Blacula

[Junkyard]

Okay, so I'm doing this paper for my 70's film class. In it, I'm gonna talk about three types of movie monster; Vampires, Werewolves, and Zombies, and how they were used in the 70's. To tie in with some of the Blacksploitation films we're watching, I've decided that my focus for 70's vampires will be on Blacula.

I thought it was actually a pretty good movie, and potentially groundbreaking. And here we come to the point of this thread. I need to know if anyone knows of any use of these elements in a vampire movie before 1972:
- Face distortion when in vampire mode.

-Main vampire charicter killing itself.
-Police going against vampire.

Any insight you can give me on this would be greatly appreciated.

[Junkyard]

Hello? Anyone?

[Grillslinger]

Hey, Junkyard...intersting question....I hadn't answered yet because I haven't had enough time to really think about it. I'll get back to you on this one.

[Rude]

...

I haven't had a chance to really think about any of your topics. But the whole "face distortion" thing jumped out at me, because i think that really was a sort of invention of the 70s. For example... Chris Lee's Dracula films spanned quite a few years, but it wasn't until the 70s that he actually looked significantly different when he turned into a vampire.

Anyway, if this discussion gets rolling i may be able to remember a few things here or there.
But, good luck on your paper.

-Rude

[Tripe]

Facial distortion has always been associated with Vamps which is why people think Porphyria might have given rise to the stories. When Denholm eliot played Dracula back in the late 60s on TV he had distorted features.

As for the other two I can't think of any previous to that of the top of my head.

[Rude]

Facial distortion has always been associated with Vamps...

Not always... Vampires were originally either monsters like Nosferatu, or secret vampires like Dracula, who always looked quite normal... ya' know, even when he was vamping out with the fangs and everything.

But I can't think of any early cinema where a vampire changes from a normal human to a vampire monster. Although that is very common today, and has actually become the standard. I'm sure there must be a few out there, but do you have any examples from before 1970?

-Rude

[Tripe]

Aside from Denholm Eliot you mean?

[GregMcduck]

-Police going against vampire.

Off the top of my head, The Satanic Rites of Dracula had Scotland Yard officers tracking down Dracula and taking down a whole room of female vampires.

[Chaos]

Aside from Denholm Eliot you mean?

Yes, but did the vampire ALWAYS look that way, or did they look normal most of the time, except for when they were about to feed? That's the point Junkyard is working on.

[Junkyard]

Right.
Also, any word on noble vampire suicide?

[Tripe]

Aside from Denholm Eliot you mean?

Yes, but did the vampire ALWAYS look that way, or did they look normal most of the time, except for when they were about to feed? That's the point Junkyard is working on.

Yes it was pre-kill so to speak.

Do I think it in anyway influenced Blacula, probably not. I think the facial distortion is a refinement of the shape shifting ability exhibited in vampire literature all the way back to Carmilla (and in certain folk lore traditions prior to that) but I think the er "frugal" factor in the production of blaxploitation movies might have helped make it the best approach for the producers of Blacula.

"How are we going to show the animalistic blood lust of Mamuwalde because we can't afford to go really all out on the effects."

"How about we make the face all beast like? We can afford some Gum Arabic, gauze and grease paint"

"Sounds like a winner to me!"

And the rest is horrific pop culture history

Anyone whose ever watched Dr Who will probably be aware that a similar conversation probably also happened at the BBC when making the Eliot version of Dracula

Edit: I just noticed that I've made the producers of Blacula sound like a couple of blokes named Bob and Reg who come from Surrey

[Cibernético II]

I think Scott Blacula is very underrated actor. Quantam Leap was a great show

[Tripe]

 

[Bob]

I thought it was actually a pretty good movie, and potentially groundbreaking. And here we come to the point of this thread. I need to know if anyone knows of any use of these elements in a vampire movie before 1972:
-Police going against vampire.

Any insight you can give me on this would be greatly appreciated.

In the TV movie "The Night Stalker" there were scenes of the police rumbling with the vampire.   

[Tripe]

And it would have been seen on TV a good six months before Blacula was released. So it's possible it was an influence. Good call.