Blacula

film by Crain [1972]

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July 22, 2026

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Blacula (1972) is a horror film that falls under the blaxploitation genre. These films, popular in the early to mid-1970s, featured Black actors and aimed to appeal to Black urban audiences. In Blacula, Count Dracula transforms an 18th-century African prince into a vampire after the prince seeks his help to end the slave trade. The film is noted for its role within the broader blaxploitation movement, which aimed to break existing stereotypes by presenting self-possessed Black characters in control of their destinies, though some critics found the genre perpetuated damaging stereotypes.12

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Black horror
History of Black horror
In Blacula (1972), directed by William Crain, Dracula turns an 18th-century African prince, who asks for his help in ending the slave trade, into a vampire. Other Blaxploitation horror movies of this era include Scream Blacula Scream (1973), Blackenstein (1973), Sugar Hill (1974), and Dr. Black,…
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In Blacula (1972), directed by William Crain, Dracula turns an 18th-century African prince, who asks for his help in ending the slave trade, into a vampire. Other Blaxploitation horror movies of this era include Scream Blacula Scream (1973), Blackenstein (1973), Sugar Hill (1974), and Dr. Black,…
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blaxploitation movies
…in genres including horror (notably Blacula, 1972), westerns (Buck and the Preacher, 1972), comedy (Watermelon Man, 1970), drama (Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes, 1974), and, by far the most-popular subgenre, action (Shaft, 1971). But from the outset, African American critics found the stereotypes made possible by the behaviours…
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…in genres including horror (notably Blacula, 1972), westerns (Buck and the Preacher, 1972), comedy (Watermelon Man, 1970), drama (Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes, 1974), and, by far the most-popular subgenre, action (Shaft, 1971). But from the outset, African American critics found the stereotypes made possible by the behaviours…
Read More