Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters: Know Your LGBT History

Let's bring down the craziness of the week a bit with this entry of Know Your LGBT History:

In spite of its name and reputation for being a blaxploitation film, Blacula (1972) is actually a good movie with genuine scares in some places.

The movie is about an African prince who is cursed with vampirism by Dracula after an attempt to get him to stand against the slave trade. He is awakened in the 20th century where he causes extreme mayhem while searching for the reincarnation of his true love.

A big plus of Blacula is the portrayal of the title role by Shakespearean actor William Marshall, which is another example of how talent can take a bad movie and make it into something more.

You actually feel sorry for him in some scenes, especially at the end. And this could probably be a first. How often do you feel sorry for a bloodsucking creature of the night?

But for the purpose of this blog, the following scene shows how Marshall's character (who is not named Blacula, but Mamawaulde) is awakened by two gay men. No they don't try to have sex with him. They bought his coffin with other antiques during a rummage sale:

3 comments:

Lightning Baltimore11:46 PM
Definitely a classic! I was stunned the first time I saw it, when Blacula appeared and turned out to be . . . The King of Cartoons! I'm a sucker for voices, and Marshall's is one of my favorites.
Anonymous4:35 AM
I look forward to this series and check it out every time there's a new entry. The Blacula clip was something else - all those limp wrists flapping around - good heavens!

I didn't know if you welcomed suggestions for movies to review - here are three (unfortunately, all with very negative portrayals)

No Way Out - military drama, the bad guy is of course gay.

Heathers - OMG, where to start?

Once Bitten - Clevon Little as a vampire who lives in a female vampire's closet.
Dave Rattigan5:17 AM
Great clip. I have to see this movie. I remember seeing stills from it in all my horror movie books as a kid, but it was never shown on TV in the UK. I definitely have to indulge myself and order the DVD, though.

Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters

Friday, February 19, 2010

Know Your LGBT History - Blacula

3 comments: