A Mama Loa, better known as a voodoo queen, has died without naming an heir, leaving the decision to a vote, something which doesn't sit well with her son, Willis Daniels, especially when the favorable one is Loa's adopted apprentice, Lisa Fortier. Seeking revenge, Willis purchases a set of bones that the voodoo cult's former high priest declares will give him and, one night, he performs a ceremony involving them in the large house he stays at in an attempt to curse Lisa. Despite some flames emitting from the bones and thunder and lightning outside, the ceremony seems to fail, until Willis realizes too late that he's resurrected Prince Mamuwalde, aka the vampire, Blacula, who turns him into a vampire and enslaves him. After hearing of a party being given by Lisa's boyfriend, Justin Carter, to show off his collection of African antiquities, and victimizing two of Willis' friends, Elaine and Louis, who show up at the house, Mamuwalde attends the party, meeting both Lisa and Justin. He takes an interest in Lisa when he learns of her talent in voodoo and she, in turn, finds herself thinking that she has met him somewhere before. That same night, Mamuwalde kills Lisa's friend, Gloria, in order to quench his thirst for blood and does the same to two pimps who attempt to mug him in the nearby city. Because of her involvement in voodoo, some rituals of which involve blood, Lisa becomes a suspect in Gloria's death, while Justin, who used to be a police officer and has a connection with Lieutenant Harley Dunlop, tries to clear her name. Soon, when Willis' girlfriend, Denny, shows up at the house to see him, he makes her a vampire, while Lisa, as she sits in the funeral parlor with Gloria's body, nearly falls victim to her when resurrects but Mamuwalde intervenes. Knowing what he is, and that he's familiar because she saw a flash of him the night Willis resurrected him, Lisa is frightened but Mamuwalde convinces her to see him again. As Justin begins to suspect that the recent spate of deaths are the work of a vampire, Mamuwalde asks Lisa to use her voodoo powers to rid him of his curse so he can return to Africa without incident. While Lisa agrees to it, Justin and the police's investigation into Mamuwalde's handiwork, as well as Willis' ongoing grudge against Lisa, may put an end to the ritual before it even begins.
Mamuwalde's motivation for pursuing Lisa Fortier is also a bit muddled to me. I get that he sees her voodoo prowess as a potential way to lift Dracula's curse from him, one that seems like it would have worked had the two of them not been interrupted during the climax, and that, once he's human again, he wishes to return to Africa, but, honestly, what's the point? Both Luva, his beloved wife from his previous life, and Tina Williams, her possible reincarnation in the first film, are gone, and since it's been nearly two centuries since he first became a vampire, it's unlikely that he will even be remembered by the modern-day members of his tribe, so asking them for forgiveness for what he's done, as he says he plans to do, seems inane. It's made clear that he's homesick for Africa and I can understand wanting to return after having not been there for such a long time but, considering all that's happened, I don't seem him having a happy life, even if he were cured and did manage to go back. He'd be better off destroying himself again, which he even tells Lisa is his only other option. Despite all of this, though, Mamuwalde is still an entertaining and intriguing character to watch, with Marshall once again managing to give him an air of dignity, charm, and badassness. That moment where those two pimps try to rob him, threatening to kick his ass if he doesn't give up any "bread" he has on him, is made darkly funny not only because we know they're going to get it but also by how Mamuwalde is not impressed or intimidated by them in the least, telling them, "I'm sorry, I don't have any 'bread' on me, and as for 'kicking my ass,' I'd strongly suggest you give it careful consideration before trying." Speaking of which, that small sequence before that, where he seems to be intrigued by what the modern era has to offer, is something we didn't get in the first movie, as he never batted an eyelash at all at the unfamiliar stuff that surrounded him, and it's nice to have, although it's a good thing they don't dwell on it either, considering how cliche that "fish-out-of-water" trope is.
Marshall is very good at coming across as quietly menacing as he is everything else, and nowhere is that clearer than in a scene where Mamuwalde and Justin Carter have a meeting together at the latter's home. This conversation goes from calm small-talk to deadly serious very effectively, as the two of them begin speaking about the occult, about vampires specifically, and Mamuwalde, sensing that he knows or, at the very least, suspects the truth about him, subtly tells him to back off and forget about him, warning him how helpless he would be if he were to encounter an actual vampire. He shows Justin just what he means at the end of the movie when, after he interrupts the ceremony that would have freed him of the curse, he furiously attacks him, with Lisa's intervention being the only thing that saves him, and also after Lisa, upon seeing Mamuwalde's truly monstrous side in action when he brutally dispatches some police officers, refuses to help him anymore and he completely renounces his humanity. When Justin confronts him, Mamuwalde roars, "The name... is Blacula!" before grabbing him and slamming him against the wall, growling, "The name is Blacula! Now, Justin, you shall soon know my eternal agony," preparing to bite and curse him as well. Given how hard he tried to be the good man he once, as well as reclaim his lost love in the previous movie, and finally rid himself of the curse, it is a shame to see him completely give himself over to his vampire side, forcing Lisa to put an end to him with the voodoo doll of him she used in the ceremony (or, at least I assume she did, which is unclear because of the ending).
As before, there's a clear shift in Mamuwalde's appearance when he changes from looking like a normal man to his vampire state, as he looks more wild and animalistic (although, he doesn't snarl and roar as much as he did before). Once again, along with his fangs and the more crazed hairdo, he develops hair on his face in spots he didn't have before, with the difference being that they run from his eyes, down the lengths of his cheeks, rather than across their width like before. Like before, he's able to change into a bat if he needs to and he does now seem to have some strong, mental powers, given how he takes temporary control of Denny when she's mouthing off at him at one point. There's also a noticeable change in his outfit, as the inside of his cape is red rather than light-blue like before, probably because it's more traditional in regards to vampires, as the cape that Christopher Lee wore in the Hammer films was red on the inside, as well as Bela Lugosi's (not that you would know, given the black-and-white, but still), and also adds to the larger feeling of malice that Mamuwalde has within him this time around.
Given his rage towards being denied as an heir to his voodoo queen mother, which leads him to resurrect Mamuwalde in an attempt to curse Lisa, you'd expect Willis Daniels (Richard Lawson) to be a major character in the story but, after Mamuwalde turns him into a vampire and keeps him at the Anderson house, his significance goes downhill, other than his turning a couple of his friends, including his own girlfriend, into vampires as well. That said, once he becomes a vampire (which he has no problem with, at all, I might add) Willis proves to be quite funny in his over-the-top jive talk (and equally over-the-top, 70's fashion and hairdo), like in the scene where, after coming downstairs, happily humming to himself, he first realizes that he no longer has a reflection, which Mamuwalde describes as one of the unfortunate side-effects of being a vampire. Upon hearing this, Willis goes, "Oh, man, you jivin'! Hey, look here, you mean to tell me I ain't never gonna see my face again? Look, 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! Shiiiit!" He also proves to be a kind of smooth operator when it comes to his girlfriend, Denny, who shows up to chastise him for having not been to see her the past few days, to which he says, "Willis ain't hidin', baby. He's been workin' overtime," and when he feigns giving her a massage in order for her to let her guard down so he can bite her, he tells her, "Hey, baby, these bones are tight... Big Willis is going to have to do something to relax your entire body." Despite Mamuwalde's warning to him and the other vampires not to harm Lisa, Willis, wearing his own cape, red-colored fedora, and dark glasses, proclaims to Denny that he's still going to get her, adding, "Ol' badass Blacula comes telling us to lay off of her, but no matter what, I'm gonna get back at that bitch!" And then, Mamuwalde comes in upon overhearing his defiance and Willis crumbles like wet cardboard, especially when he shows how powerful he is by using his mental prowess on Denny when she mouths off to him. Knowing the extent of what he's capable of, Willis no longer poses a threat to Lisa, agreeing to set up the room for the exorcism ceremony in the way that she needs. During the police raid on the house during the climax, Justin takes him out with his crossbow.
That's all for the main cast; none of the other characters leave the same kind of impression as those in the first movie. The only one I can think of as an exception is Denny (Lynn Moody), Willis' loudmouth girlfriend who, like him, has no problem with being a vampire once she gets turned and is willing to go along with Willis' plan to get Lisa, admitting that she never liked her anyway, but Mamuwalde (whom she met before at Justin's party), shuts her mouth himself when she tries to stand up to him for Willis, forcing her to submit to him. During the raid on the house by the police, Justin Carter, despite killing Willis, finds himself unable to do the same to Denny, whom he tries to reach, and it's a random police officer who ultimately takes her down with a stake through the back. Gloria (Janee Michelle), Lisa's friend who catches Mamuwalde's eye at the party before she accidentally cuts herself and attracts him in a different way, doesn't last long before she falls victim to him, her death getting pinned on Lisa because of its similarity to a ritual voodoo killing. (Significantly, though, in an interaction between them beforehand, she tells him of Lisa's talent at voodoo.) When Lisa sits in with her body at the funeral home, Gloria resurrects in front of her and tries to victimize her as well, only for Mamuwalde to burst in and drive her away, proving to Lisa once and for all that vampires are real. Finally, you have Louis and Elaine, two of Willis' other friends who show up at the Anderson house to pick him up for Justin Carter's party, only to fall victim to Mamuwalde and Willis respectively. I recognized Arnold Williams, the guy who plays Louis, as having been in Live and Let Die (released the same year) as one of the cab drivers working for the film's villain, Kananga/Mr. Big (it's hard to forget those big sideburns and that Afro), while Elaine (Barbara Rhoades) catches my eye for being the only white person who has any sort of connection with Willis. They both join the other vampires in the house, although I don't remember them taking part in the battle against the police during the third act (in fact, a lot of those vampires I don't recognize at all).
The similar character dynamics are indicative of one of the film's major issues: it's more or less the same film as Blacula, only not as well done, and a reason for that could be that it was released less than a year afterward, with AIP holding a contest among its employees for possible titles for the film. That would explain the sometimes muddled story and character motivations, as well as the lack of development in them, and while the first film hardly had a large budget, this one feels much cheaper due to its lack of scope. In Blacula, we had a fair amount of action on the mean streets Los Angeles, as well as other interesting locations like the cemetery, the city morgue, the Andrew Brothers warehouse, and the underground chemical plant where the climax took place; Scream, Blacula, Scream, however, is mostly confined to the Anderson house where Willis stays and where Mamuwalde is resurrected. We do get scenes in other places, like in Justin Carter's home for the party he holds to show of his African antique collection and the intense conversation between him and Mamuwalde, and in the funeral home when Gloria resurrects in front of and tries to attack Lisa, only to be stopped by Mamuwalde, but for the most part, we're stuck in the Anderson house. Not that it isn't a bad location, as it's a classic, creepy-looking old mansion, the very place where you'd expect a vampire to live (not unlike Count Yorga's large, sprawling homes in both of those films) and the shot of the vampires rising from their coffins down in the basement is very classic in nature, but when so many major scenes occur in closed in, interior environments like this, things can start to feel a bit claustrophobic after a while. The only notable exterior sequence occurs when Mamuwalde makes his way to the nearby city after he bites Gloria at the party, roams the seedy backstreets, and has to deal with those pimps who make the mistake of trying to rob him, but it has nothing on the urban action we got the first time around. It feels like they wanted to go for a more traditional vampire movie for the sequel and, if so, I respect the effort but I don't think it worked out that well.
You may have also noticed something else that's a downgrade from the first movie: the cinematography. I didn't mention the first movie's cinematography, by John M. Stephens, in that review because there was nothing that special about it but it was certainly passable and got the job done, which is more than I can say for the work Isidore Mankofsky did here. While not as egregious as in something like Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, it is still often so dark that, rather than creating atmosphere or tension, it's more likely to cause you to have trouble making out what's going on or, more importantly, who you're looking at, which isn't helped by the fact that 98% of the cast is African-American. That's not me being racist, as I really do sometimes have a hard time remember whom I'm supposed to be seeing in a given scene. While I had a feeling that Louis was played by Arnold Williams from Live and Let Die (I didn't remember the actor's name, though), I wasn't completely sure that was him until I looked him up on IMDB because I couldn't get a clear look at his face. Speaking of which, that image of Louis up above? That was the best one I could get of him before he becomes a vampire because of the low lighting in that scene. And as if that weren't enough, while all of Blacula's night scenes were actually done at night, there are some obvious instances of day-for-night shooting here, especially in the exterior shots of various people arriving at the Anderson house (in fact, that house is never seen in the daytime). There are some interesting bits of camerawork and editing, notably in the third act during Lisa's exorcism of Mamuwalde, as it does a lot of erratic panning around and tight zoom-ins to simulate the growing tension of the sequence, but otherwise, it could have been better.
Like the first film, this is very much a product of the 70's, with Afros galore (other than Lt. Dunlop, just about every male character, as well as a good amount of the women, in this movie have big hairdos), everybody often wearing rather flamboyant clothes, and the slang, with words and phrases like, "Jiving," "You dig," "Bread," and such. I said it before but I'll say it again: Willis Daniels embodies every part of this era in the way he looks, dresses, and talks. Just look at the outfit he wears when he first realizes he no longer has a reflection and when he's wearing that cape and hat while going on to Denny about how Mamuwalde isn't going to push him around. Of course, that's to say nothing of the way Lisa and Justin look, especially the latter, as he has a massive Afro on his head and wears some memorable outfits along with it. And also like the first movie, we get to see people dancing to some funkadelic tunes, this time at the party that Justin gives. However, in this instance, all of it doesn't feel as special. Maybe it's because it loses its luster once you watch more than one of these movies in a row, the characters who wear these clothes and hairstyles aren't as memorable as those from before, the only funk music is on the soundtrack instead of the actual music score this time and, even then, it's not as memorable, but the 70'sness of Scream, Blacula, Scream feels more like it's just there and doesn't jump out at me like before.
Another thing the sequel shares with its predecessor is an interesting, animated opening credits sequence, again designed by Sandy Dvore, set to some very unexpected music for a horror film. This one, while well done, isn't as elaborate or as memorable as what came before, in my opinion, as it starts with a close-up of Mamuwalde's snarling, satisfied grin after he's quenched his thirst for blood on Willis after being resurrected and transitions into a stark, black-and-white image of it. After the film's actual title, and as the credits progress, the image of his face morphs into the minimalist visage of a bat, made up of different pieces, which proceeds to spread its wingspan before changing into the form of a man, which gets up on its knees, only to be engulfed in animated flames (said animation is quite good, by the way). The flames proceed to cover the entire screen, turning the background red, as Mamuwalde's face reappears again, starting out as black-and-red before going back to black-and-white, as the background itself goes black and the sequence ends. Again, definitely well-done, but not as interesting to me as the abstract sequence of the vampire stalking his prey in the first film.
The tropes of blaxploitation that were there in the original, albeit not in a very overdone manner, are still very much present in the sequel, with the notion that Lt. Dunlop admits he might be a little prejudiced when he first interrogates Lisa over Gloria's death and how all of Mamuwalde's victims that he doesn't turn into vampires but simply beats the hell out of, particularly the police officers, are white (there are some black officers seen this time around, though). The notion of Mamuwalde having been enslaved by Count Dracula when he went to protest the slave trade still hangs over him, as seen when he looks at the continent of Africa on a globe and flashes back to when he was cursed, as well as in his longing to rid himself of the curse and return to Africa to be with his people. Before he becomes aware of Lisa Fortier's voodoo abilities, Mamuwalde goes to Justin Carter's party where he displays the African antiquities he's collected before sending them off to a museum simply out of this feeling homesickness, especially since one of the items that he's collected belonged to Luva. Also, slavery in any form really enrages him, as he tells the pimps when they're threatening him after he refuses a woman working for them, "You've made a slave of your sister! You're still slaves, imitating your slave masters!", which is why it feels out-of-character for him to willingly enslave Willis and the other people he willingly turns into vampires to satisfy his bloodlust. It is understandable that he has no choice but to satisfy his urges when they come up, and since he turns the pimps into vampires, you could say that he decided to show them what it's like to have someone lording over you, but what he does to Willis and the others seems about as cruel as what Dracula did to him. I theorized why he might be like this earlier but, truthfully, it only goes to show how muddled this film is.
An interesting addition to the story of Blacula is that of voodoo, which was mentioned in the first film as being part of the occult and here is a large part of the plot, with Mamuwalde being resurrected through such a ceremony and hoping that it can grant him release from being a vampire. Plus, although it's not dwelt upon, the movie is kind of progressive in how it portrays voodoo as not being the sinister faith that it's so often been stereotyped as, over a decade before Wes Craven's The Serpent and the Rainbow. The movie's opening, where Willis' mother, who was the Mama Loa of the voodoo cult, dies and he, being all power-hungry and determined to become the Papa Loa, shows that, like any religion, there are both good and bad followers to be found within voodoo. Because of how rabid Willis is, throwing out threats towards those who he feels are trying to take the position away from him, in spite of the fact that it comes down to a vote since his mother didn't name an heir, inspires them to vote in Lisa instead. He further proves their decision's validity by buying the bones of Mamuwalde from an ex-voodoo priest who's also vengeful for having been dethroned and performing a ceremony to try to curse Lisa, only instead to bring the vampire back to life and become enslaved to him. As the movie progresses, voodoo is portrayed as being a very powerful faith, one that can heal as well as curse, in how Lisa may very well have freed Mamuwalde had she not been interrupted, and it's what she uses to vanquish him as well (the use of the voodoo doll is a bit cliche but it doesn't bug me that much). What's more, the cult that Lisa belongs is shown to not be too reclusive as one might think, given how, even though he's not part of it, Justin Carter is present in the opening scene where Mama Loa dies and Willis makes his threats. That might simply be because of his connection to Lisa but, still, it's further proof that Lt. Dunlop's prejudice against Lisa due to the voodoo cult is a lot of ignorance on his part. (Incidentally, because of the presence of voodoo, I didn't know that the movie is still meant to be taking place near Los Angeles; I thought it was near New Orleans!)
