Blacula

Blacula
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	William Crain
Screenplay by	Joan Torres Raymond Koenig Richard Glouner[1]
Produced by	Samuel Z. Arkoff Joseph T. Naar[1]
Starring	William Marshall Vonetta McGee Denise Nicholas Gordon Pinsent Charles Macaulay Thalmus Rasulala
Cinematography	John M. Stephens[1]
Edited by	Allan Jacobs[1]
Music by	Gene Page[1]
Production companies	Power Productions American International Productions[1]
Distributed by	American International Pictures
Release date	August 25, 1972 (1972-08-25) (United States)[2]
Running time	92 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1,980,000[3]

Blacula is a 1972 American blaxploitation horror film directed by William Crain. It stars William Marshall in the title role about an 18th-century African prince named Mamuwalde, who is turned into a vampire (and later locked in a coffin) by Count Dracula in the Count's castle in Transylvania in the year 1780 after Dracula refuses to help Mamuwalde suppress the slave trade.

Blacula was released to mixed reviews in the United States, but was one of the top-grossing films of the year. It was the first film to receive an award for Best Horror Film at the Saturn Awards. Blacula was followed by the sequel Scream Blacula Scream in 1973 and inspired a wave of blaxploitation-themed horror films.