was vacationing in Africa during the 19th century. Effective moments of bloodsucking horror occur throughout the film, but the most interesting parts involve Marshall talking to people. He may be tragic, but he's also a monster. And he knows it.

A subdued Pam Grier heads the rest of the cast. She and Don Mitchell wisely choose to soft-sell their characters, leaving the over-acting hijinks to Richard Lawson as the voodoo practitioner who resurrects Blacula and gets a lot more than what he bargained for. Michael Conrad (Sgt. Esterhaus on the first two seasons of Hill Street Blues: "Hey, let's be careful out there") plays the only major white character, a local sheriff who grudgingly comes to believe in vampires. Recommended.