The rules of the vampire that were established in the first film are, for the most part, retained here. Again, there's a definite shift between their looking like normal people and their bloodthirsty, monster forms, as they sprout fangs, have wilder hairdos, and look a lot paler and more ragged than normal. A noticeable difference, though, is that we get extended scenes of some of the vampires acting like the people they used to be when they were human. There was a hint of that before, given how Bobby McCoy was able to pick up an unsuspecting victim and how Nancy was able to act helpless long enough to get an opportunity to bite Sgt. Barnes, but other than that, Mamuwalde was the only one we see blending in with the crowd, while the others just came across like wild animals. In this film, Willis Daniels is still the arrogant, vindictive jerk before he got turned, although he seems to have more of a zest for life, knowing that he can't die and intends to use his new abilities to get back at Lisa, and Denny is still a bitchy loudmouth, which gets her in hot water when she acts that way to Mamuwalde. Plus, when Gloria resurrects, she acts like herself in order to lure Lisa into a false sense of security so she can more easily attack her. We never see crosses get used against the vampires here but, since they're still vulnerable to stakes through the heart, don't show up on film or cast reflections (the latter of which is used as part of the suspense in one scene), and can become bats, we can assume that still applies as well. And as I mentioned, this time, Mamuwalde, at least, does seem to have some strong mental powers, which he uses to shut up Denny.
Being another PG-rated film, Scream, Blacula, Scream is very light in the blood department, with their being only two really bloody moments: when, during his ceremony on Mamuwalde's bones, Willis kills a dove and uses its blood as part of it, and a close-up of the big, bleeding cut on Gloria's hand. Like before, the bites to the throat that Mamuwalde and the other vampires inflict on their victims aren't bloody in the least, with them only retaining a small amount of it around their mouths or teeth, and the same goes for the vampires getting staked and shot with a crossbow during the climax, during which you barely see anything. The effect of Mamuwalde becoming a bat is still archaic but, that said, it's a tad more refined than it was before. While the bat is still an obvious piece of animation, the transition from the real-life William Marshall is done through a morph effect rather than just having him fade and reveal it that way, and you also get to see him change back, which you never saw in the first movie.
As we're about to get into detail on, probably the movie's biggest failing is that it's just not memorable. None of the scenes are as fun or energetic as in the first movie, they're often hard to see because of the dark lighting, the slower pace creates a sense of dullness more than it does suspense and tension, and because of the sometimes confusing script, you're often just waiting for the next big scene to happen more than you are paying attention to the story and dialogue. It's just another reason why I haven't watched this one nearly as much.
The film opens with the death of the Mama Loa, with members of her voodoo cult at her bedside, including a high priest who symbolically places a voodoo doll of her in a small coffin, while Lisa Fortier completely shuts her eyes with her fingers. That's when the issue of her successor comes up, with Willis Daniels insisting that the title of Loa goes to him, being her son and all, while the priest tells him that it comes down to a vote since she didn't actually name an heir. Enraged, Willis tells them that they're all going to pay for trying to take the title from him, especially Lisa, who he definitely feels doesn't deserve it since she was merely adopted by Mama Loa. Having had enough of Willis' mouth, Justin Carter stands up, grabs him by the front of his suit, and slams him against the wall, warning him that he'll have to deal with him should he ever try to do something against Lisa or anyone else. Willis makes no further threats but there's still a lot of tension in the air, as he and Denny then leave, with woman in the crowd yelling at him that when they take a vote, they're going to vote in Lisa. As Justin comforts Lisa, the priest ends the ceremony by closing the lid on the small coffin containing the voodoo doll. Elsewhere, Willis goes to a former high priest of the cult, seeking power to exact his revenge on Lisa and everyone else. The man wipes the dirt off of a small hatch in the floor and pulls out a bag, telling Willis of how he swore revenge as well when he was dethroned. He then tells him that the bag contains some powerful bones but cautions him that said power is, "Beyond all common men." Willis insists he's not afraid of any such power and the priest gives him the bag, as well as a piece of paper that he says contains all that he needs to know.
That night, as a storm rages outside the Anderson house (because why wouldn't there be one?), Willis, shirtless and wearing a bone necklace around his neck, prepares the ceremony, holding a candle in each of his hand while saying an incantation and spreading some sand across the bones, which lie in the center of a circle of candles. After a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder, he takes a dove out of its small cage, holds it firmly while caressing it, and then breaks it neck, though not before glancing a bit warily at the bones. He then grabs a knife, slices into the dead bird, and drips its blood into a small bowl, then placing the bird into a bucket. Dabbing the bones with blood while chanting, he continues saying the incantation, when the bones suddenly spark, spurring him on. As he continues, the bones spark some more and a huge flame erupts from the center of them, prompting him to go on chanting, only faster and with more intensity. Elsewhere, Lisa suddenly awakens with a start, having apparently sensed that something is wrong. Glancing at the fireplace, and looking back at Justin, who's asleep on the couch next to her, she seems to decide that it was nothing. Back at the Anderson house, Willis continues the ceremony over the roaring flames emitting from the bones. However, they suddenly die down and extinguish, frustrating Willis, who feels that it didn't work. As the lightning and thunder continue outside, he walks out of the room, grabs a beer from the kitchen, and sits down at the covered dining room table, discouraged about his apparently failure. However, a shadow passing over the wall beyond the doorway into that room shows that he didn't fail. Sitting and drinking his beer, Willis is unaware of the presence approaching him from behind until he's grabbed by the back of the neck, lifted up, and slowly turned around. Coming face-to-face with the sneering Mamuwalde, Willis is helpless to do anything, as the vampire sinks his fangs into his neck and his body quickly goes limp. After draining the young man of all his blood, Mamuwalde looks up, right into the camera with a satisfied look on his face, leading into the opening credits sequence.
