William Marshall (remember him as Dr. Daystrom from original Trek's "The Ultimate Computer") is the best part of this movie. He handles the role with a dignity and power that is ill-served by a character named "Blacula" which grows enormously absurd (or absurdly enormous) sideburns whenever the bloodlust overtakes him. He also adds depth to what is basically a vampiric romance that most other actors would have looked silly trying to pull off.
The rest of the movie is basic blackploitation, however. Making Blacula an old-style vampire in the real "hip" world doesn't work well - he just looks goofy. Again, Marshall _just_ manages to pull this off through sheer screen presence. But there's no sense that they're trying to update the genre (as later movies such as Fright Night and Lost Boys tried and succeeded). Instead, they just put all the old vampire cliches in a more update (for 1972) setting in toto, and that's about it.
So watch this movie if you want to see an excellent performance by the lead, but otherwise I wouldn't bother.
The rest of the movie is basic blackploitation, however. Making Blacula an old-style vampire in the real "hip" world doesn't work well - he just looks goofy. Again, Marshall _just_ manages to pull this off through sheer screen presence. But there's no sense that they're trying to update the genre (as later movies such as Fright Night and Lost Boys tried and succeeded). Instead, they just put all the old vampire cliches in a more update (for 1972) setting in toto, and that's about it.
So watch this movie if you want to see an excellent performance by the lead, but otherwise I wouldn't bother.