2+ items ship free in the US · 4+ items get 15% off
Couldn't load pickup availability
Blacula — Vintage Horror Tee
Released in 1972, Blacula starred the magnificent William Marshall as Prince Mamuwalde, an African prince who travels to Transylvania in 1780 seeking Count Dracula’s help in ending the slave trade. Instead, Dracula curses him with vampirism, locks him away in a coffin, and gives him the name Blacula.
Nearly two centuries later, Mamuwalde is accidentally released in 1970s Los Angeles, where he encounters Tina, a woman who appears to be the reincarnation of his long-lost wife Luva. What follows mixes Gothic horror, romance, police procedural, Blaxploitation, and some fantastic early-’70s Los Angeles nightlife.
And William Marshall is the reason it works. With that extraordinary voice and Shakespearean presence, he plays Mamuwalde with genuine dignity, sadness, intelligence, and menace. He isn't simply Dracula with a different name—he's a tragic romantic figure with a history and identity of his own.
Blacula was also significant as one of the early successes of the Blaxploitation horror boom, proving there was an audience for Black-centered horror stories and helping open the door for films like Ganja & Hess, Blackenstein, Sugar Hill, and the sequel Scream Blacula Scream.