Following the credits, there's a scene where, as Mamuwalde mills around the den of the Anderson house, sipping on a glass of wine, Willis comes downstairs, humming and singing quite happily for someone who just got turned into a vampire, and is dressed to go out. That's when he learns that, as a vampire, he can no longer see his reflection, which does not sit well with him. He's almost too bummed to go to Justin's party, which he explains to Mamuwalde as being to show off his collection of African antiques, which intrigues the resurrected prince. Asking him how he looks, Willis decides to go anyway, especially since he knows Denny will not take it well if he doesn't show up, but just as he's leaving, Mamuwalde makes it clear that he's not going anywhere. Stopping him, he tells him, "Now, listen to me carefully. You are never to leave this house without my permission. Your only justification for crawling on this Earth is to serve me. Understand me well: if you ever dare to disobey me, I will slice into your chest and pull your worthless life out." Upon hearing that, Willis immediately backs down. Later, Mamuwalde is an upstairs room, playing a few bars of Beethoven's Midnight Sonata on an old piano before looking at an old, creaky globe, as he remembers back to when Count Dracula first cursed him and imprisoned Luva (we do see footage from the first film's opening in this bit). As he remembers, Mamuwalde hears the sound of a car horn outside and looks out the window to see one pull up in the driveway. Two people, Willis' friends Elaine and Louis, get out and walk up to the front door, as Mamuwalde pulls back the curtain. Finding the doors locked, they're confused when they call for Willis and get no answer, and are doubly so when the door they tried to open before is now suddenly unlocked.
The two of them enter the house and find it seemingly deserted, still getting no answer when they call for Willis. Elaine suggests that Willis may have already left but Louis says that he knew they were coming to pick him up, and they split up, with Louis checking the upstairs while Elaine searches the downstairs. As Elaine walks into the nearby den, Louis goes up the stairs and walks to a closed door, knocking on it and calling Willis. That happens to be the room Mamuwalde was in earlier, the globe still slowly spinning as Louis walks in, while Elaine is checking the doors leading down into the cellar. Up on the landing, Louis looks over the railing and calls for Elaine, heading further up the stairs when he gets no answer from her. He sees a door with some light shining underneath the rim at the end of the hall there and turns around, only for Mamuwalde to come at him, grab him by the neck, lean him over the railing, and then pick him up and throw him at the top of the stairs. He then descends on him and feeds on his blood, with Louis letting out a bloodcurdling scream. Hearing him, Elaine rushes back upstairs and, running up to the house's second level, is horrified to see Mamuwalde feeding. Her screams get his attention, as he rises up, and Willis, in full vampire mode as well, emerges from the room to her right. Elaine runs down the stairs in a panic and Willis, acting on a silent command from Mamuwalde, walks down after her, as she reaches the front door, only to find it locked. As Willis slowly walks down the stairs after her, she runs to another set of double-doors across from the front one, only to find them locked as well. Temporarily backed into a corner, Elaine flees through another door nearby, with Willis hot on her tail, smashing the door down like it was nothing. He chases her in a circle, all the way back to the main hub of the house, where she runs into Mamuwalde. Finding herself trapped, she backs away into the dining room, screaming hysterically, and after Willis comes in as well, she finally faints out of utter fear. Looking down at her, Mamuwalde decides to let Willis have her, as he eagerly walks over to her and begins feeding, as Mamuwalde slowly walks away.
The film cuts to Justin's party, where Mamuwalde makes his presence known by correcting Prof. Walton, a friend of Lisa and Justin's, by telling him that a necklace he credited to the Niger dynasty was actually of the Aboni and was worn by Princess Luva; he also asks of a matching necklace that was worn by "her husband." He then introduces himself, saying that the happy sounds of the party lured him in, and Justin, in turn, introduces him to Lisa and Walton, describing the latter as being of Robson University. Explaining that he's from the Segu River area in Africa, Mamuwalde asks if they have any more pieces from the region and Justin has Lisa show them to him. She guides him through the main section of the party, where people are dancing to a song called Hey, Mystery Man, and he glances at some pieces of African artwork on the wall before being taken into another room, with his and Gloria's gazes meeting for a few seconds. As they look at more pieces in that room, Mamuwalde describes himself as merely someone fascinated by all things African, adding that he's retired and is much older than he looks. Noting that she's staring, Lisa says that she feels like they've met before, though Mamuwalde says that if they had, he would have remembered it. Lisa then has to excuse herself to help Justin, leaving Mamuwalde to look at a bizarre, wrapped doll in a case. Denny then joins him and when he asks what the doll is, she explains it's a voodoo doll and that it might have to do with evil spirits. Gloria then steps in and explains that Lisa would definitely know, as she has more natural power than anyone in the last ten years, which intrigues Mamuwalde. In the next cut, he and Lisa are sitting and talking, with the former telling him of how she was adopted by the Mama Loa and Mamuwalde then asks about her talent with voodoo, asking if it's true that, under the proper conditions, she could change someone's inner being. He then lights a match for her cigarette but finds herself staring at his face again, which he also notices. She's unable to explain why she is staring but the moment is interrupted by a crash, after which Gloria is led in, having cut open the palm of her hand. The sight of the blood stirs something in Mamuwalde, who tells Lisa that he must be leaving, but adds they will see each other again. On the way out, he meets Justin again, who asks if he could by the next day to help him identify some African jewelry. Mamuwalde agrees but it says it would be better if they met again at night. He then heads out the front door, after Lisa walks up to him and tells him that Maggie's with Gloria at the moment.
Outside, Mamuwalde walks into the house's driveway, only to reenter it through a door in the garage. As the party continues downstairs, he creeps up to the house's second level and down the hall leading to the room where Gloria is. After Maggie walks out and down the stairs, Mamuwalde makes his move, creeping towards the now closed door, behind which Gloria is sitting at a mirror, looking at her now bandaged hand. She hears the doorknob creak and calls for Maggie, only to get no response. As she takes a sip of a glass of lemonade, the door opens and Mamuwalde, casting no reflection in the mirror, slips in and approaches her from behind. At the last moment, she senses that she's not alone and looks up right before he bares down on her, grabbing her and biting her, with Gloria barely putting up a struggle. He quickly drains her blood and sits up, breathing heavily, with a very satisfied look on his face. In the next cut, Gloria stumbles downstairs and collapses right outside the party, Lisa screaming in horror upon seeing this and everyone scrambling towards when they see her. Outside, Mamuwalde walks out through the same door he entered earlier, passing by a drunk guy loitering around the edge of the garage. Hearing a siren approaching, Mamuwalde changes into a bat flies away, much to the shock and surprise of that man, who was watching him and can only respond by groaning and letting out a very extended, "Shit," as he no doubt wonders what was in the alcohol he drank earlier.
Flying to the nearby city, Mamuwalde passes over the car- and people-filled streets, heading into a backstreet, where he changes back into his human form. Flicking something off his cape, he heads down the street, clearing intrigued by the storefronts he passes by, as well as signs for a number of strip shows and the like. Passing by a woman who's standing in the doorway of one store, he tells her, "Good evening," to which she then responds by asking if he wants some "company." When he asks, "I beg your pardon?", she repeats the question but Mamuwalde, of course, doesn't understand and she just walks off in frustration. Confused, Mamuwalde turns around to continue on, only to be faced by the hooker's two pimps. Walking by them, he's asked if he digs their "merchandise," with one adding if he's even into girls. Commenting on his cape, the one pimp figures that he must be loaded with money and they ask for him to pass some their way. It's only when one of them yells, calling him a faggot, that Mamuwalde turns around and faces them. Asking what they want, he's told they want his "bread" or they'll be forced to kick his ass. Mamuwalde then warns them that might not be such a nice idea but they, of course, threaten him again, prompting him to comment on how they're like modern day slave-masters. One of the pimps proceeds to sock him in the gut, which he doesn't react to at all, and when he looks up at him, he's now in full vampire mode. With one smack across the face, he's sent hurtling through a store window behind him, and Mamuwalde then faces his partner. The other pimp takes out a knife and, when Mamuwalde walks up to him, stabs him, only to be shocked when he pulls out and he doesn't even wince. He then tries to run but Mamuwalde grabs him by the shoulder and throws him face-first into a nearby door, his body slumping down and leaving streaks of blood along it. With his fangs bared, Mamuwalde then descends on the man in order to show him what it's like to be enslaved.
Following the scene where Lt. Dunlop suspects that Gloria's death is tied to voodoo, and the discovery of the pimps' bodies, which prompts him to ask Justin for his help, there's a short shot of Mamuwalde closing the lid on his coffin in the cellar of the Anderson, after which the rays of the morning sun shine through the nearby window. The next major scene occurs the following evening, when Denny shows up at the house to confront Willis. Though she gets no response when she rings the doorbell, a shot inside shows that she has been heard, as a shadow moves across the wall. Trying the front door, she finds that it's unlocked and walks inside, where she looks around and calls for Willis. After she threatens to bust his ass in two, Willis appears in the next room and she storms up to him, demanding to know where he's been the last few days. Telling her he's been working overtime, he begins to massage Denny's shoulders, telling her to relax. She does settle down and they embrace, her telling him that she missed him. Saying that he feels tension in her bones, he tells her that he'll do something to work it all out, after which he picks her up bridal style and lays her down on a nearby lazy chair. She turns onto her front, allowing him to continue his massage, saying he's going to do something to relax her entire body. Telling her he can, "Feel the blood just hummin' through this fine body," Willis really gets into the massage, which she says feels nice. However, it quickly becomes uncomfortable, and when she turns over and looks up at him, she bursts out laughing when she sees his fangs, thinking that they're fake and he's pulling a prank. She turns back over, telling him to take them out of his mouth, but he then holds her down, as she begins protesting, telling him to stop. Before she knows what happened, he bites her neck, but after a few seconds, she seems not to mind anymore.
Elsewhere, at the funeral home, Lisa is sitting in with Gloria's body, as it lies in an open coffin. Placing a veil over the body, Lisa walks over to a nearby table, sits down, and begins thinking. She gets so lost in thought, with her head down and her eyes closed, that she initially doesn't Gloria slowly rise up, the veil sliding off of her, but it doesn't take her long to notice it, which quite shocks her. Sitting up, Gloria opens the other half of the coffin's lid and then turns to Lisa, who calls to her, despite the fact that she's very pale and now has fangs. She calls to her in a hissing voice, telling her to come over to her, and Lisa can't help but do so, as Gloria tells her not to be afraid and that she won't hurt her. Gloria extends her arms out to Lisa, beckoning her closer until she's right beside the coffin, which is when she strikes. Caressing her check, Gloria grabs Lisa by the back of her hair and pulls her head down to her. Turning her so as to bare her neck, Gloria is about to bite her, when a pair of nearby doors burst open with a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder, revealing Mamuwalde. Frightened but free of Gloria's grasp, Lisa runs to a corner and watches as Gloria climbs out of the coffin and ducks outside, past Mamuwalde. With her gone, he approaches the terrified Lisa, assuring her that she has nothing more to fear. Backing up in a panic, she asks him who he is and then demands to know what happened to Gloria. Mamuwalde simply says that she would never understand, adding, "I move by powers no human is capable of comprehending. The things I do, the acts I commit, are beyond my control." When he says it was fire that gave him life, Lisa realizes where she saw him before, as she'd seen a vision of him rising through flames the night he was resurrected. He tells her that he needs her help through voodoo but, looking out the window, he sees that the dawn is breaking. He then tells Lisa he must see her again, which is when he'll explain everything. Lisa reluctantly agrees.
The next night, at the Anderson house, Mamuwalde, having called together all of the other vampires residing within the house, strides across the landing at the top of the stairs, in full, monster Blacula form, and booms, "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!" He emphasizes that last part by smacking the railing as he walks down the stairs towards them. "And if one of you disobeys... you will never imagine the
The next day, Justin, upon learning of unidentified bat hairs that were found at the scene of one of the crimes, reads up on the subject of vampires and tries to tell Lt. Dunlop that it could be a distinct possibility. Dunlop, of course, isn't too keen on the idea, even when presented with the oddity of the two pimps' bodies not showing up in the crime scene photographs. Justin then asks for him to give him permission to look at one of the bodies and asks him to come with him. Once again, Dunlop refuses, but when Justin presses him, he finally caves, telling Justin that he's really starting to dislike him. That night, Justin has Mamuwalde over to his house, no doubt to look at that African jewelry he mentioned before. After turning down some wine, Mamuwalde notes the many books on the occult on Justin's table and, when asked if he believes in any of it, he says, "I believe there are many things that exist that man does not know about. Man needs ritual, some form of worship, to combat the very real existence of death. I look upon that as one of man's basic needs." The subject then switches to Count Dracula, saying that one book tried to convince him that both he, as well as vampires in general, are real. Mamuwalde chuckles and says, "I guess we both best be careful that one doesn't jump out at us some dark night." Mentioning the old bit about a vampire needing to be killed by a stake through the heart, Justin talks about the deep red color of a fine wine, likening it to that of blood. With that, Mamuwalde decides that he will have a glass after all. Pouring him some and handing him the glass, Justin says that Mamuwalde never told him where he was staying, to which he replies, "You know, you've never asked." When Justin goes ahead and asks him where he's staying, Mamuwalde says, "Justin, rather than give you information of no consequence, allow me to offer you some rather profound advice. Forget your theories. Return these books to their shelves, because if there's one thing you should have discovered in your studies, it is that the intelligence of man is pathetically inadequate when pitted against the forces of the unknown. A man comes face to face with a vampire... he would most surely be at its mercy." The conversation now having turned deadly serious, Justin says that he believes a vampire is behind the recent string of deaths and Mamuwalde congratulates him for believing in vampires, adding, "That gives you something of an edge over the rest." And when Justin tells him that he's going to find the vampire and kill him, Mamuwalde stands up and tells him, "Justin, I hope you have good luck, and find nothing, because if you're right and these unfortunate deaths are, indeed, the work of a vampire, who knows who will be its next helpless victim?" He then excuses himself, bidding Justin good night before heading out the front door, leaving him convinced at who the vampire is.
In the next scene, Mamuwalde is again speaking with Lisa, who tells him that he's the first thing in her life she's ever feared. She also talks about how she's accepted that he's a vampire without any question, which has also made her afraid. Mamuwalde again assures her that there's nothing for her to fear, adding that he has no alternative to what he does other than to destroy himself, whereas her power can be used for good as well as evil. Saying that he knows his people would forgive him for what he's done, he asks her to use her voodoo to drive out the evil, monstrous side of him. Lisa isn't so confident but Mamuwalde tells her that she must try, that she's his only hope. With that, Lisa says that she will try and Mamuwalde is so happy to hear this that he kisses her but she stops him before it can get too deep and he, instead, kisses her hand. The scene fades to show Lisa taking out a voodoo doll painted and dressed to look like Mamuwalde but, just as she walks into her living room with it, there's a knock at her door. When she asks who it is, a voice says that it's the police, who want to have a word with her. She places the doll in her purse and, setting it on the couch, walks to the door, opening it to find two officers standing outside. She refuses to let them in but they tell that Lt. Dunlop wants to speak with her and that they have a warrant; on the roof, a bat appears and changes into Mamuwalde. Just as the police are about to take Lisa away, Mamuwalde appears in the house and tells them they'd best let her go. The one cop asks him who he is but he simply walks up to them and gets between her and them, again telling them to leave. The other cop tells him they have a warrant and threatens to lock him up, only for Mamuwalde to grab his hand and fling him into his partner, the two of them crashing through a door and into another room behind them. After asking Lisa if she's alright, the two of them depart.
At the Anderson house, Lisa prepares to begin the ceremony, placing the voodoo doll of Mamuwalde in the center of a ring of lit candles on the table, to which she attaches a bit of his hair that she snaps off, putting it within the doll's clothing. With dogs howling outside, Lisa takes an amulet, puts it up against her chest and breathes hard, before draping it around her neck. She then picks up the doll, moves it in a circle above the candles, and speaks an incantation. Unbeknownst to them, the police have arrived outside, pulling up in the long driveway in four cars. Their arrival hasn't gone completely unnoticed, though, as down in the house's basement, the other vampires rise from their coffins and shamble out to confront them. Dunlop gives the men instructions, telling whoever finds Lisa is to get her out as fast as possible, while Justin suggests giving each of the men a stake. Dunlop, again, objects to this but, knowing he can't win, tells each of the officers to take one anyway. Inside, the vampires spread to the main parts of the house, with Willis watching the advancing police from a window on one of the upper levels. Once he enters the house through one of the back entrances, Justin heads up the stairs, armed with a stake, while Dunlop and some other officers search the house's center hub, as another group heads downstairs to the basement, unaware that a couple of female vampires are on their tail. Back in the room where the ceremony is taking place, Mamuwalde sits across from Lisa, as she scoops some sand up in her hands and pours it around the doll, which is sitting on the table. She then drips some acid on the doll's cape, which Mamuwalde feels, as his breathing becomes heavy and he convulses slightly.
Downstairs, on the stairway leading to the cellar, one police officer finds that every door he comes across is locked, except for the one at the end of the hall, which he opens and comes face-to-face several vampires. Backing up, he gets grabbed from behind by another and pulled to the floor, as they all converge on him to feast. Meanwhile, Lisa begins reciting another incantation (the words of which don't match her lip movements, by the way) while rubbing the doll, as Mamuwalde begins to perspire, continuing to breathe heavily and shake, his hands gripping his front. Elsewhere, one police officer steps out of a room and into a hallway, unaware of the vampire that comes floating at him from behind and tackles him to the floor (he must have been deaf, because the vampire made a loud, breathy hiss as she ran at him). As Lisa continues her incantation, Mamuwalde doubles over on himself, still shaking, while outside, Justin after checking some doors, turns around to see one of the vampirized pimps charging at him. He very easily stakes him and slams him up against the wall, driving it in, before allowing him to collapse to the floor. Another vampire comes running at him and Justin quickly breaks the stake still stuck in the dead one's body into, splintering it and elbowing the vampire up against the wall when he reaches him before staking him. In another room, Dunlop has staked a vampire himself, and as he watches the monster expire, he spies an axe hanging above the wall on a nearby door. Lisa then swipes away the sand around the doll as she continues chanting, with Mamuwalde swinging back into an upright sitting position, as thing are clearly getting more intense. In another part of the house, a cop opens up a closet and gets jumped and slammed against the wall by a hiding vampire, with the two of them struggling violently with each other.
Shaking and convulsing, with his head back, a smile comes across Mamuwalde's face, his head then snapping back into its normal position. While Justin takes a crossbow and some extra arrows from one room, Mamuwalde proclaims that he can feel that the ceremony is working. Elsewhere, a cop is holding back the vampiric Denny, only for Willis to come up behind him and grabbing him, snapping his neck and dumping his body to the floor. The two of them then see the crossbow-wielding Justin appear at the top of the stairs, who proceeds to shoot Willis in his right shoulder. This does nothing, and Justin quickly loads another arrow as Willis starts up the stairs towards him. Walking as slow as he is, he doesn't get far up there before he gets shot again, this time in the heart, and stumbles down the stairs before collapsing. Seeing this, Denny begins up the stairs towards Justin, as he reloads again. Recognizing her, Justin tries to get through to Denny, saying her name and walking down the stairs towards her. Again saying her name, he gets no response, and one cop comes running in and stakes her through the back, her body slumping against the railing and sliding down it a few inches. Justin has to collect himself before heading down the stairs to continue looking for Lisa. Speaking of which, Mamuwalde again tells her that he can feel that it's working, yelling in his native language, as Lisa wrenches back and forth. Just as it reaches its fever pitch and it seems like it's going to succeed, Justin breaks in, surprising both of them and killing Lisa's concentration. Enraged at coming so close, Mamuwalde stands up, grabs Justin, and slams him against the wall, yelling, "It was working! I could have been free! It was working! Working!" Desperate to save Justin from the vampire's wrath, Lisa tells Mamuwalde that they'll try it again and she'll go with him right then. Mamuwalde throws Justin to the floor, knocking him unconscious, with Lisa grabbing the voodoo doll. Mamuwalde then grabs her and pulls her out of the room.
Heading down the stairs and reaching the first landing, Lisa and Mamuwalde see an officer rushing up at them. In no mood to be trifled with, Mamuwalde grabs him, slams him against the wall, lifts his body up over his head, and throws him over the railing, ignoring Lisa yelling at him to stop. Another cop reaches him and fires a couple of shots, only to get smacked across the face and sent tumbling down the stairs. Terrified, Lisa backs away but Mamuwalde grabs her hand and drags her down the stairs, towards the front door, saying they must try again. Dunlop comes in through the dining room, wielding the axe he spied earlier, and Mamuwalde confronts him, knocking him into the stairs and making him drop the axe. Lisa, again, begs him not to hurt Dunlop but Mamuwalde is too enraged to listen, as he picks Dunlop up, puts him against the wall and slaps him across the face, sending him tumbling to the floor. He then turns to Lisa, who is now more frightened than ever, as this is the first time she's seen him as a full-on vampire. As he moves towards her, two more cops run up to him and grab him from behind but he easily throws them off, sending them to the floor, before grabbing one and flinging him into the next room, while the other gets socked in the gut, smashed back down to the floor, then picked up by the back of his uniform and flung right through the glass of the front door, causing him to skid along the porch. Upstairs, Justin regains consciousness but, when he sees his crossbow is damaged, he grabs an arrow by itself instead.
Back downstairs, Mamuwalde again approaches Lisa, telling her that she must not be afraid of him, only for her to tell him to stay away. He insists that he would never harm her and then, finds that she's now no longer willing to help him. Desperately, he roars, "No, don't refuse me now! I need you!" but Lisa just screams, "Keep away!" before crying down into hysterical tears. Finding her recoiling when he tries to touch her cheek, he backs away, only for Justin to come up behind him and get his attention by saying his name. Turning to face Justin, the vampire stomps up to him and corrects him, yelling that his name is Blacula, as he grabs him, shoves him against the wall, and makes him drop the arrow he was wielding. Snarling, Blacula bares Justin's neck, tells him that he'll now know his agony, and prepares to bite him, when he suddenly recoils and lets out a pained roar. Lisa stabbed into the voodoo doll with the arrow, following it up with another that forces him to completely turn Justin loose, as he lunges backwards, doubled over and holding his middle. Justin watches as Blacula tries to approach Lisa, holding his hand out to her, only for her to stab the doll again, causing him to recoil yet again, this time grabbing at his chest. Panting heavily, and nearly collapsing on the floor, Blacula manages to force him back up, but then, Lisa stabs the doll again, causing him to let a very loud and pained yell, as he again nearly falls to the floor. He gets back to his feet and glances at Lisa, who is now crying, before he looks up, raises his arms and spreads his cape, letting out one last pained howl, the camera lifting up and shooting down at him... and that's where the movie ends. The image fades to a red-and-black image of Blacula's face, as the credits play and the film's theme song, Torment, plays. So, in the end, you don't really know if Blacula was actually destroyed, which makes it very, very anticlimactic, especially since there never was a third film.
While the score for the first film is notable for how it's often more funky, with a rhythm and blues twang to it, than scary or atmospheric, the music for the sequel, composed by Bill Marx (who'd scored both of the Count Yorga movies), is more traditional of the horror genre, often being very subtle and serving as underscoring than actual music. Unfortunately, as a result, it's not nearly as memorable as what Gene Page did for the first film, although there are a few standout parts, such as a rhythmic, drumming theme for the parts involving voodoo, such as when Willis first resurrects Mamuwalde and all throughout the third act, as Lisa tries to rid him of his vampirism while Justin and the police battle the vampires in the house, growing more intense in tempo as the sequence goes on and continuing during Mamuwalde's rampage afterward. There's an elegant-sounding, string bit when you see Mamuwalde become a bat, leading into a kind of unorthodox piece as he then flies over the city. The music that plays over the opening credits, which is the one true callback to the original's more funkadelic sound, is actually an instrumental, differently-orchestrated version of the song Torment, which plays over the ending credits and is sung by Bill Marx himself. Said song is fine enough and has a memorable sound to it, though it's not as upbeat and bouncy as the first film's main title theme and probably won't stick in my mind the same way it did. The same goes for the songs that are heard during the party at Justin's house, which serve as the sequel's answer to the songs sung at the bar by the Hues Corporation before. While the one called Hey, Mystery Man does have some significance, as it plays when Lisa has first me Mamuwalde and is guiding him through the place, the others are in one ear and out the other, kind of like this movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment