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Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 2: Hey you welcome to Weird House Cinema.

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Speaker 3: This is Rob Lamb and I am Joe McCormick. And

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Speaker 3: today on Weird House Cinema, we are going to be

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Speaker 3: talking about the nineteen seventy two tragic romantic horror film Blackula.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, so this is in a sense another Dracula movie.

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Speaker 2: We'll get into that in a bit, and I'm generally

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Speaker 2: down for any Dracula film. We've covered various Dracula movies

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Speaker 2: already on Weird House Cinema. Most recently we talked about

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Speaker 2: nineteen seventy two's Dracula Ad nineteen seventy two, in which

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Speaker 2: the Count awakens in contemporary London. Today's movie is also

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Speaker 2: a nineteen seventy two release, and it also centers around

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Speaker 2: a vampire prints awakening in the contemporary world, only this

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Speaker 2: time it's Los Angeles?

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Speaker 3: Is it Los Angeles? I kept thinking that the exterior

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Speaker 3: shots looked like LA But then I would see, like

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Speaker 3: there was a scene at the police station where in

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Speaker 3: the background, I'm pretty sure they had a map of

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Speaker 3: Staten Island on the wall.

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Speaker 2: Well, I didn't notice that. I believe the movie when

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Speaker 2: it told me it was Los Angeles.

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Speaker 3: Well wait, did the movie even say it was LA

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Speaker 3: I didn't remember that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, our character, doctor Thomas, supposedly works for the Los

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Speaker 2: Angeles Police Department.

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Speaker 3: Oh okay, then, oh, maybe he's just like a Staten

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Speaker 3: Island map hobbyist. That's myself there. I don't know, but

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Speaker 3: you know what. So this movie had been on my

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Speaker 3: radar for many years, but I hadn't seen it until

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Speaker 3: you picked it for the show.

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Speaker 2: Rob.

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Speaker 3: First of all, I really liked it, But second, it's

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Speaker 3: a very different movie than I imagined. I think because

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Speaker 3: the title is a pun, and because I understood it

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Speaker 3: to be part of the black exploitation wave. I had

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Speaker 3: always expected it would be more of a satirical horror comedy,

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Speaker 3: that it would be sort of a satirical take on

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Speaker 3: American culture from a black perspective, using some using like

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Speaker 3: vampire themes to get across some of its like comedic observations.

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Speaker 3: But it's really not a comedy at all. Instead, it

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Speaker 3: is a I think, very serious and very effective, tragic

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Speaker 3: romantic horror film.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, and it's interesting and we'll be discussing this

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Speaker 2: a bit like the degree to which that transformation seems

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Speaker 2: to have taken place, because I think the studio initially

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Speaker 2: envisioned something that was more of a comedy and was

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Speaker 2: more of more satire and was just about, you know,

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Speaker 2: given the audience a good time. But this was transformed

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Speaker 2: by at least two of the key individuals involved, if

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Speaker 2: not more.

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Speaker 3: Also, I have to say the comparison to Dracula nineteen

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Speaker 3: seventy two AD is hilarious because multiple things. So, first

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Speaker 3: of all, I think Blacula is a much better film

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Speaker 3: than that. But the other thing is that we kept

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Speaker 3: joking in that episode that Dracula in nineteen seventy two

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Speaker 3: a D did not really put Dracula in nineteen seventy

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Speaker 3: two a D. He was almost like he just hangs

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Speaker 3: out in an abandoned church the whole time, and then

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Speaker 3: victims are brought to him, so he never encounters modern

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Speaker 3: culture or anything like that. And we talked about the

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Speaker 3: potential for realizing, you know, Dracula as a sort of

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Speaker 3: fish out of time character who's running into all of

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Speaker 3: the texture of the modern world and having friction when

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Speaker 3: interacting with it. You could expect that Blacula could be

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Speaker 3: like that as well, but really there is not much

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Speaker 3: fish out of time about it at all. In fact,

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Speaker 3: by the time our vampire hero arrives in nineteen seventy two,

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Speaker 3: he's like the coolest person in nineteen seventy two. He's

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Speaker 3: like more at ease and at home than anybody who

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Speaker 3: just normally lives their life here.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely so. Yeah, Black Ela is a very well

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Speaker 2: known film in the history of horror and vampire movies,

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Speaker 2: and certainly has has its place in the history of

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Speaker 2: black cinema. So like yourself, Yeah, I've been familiar with

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Speaker 2: it for a long time, but I'd never taken the

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Speaker 2: time to actually sit down and watch it. And and

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Speaker 2: part of, you know, part of that was, like I

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Speaker 2: assumed it was more of a comedy, you know, I

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Speaker 2: wasn't sure how it might have aged, how it was received,

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Speaker 2: and what its legacy was, because you know, not everything

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Speaker 2: that is often categorized under the broad label of black

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Speaker 2: exploitation is worth a revisit. But I just kept seeing

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Speaker 2: more film creators, more artists, more historians, especially artists and

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Speaker 2: historians of color, singling it out for its strengths. One

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Speaker 2: such artist is Rodney Barnes, an American screenwriter and producer,

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Speaker 2: whose writing credits include Everybody Hates Chris, The Boondocks, and

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Speaker 2: also the TV series Winning Time on HBO. He was

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Speaker 2: also apparently and he has an additional crew credit. I'm blade.

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Speaker 2: I'm not sure what he did on that, but still

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Speaker 2: in nice vampire connection. But I picked up his twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty three graphic novel Blackula, Rich Turn of the King,

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Speaker 2: illustrated by Jason Seawan Alexander, and it's really fun. It's

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Speaker 2: a modern sequel to the film Blackula, reawakening our central

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Speaker 2: Prince character once more in contemporary Los Angeles and on

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Speaker 2: a collision course, this time with his vampiric maker. It's

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Speaker 2: really again, really good, really fun, and it includes an

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Speaker 2: extended intro in which Barnes describes being a horror fan

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Speaker 2: as a kid and being at the time mostly dependent

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Speaker 2: on a diet of hammer horror films which featured predominantly

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Speaker 2: white casts and never a black vampire. So he mentions

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Speaker 2: like seeing the ads for the first time. I think

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Speaker 2: he says that he saw them during the commercial breaks

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Speaker 2: for a Soul Train and he was instantly excited as

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Speaker 2: a child. He was like, you know this, this is

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Speaker 2: something different, This is here here is a case where

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Speaker 2: I get to see like a black vampire character in

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Speaker 2: a film. So Blacula, the movie called to him ultimately

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Speaker 2: helped inspire him to become a creator himself. And you know,

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Speaker 2: he acknowledges that the film has its flaws, but that

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Speaker 2: its power was undeniable. Now, I want to throw into

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Speaker 2: one quick note about the language of the film. While

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Speaker 2: the film is rated PG and doesn't really contain anything

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Speaker 2: objectionable in terms of gore or sexuality, we should stress

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Speaker 2: that a homophobic slur is used at least a couple

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Speaker 2: of times, one instance by a key protagonist, and once

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Speaker 2: in a really unnecessary and hurtful way. It certainly ding's

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Speaker 2: enjoyment of the film, especially since there's so many captivating

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Speaker 2: elements of the picture otherwise, so I wanted to single

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Speaker 2: that out. I was reading a little bit more about

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Speaker 2: this in The Dracula and the Blacula nineteen seventy two

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Speaker 2: Cultural Revolution by Lemon and Browning. This was published in

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Speaker 2: two thousand and nine s Dracula's Vampires and Other Undead

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Speaker 2: Forms Essays on gender, race, and Culture. And this article

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Speaker 2: makes a case that you know, we also see efforts

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Speaker 2: in the movie at challenging homosexual stereotype, just as the

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Speaker 2: film challenges stereotypes of black and African characters. Though the

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Speaker 2: authors here acknowledge that the film fumbles in this and

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Speaker 2: ultimately quote encourage stereotypes and bigotries concerning homosexuality more than

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Speaker 2: they challenged them. So I just wanted to throw that

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Speaker 2: out there in case anyone was looking to pause the

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Speaker 2: podcast go watch the film. I think it's just a

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Speaker 2: good heads up to have. All Right, well, at this point,

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Speaker 2: let's go ahead and have a little trailer audio. The

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Speaker 2: actual trailer for the film is a bit long, but

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Speaker 2: we were able to dig up the radio spot here.

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Speaker 2: I love a good radio spot, so let's listen to

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Speaker 2: the original radio spot for Blackma.

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Speaker 1: You shall.

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Speaker 3: Black Prince, I press' wait my name?

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Speaker 4: You shall be black Tula, the Black Avenger, rising from

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Speaker 4: this tool to fill the night with horror. Black Cula

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Speaker 4: Dracula soul brother, deadlier even than he Blacula the First

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Speaker 4: for your blood. He hung less for your soul, more

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Speaker 4: horrifying than Draccula, the Black Avenge. Black Cula an American

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Speaker 4: International release rated PG. Parental guidance suggested.

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Speaker 2: Now of note you that voice you heard at the beginning.

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Speaker 2: That is the voice of Count Dracula, as we'll discuss.

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Speaker 3: Hmmm. You know that raises another way in which this

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Speaker 3: movie I think is different than what some people might

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Speaker 3: assume going into it, which you might assume of the

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Speaker 3: premise is what if Count Dracula were black, but instead

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Speaker 3: our black vampire prints in the movie is very much

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Speaker 3: set in opposition to Count Dracula. Like Count Dracula is

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Speaker 3: still the villain.

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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, absolutely, a complete and utter villain, but then

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Speaker 2: also one that will not factor into the film directly

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Speaker 2: after after just a few minutes into the film.

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Speaker 3: Really yeah, he disappears after like three or four minutes in.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. All right, Well, if you're intrigued, if you're interested

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Speaker 2: in watching this one on your own before proceeding with

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Speaker 2: the rest of the episode, it's pretty widely available. We

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Speaker 2: watched it on the twenty twenty three Blu ray from

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Speaker 2: Sandpiper Pictures. It's bare bones, doesn't really have anything in

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Speaker 2: the way of extras, but the quality is great. We

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Speaker 2: rented it from Video Drum here in Atlanta, though I

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Speaker 2: believe it's also streaming on Prime and other sources, So again,

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Speaker 2: you shouldn't have any problem getting a hold of this movie.

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Speaker 2: All right, Let's get into the people who made this film,

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Speaker 2: starting at the top with the director. William Crane born

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Speaker 2: nineteen forty nine, American director in UCLA Film School graduate,

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Speaker 2: best remembered for this film and thus his contributions to

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Speaker 2: black cinema of the seventies and more broadly, the horror

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Speaker 2: genre itself. Prior to Blackula, he'd worked in TV. He

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Speaker 2: directed a nineteen seventy one episode of Mod Squad, though

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Speaker 2: he apparently worked as an uncredited intern director on the

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Speaker 2: nineteen seventies Sydney Quaidier movie Brother John, which also features

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Speaker 2: Paul Winfield. But anyway, After Blacula, he continued to direct

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Speaker 2: episodes of such TV series as Startsky and hutch Swatt

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Speaker 2: and The Rookies, before returning to the world of black

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Speaker 2: centric horror films with nineteen seventy six is Doctor Black

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Speaker 2: Mister Hyde, starring Bernie Casey in the lead roles.

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Speaker 3: No, I'd be interested to see that one too.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I saw a bit from an interview with

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Speaker 2: him where he said he had more freedom in that one,

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Speaker 2: So I'm interested to read more about it, see how

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Speaker 2: it was received, and potentially watch it now. Afterwards, he

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Speaker 2: directed episodes of The Dukes of Hazzard, Matt Houston, and

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Speaker 2: Designing Women. There are a lot of interviews with him

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Speaker 2: out there. I ran across one from a This is

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Speaker 2: a twenty twenty one interview on WBBM News radio with

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Speaker 2: Mike Ramsey. He says, AIP, that's American International Pictures. They

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Speaker 2: were doing exploitive movies. The rumor was they were in

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Speaker 2: the red and so they were going to do a

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Speaker 2: black vampire movie. I happened to be in the right

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Speaker 2: place at the right time. The original concept was Count

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Speaker 2: Brown's in Town. It was this Shuckin' and jivin and

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Speaker 2: I didn't want to do it, but they hired me

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Speaker 2: to do this movie. William Marshall said, let's just make

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Speaker 2: this straight.

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Speaker 3: So William Marshall is the actor who plays Memo Walde,

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Speaker 3: the main vampire in the movie. And yeah, this is

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Speaker 3: in line with what I've read that he was a

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Speaker 3: big force in reimagining the movie as a more serious,

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Speaker 3: dramatic project.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. According to Lemonon Browning in that article, I decided

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Speaker 2: when he came on board to star in the picture,

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Speaker 2: he insisted on certain changes to Mama Walde's character and

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Speaker 2: wrote or rewrote key scenes concerning memal Walde's eighteenth century

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Speaker 2: mission to Europe, as well his connection to his wife Luva,

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Speaker 2: So he seems to have been heavily involved in the

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Speaker 2: choices that made this film notable.

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Speaker 3: But by emphasizing the tragic romance at the core of it,

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Speaker 3: I don't want to undersell the horror elements of this

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Speaker 3: film now, because to come back to Crane's approach to

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Speaker 3: it as a horror film, I think the scary scenes,

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Speaker 3: though it's not wall to wall scares, the scary scenes

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Speaker 3: are quite effective. There are some extremely creepy shots in

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Speaker 3: this movie, like it does a thing a couple of

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Speaker 3: times where a character like a monster, a vampire character

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Speaker 3: is just directly approaching the camera, so the camera is

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Speaker 3: at a fixed position and the vampire is just gliding

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Speaker 3: straight into your face. And I don't know, that's not

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Speaker 3: a kind of shot that I think of is very

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Speaker 3: common in horror films. But even though it seems like

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Speaker 3: it would be, I don't know why it's not, but

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Speaker 3: it's very effective here.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, you can imagine these scenes really sizzling on

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Speaker 2: the big screen in front of a pack house and

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Speaker 2: it's worth noting that this film was quite a success

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Speaker 2: so and certainly played an important part in sort of

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Speaker 2: paving the way for additional black horror films that came

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Speaker 2: out afterwards. Though we should also note this was not

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Speaker 2: I think sometimes this is described as the quote first

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Speaker 2: black horror film, which is not the case. There were

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Speaker 2: earlier examples of this. The credited writers on this are

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Speaker 2: Joan Torres and Raymond Koenig. I don't have dates for them.

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Speaker 2: I don't think dates are available, though I believe Joan

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Speaker 2: Torres at least is still still around. This and the

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Speaker 2: nineteen seventy three sequel Scream Blackula Scream are their only credits.

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Speaker 2: Joan Torres has a website, Joan Torres dot com, which

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Speaker 2: details her additional work as a playwright and a novelist.

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Speaker 2: Given the subject matter of the film, it's notable that

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Speaker 2: neither of the credited writers was themselves black, but again,

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Speaker 2: the film's black director and black lead evidently further crafted

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Speaker 2: the screenplay in this more serious direction.

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Speaker 3: Just wanted to note you mentioned the sequel screen Blacula Screen,

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Speaker 3: which does also have William Marshall in it. I don't

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Speaker 3: know anything about the reputation of that movie, but I

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Speaker 3: wanted to note it does have Pam Greer in it,

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Speaker 3: so that's the reason to watch true.

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Speaker 2: All right, Well, let's come back to William Marshall again.

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Speaker 2: This is our star who plays Prince Mama Walde, the Vampire.

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Speaker 2: William Marshall lived nineteen twenty four through two thousand and three. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: the star of this picture and just an irrefutable central

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Speaker 2: force in the making of the film. What it making

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Speaker 2: the film? What it is bringing dignity, power and complexity

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Speaker 2: to a character that otherwise could have unlikely would have

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Speaker 2: been a much more shallow exercise in vampire horror. Marshall

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Speaker 2: was an American actor, director, and opera singer with impressive

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Speaker 2: credits across stage, screen and TV. He studied at the

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Speaker 2: Actor's Studio in New York and was I believe had

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Speaker 2: some opera training. I'm not as informed about his his

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Speaker 2: career regarding opera, but he performed on Broadway in the

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Speaker 2: late forties and early fifties, and he played the title

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Speaker 2: role in Othello in both the US and Europe. There's

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Speaker 2: a nineteen eighty one production of A Fellow with him

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Speaker 2: in the lead role that was filmed and I believe

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Speaker 2: is available.

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Speaker 3: I'm not surprised to hear that he was an opera

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Speaker 3: singer because he has an absolutely magnificent voice, just a

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Speaker 3: beautiful bass, like a I'm trying to think, what's the metaphor,

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Speaker 3: it's like a ship sailing through smooth water. Is It's

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Speaker 3: just like an amazing voice. It is the kind of

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Speaker 3: voice that every time he speaks, people just turn and listen.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's captivating. So his TV credits, he has a

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Speaker 2: lot of TV credits, include a second season episode of

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Speaker 2: the original Star Trek. This one was titled The Ultimate Computer,

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Speaker 2: in which he played a brilliant human computer scientist. And

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Speaker 2: then he may also be a familiar face from his

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Speaker 2: later years for some of you, because he played the

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Speaker 2: King of Cartoons on Pee Wee's Playhouse. According to his

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Speaker 2: New Times obit. In nineteen eighty three, he appeared in

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Speaker 2: a one hour one man show for PBS called Frederick Douglas,

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Speaker 2: Slave and Statesman, and he adapted this for the theater

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Speaker 2: as inter Frederick Douglass, which he performed for many years.

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Speaker 2: And yeah, he has a whole bunch of credits. I

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Speaker 2: did note that on the old nineteen eighty Spider Man cartoon.

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Speaker 2: He voiced both the Juggernaut and Tony Stark, whoa in cinema.

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Speaker 2: His other credits include nineteen fifty four's Demetrius and the Gladiators,

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Speaker 2: the nineteen seventy three sequel Screen Blackulas Scream of Course,

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Speaker 2: the nineteen seventy four zombie movie Abby, seventy seven's Twilight's

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Speaker 2: Last Gleaming, and nineteen ninety four's Maverick. So again, yeah,

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Speaker 2: he's absolutely commanding in this role. You can see how

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Speaker 2: he was such a powerful force on the trajectory of

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Speaker 2: this film as well, first of all in pushing for

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Speaker 2: these changes, and secondly, according to Crane in that interview,

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Speaker 2: I was looking at in being able to deliver on

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Speaker 2: those changes in such a way that as the dailies

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Speaker 2: or the raw footage was rolling in from the filming

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Speaker 2: the studio like, they just fall it suit. They didn't

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Speaker 2: fight it because they saw that it was absolutely working,

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Speaker 2: all right. So moving on to the rest of the cast,

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Speaker 2: we have a dual role here of Tina and Luva,

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Speaker 2: which we'll get into what that means here in a bit.

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Speaker 2: But these characters are played by Vanetta McGee who lived

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Speaker 2: nineteen forty five through twenty ten American actress who had

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Speaker 2: been in several films prior to this, including the Italian

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Speaker 2: western The Great Silence. Her subsequent films included nineteen seventy

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Speaker 2: three's Shaft in Africa and Detroit nine thousand. In nineteen

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Speaker 2: seventy five, she was in The Eiger Sanction opposite Clint Eastwood.

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Speaker 2: I believe that was She's like second build on that.

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Speaker 2: She's in nineteen eighty four's Repo Man in nineteen nineties

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Speaker 2: to Sleep with Anger all Right, now playing Tina's sister

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Speaker 2: in nineteen seventy two. The sister's name is Michelle, played

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Speaker 2: by Denise Nicholas born nineteen forty four, American actress with

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Speaker 2: extensive television credits, including an episode of Night Gallery Love

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Speaker 2: American Style, Different Strokes, The Love Boat, and sixty nine

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Speaker 2: episodes of In the Heat of the Night. Her film

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Speaker 2: credits include seventy seven's Capricorn One, nineteen nineties Ghost Dad,

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Speaker 2: in two thousand's Ritual. She won a nineteen seventy six

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Speaker 2: NAACP Image Award for her role in Let's Do It Again.

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Speaker 3: I feel like a big part of Michelle's role in

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Speaker 3: the plot is we have to have somebody who is

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Speaker 3: skeptical of the vampire stuff, because Tina ultimately is going

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Speaker 3: to become wooed by the power of Memo wall Day,

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Speaker 3: and you know she ultimately is like, Yeah, Okay, I'll

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Speaker 3: be a vampire because I love you. The character we're

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Speaker 3: about to talk about, doctor Gordon Thomas. He's pretty much

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Speaker 3: from the beginning is like, I think a vampire could

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Speaker 3: be responsible for these killings. So Michelle is going to

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Speaker 3: be the one who's like, I don't believe this, and

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Speaker 3: I do not want to go dig up a grave tonight.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, Yeah. So let's get to doctor Gordon Thomas

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Speaker 2: because he's essentially the Van Helsing character of the movie.

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Speaker 3: He's the investigator, the human hero.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and he is played by Thalmus Rassulula. He lived

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00:19:18,320 --> 00:19:21,639
Speaker 2: nineteen thirty nine through nineteen ninety one American actor with

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Speaker 2: extensive TV credits going back to nineteen sixty including Perry Mason,

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Speaker 2: The Original Twilight Zone, All in the Family, Mission Impossible,

340
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Speaker 2: Sanford and Son, The Jefferson's Kojak, The Incredible Hulk. He

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Speaker 2: also shows up in an episode of Star Trek the

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Speaker 2: Next Generation, playing the character Captain Donald Varley. Also notable.

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Speaker 2: He pops up on a nineteen seventy five episode of

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Speaker 2: Saturday Night Live, specifically in a skit titled Exorcist two

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Speaker 2: in which he plays Father Marrin.

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Speaker 3: I like that the implied comedy of this skit is

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Speaker 3: how ridiculous it would be to make a sequel to

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Speaker 3: the X, Or says, But then just a couple of

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Speaker 3: years later, they literally did.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Of Note that episode of Saturday Night Live was

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Speaker 2: hosted by Richard Pryor, you know, the great stand up comedian,

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Speaker 2: and the musical guest was a legendary Gil Scott Heron. Reportedly,

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Speaker 2: Pryor only agreed to host the show if both of

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Speaker 2: these men were involved, so they were like handpicked. He's like,

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Speaker 2: I'll do it. You got to bring in Gil Scott Heron,

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Speaker 2: and you got to bring in Thalmus to be in

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Speaker 2: this skit with me.

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Speaker 3: He's really effective in this movie, and he has a

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Speaker 3: sort of thankless role to play because William Marshall's character

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Speaker 3: gets to be the vampire, gets to be the tragic

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Speaker 3: prince and at the center of this tragic love story,

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Speaker 3: whereas Gordon Thomas Thomas Roussoula's character has to be hunting

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Speaker 3: him down and doing so in a like. The character

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Speaker 3: is written as an irascible and business oriented man. Like

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Speaker 3: he's not fun, and yet it is fun watching the

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Speaker 3: character do what he does.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's a really solid performance. You know,

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Speaker 2: he's like here grumpy, uh but smooth Van Helson character. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: all right, this is a minor character. But I also

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Speaker 2: want to call out that Jaitu Kombuka is in this

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Speaker 2: playing the character Skillet. Skillett is a bit comic relief

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Speaker 2: character who really likes Memowalde's cape. Yes, but it's a

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Speaker 2: memorable brief bart. He lived nineteen forty through twenty seventeen.

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Speaker 2: He was a main cast member on the spy series

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Speaker 2: A Man called Sloan with Robert Conrad and Dan o'hurlhay.

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Speaker 2: He was in Roots He's. His other credits include Doctor Black,

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Speaker 2: Mister Hyde, nineteen seventy one's Brian Song, seventy six is

378
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Speaker 2: Bound for Glory eighty five Brewsters Millions in nineteen eighty

379
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Speaker 2: nine's Harlem Knights.

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Speaker 3: This character appears multiple times to admire Memo Walde's cape

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Speaker 3: and to comment that he is one strange dude.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's his sole purpose here, all right, We mentioned

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Speaker 2: that Dracula is in this movie, and we'll discuss the

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Speaker 2: way Dracula is envisioned in this film here in a

385
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Speaker 2: bit in more detail. But Dracula here is played by

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Speaker 2: Charles McCauley, who lived nineteen twenty seven through nineteen ninety

387
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Speaker 2: nine an American actor of stage, screen, and TV, whose

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Speaker 2: earliest film role is an uncredited part in Roger Corman's

389
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Speaker 2: horror comedy Creature from the Haunted Sea nineteen sixty one.

390
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Speaker 2: We haven't watched this one on Weird House, but it's

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Speaker 2: often considered part of a trilogy of horror comedies that

392
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Speaker 2: Corman did, along with Bucket of Blood and The Little

393
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Speaker 2: Shop of Horrors. McCauley also worked with Corman, credited, this

394
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Speaker 2: time in nineteen sixty two's Tower of London. His filmography

395
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Speaker 2: features a great deal of mainstream TV work, along with

396
00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:46,040
Speaker 2: various entries in the horror genre. On TV, he appeared

397
00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:48,440
Speaker 2: on two episodes of The original Star Trek, thirty five

398
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Speaker 2: episodes of Days of Our Lives, He was on Mission Impossible, Night,

399
00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:56,160
Speaker 2: Gallery Colombo, and much more. In film, his credits include

400
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Speaker 2: sixty eight's Head, seventy two's Twilight People, seventy four's House

401
00:23:00,200 --> 00:23:03,920
Speaker 2: of Seven Corpses seventy five is the Hindenburg Airport seventy seven,

402
00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:06,080
Speaker 2: and he played the President of the United States in

403
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Speaker 2: the nineteen eighty four Mermaid comedy Splash, which is I

404
00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:12,320
Speaker 2: haven't seen Splash in a while. Watched it a lot

405
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Speaker 2: as a kid, but now I'm just imagining like President Dracula.

406
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Speaker 3: Uh huh, I've never seen it, but now there's a

407
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Speaker 3: treat waiting for me if I ever get there.

408
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Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I remember it as being fun. More on

409
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Speaker 2: Dracula in a bit, but it is. It's a very

410
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Speaker 2: memorable Count Dracula. Yeah. This is just an aside, I

411
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Speaker 2: guess mostly for people who are big into like the

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Speaker 2: history of stunt work and or grappling and so forth

413
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Speaker 2: and pro wrestling. But one of Dracula's henchmen is played

414
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Speaker 2: by Jean LaBelle, who lived nineteen thirty two through twenty

415
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Speaker 2: twenty two. Noted grappler, judo practitioner, pro wrestler, stunt man.

416
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Speaker 2: He pops up in a lot of things, often in

417
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Speaker 2: just like really small roles.

418
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Speaker 3: It is funny in this movie that Dracula just has

419
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Speaker 3: wrestlers working for him, Like he calls out his wrestlers

420
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Speaker 3: and they've got the you know, the Lacey cravats on,

421
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Speaker 3: but they're just like these beefy guys.

422
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Speaker 2: All right. Get a few credits from behind the scenes here.

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Speaker 2: Sandy DeVore is the title designer on this film who

424
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Speaker 2: lived nineteen thirty four through twenty twenty American artist, graphic designer,

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Speaker 2: and title designer who worked with some big recording artists

426
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Speaker 2: of the day, including Sammy Davis Junior, and went on

427
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Speaker 2: to create title sequences for such TV shows as The

428
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Speaker 2: Partridge Family. We've actually seen some of Sandy Devorre's work

429
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Speaker 2: on Weird House Cinema before, because he did the excellent

430
00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:33,160
Speaker 2: title sequence for The Dunwich Horror, which had a very

431
00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:37,479
Speaker 2: similar style, only instead of like red, black and white,

432
00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:39,119
Speaker 2: it was like blue and black.

433
00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:42,879
Speaker 3: Yeah. I really like the title design in this movie.

434
00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:46,919
Speaker 3: It's sort of a like an animated bat chasing a

435
00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:50,199
Speaker 3: red outline of a woman around in this abstract landscape

436
00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:54,400
Speaker 3: that almost looks like you've zoomed in a lot on calligraphy,

437
00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:57,880
Speaker 3: and the figures are trying to navigate in the spaces

438
00:24:57,920 --> 00:24:59,480
Speaker 3: between the bars of the letters.

439
00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:02,960
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, it's really cool and it's like a nice

440
00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:04,760
Speaker 2: I like how it breaks up the film too, because

441
00:25:04,760 --> 00:25:07,840
Speaker 2: we have a very heavy opening and then we get

442
00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:11,119
Speaker 2: this fun title sequence before Trent's pourting to the modern

443
00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:14,359
Speaker 2: day of nineteen seventy two. And I'll also add that

444
00:25:14,400 --> 00:25:18,200
Speaker 2: there's an excellent website called artofthetitle dot com and they

445
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:22,800
Speaker 2: have multiple examples of Divorre's work, including the intros to

446
00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:26,399
Speaker 2: Blackula and the intro to The Dunwich Horror. He also

447
00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:29,600
Speaker 2: did one on a nineteen sixty nine film called Desad.

448
00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:34,920
Speaker 2: This was a Roger Corman film starring Keer Dooley as

449
00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:37,479
Speaker 2: the Marquis de Sade. Also has John Houston in it,

450
00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:40,880
Speaker 2: but it's also like similar style and also very amusing

451
00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:45,119
Speaker 2: to watch. The composer on this film on Blackula is

452
00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:48,399
Speaker 2: Gene Page, who lived nineteen thirty nine through nineteen ninety

453
00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:52,800
Speaker 2: eight American composer and record producer. He also did arrangements

454
00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:55,920
Speaker 2: on tracks for some of the biggest musical acts of

455
00:25:56,080 --> 00:26:00,560
Speaker 2: the time period. He has something like ten one hundred

456
00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:03,680
Speaker 2: and fifty five writing and arrangement credits on discogs what

457
00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:06,639
Speaker 2: including Yeah, it's like this man works a lot working

458
00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:08,800
Speaker 2: with artists. I can't even list them all, but just

459
00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:13,240
Speaker 2: as a brief overview, people like Barry White, James Taylor,

460
00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:18,160
Speaker 2: Michael Jackson cher that it seems to be the main

461
00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:22,800
Speaker 2: main work that he did. This is his most well

462
00:26:22,840 --> 00:26:25,280
Speaker 2: known film score out of only a handful of score

463
00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:26,600
Speaker 2: composition credits.

464
00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:29,560
Speaker 3: I love the music in Blackula, and it works I

465
00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:33,560
Speaker 3: think on every level. Like there's some just non diegetic

466
00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:39,000
Speaker 3: background music that you know, it brings the right horror ambiance,

467
00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:41,920
Speaker 3: but then there is also plenty of funk in the movie,

468
00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:46,399
Speaker 3: and then even some diegetic on screen band performances that

469
00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:47,720
Speaker 3: are fantastic as well.

470
00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:52,399
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, we're going to discuss them in just a second,

471
00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:55,679
Speaker 2: but yeah, I all agree. Absolutely wonderful score. It's funky

472
00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:59,040
Speaker 2: and soulful, blazingly upbeat in places, but it also does

473
00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:01,240
Speaker 2: get into that what I like to think of is

474
00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:05,159
Speaker 2: like the horror jazz night gallery zone as well, tweaked

475
00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:08,600
Speaker 2: with some synth weirdness in places, really drives on the

476
00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:13,080
Speaker 2: creepy moments. Now, the musical performances that you mentioned these

477
00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:17,000
Speaker 2: are performances by the Hughes Corporation. They were a pop

478
00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:20,440
Speaker 2: and soul trio best known for a hit that would

479
00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:23,040
Speaker 2: come out a couple of years later in nineteen seventy

480
00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:25,920
Speaker 2: four Rock the Boat. I mean, I don't even have

481
00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:27,760
Speaker 2: to hum it. You all know it. You've all heard

482
00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:31,600
Speaker 2: Rock the Boat. At the time of Blackula, they consisted

483
00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:35,240
Speaker 2: of Saint Clair Lee who lived nineteen forty four through

484
00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:39,959
Speaker 2: twenty eleven. This is the vocalist with the headband. H M.

485
00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:44,240
Speaker 2: Kelly born nineteen forty seven, and Carl Russell. I believe

486
00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:48,520
Speaker 2: he left the group after the movie, but also maybe

487
00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:51,520
Speaker 2: returned later during a time period when they got back

488
00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:55,119
Speaker 2: together again. I'm a little foggy on how all that works,

489
00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:58,240
Speaker 2: but they are a lot of fun in their performances

490
00:27:58,280 --> 00:27:59,160
Speaker 2: in Blackula.

491
00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:02,879
Speaker 3: They get at least two on screen musical performances in

492
00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:04,880
Speaker 3: the film, or are there even more?

493
00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:08,920
Speaker 2: They have at least three tracks on the soundtrack. There's

494
00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:12,560
Speaker 2: There He Is Again, which we'll talk about, Oh yeah, wonderful,

495
00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:15,720
Speaker 2: There's What the World Knows, which is a more soulful,

496
00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:19,399
Speaker 2: romantic number, and then I'm Gonna Catch You, which is

497
00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:22,000
Speaker 2: also a really fun song. It's like a cheating heart song,

498
00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:23,240
Speaker 2: but it's it's really good.

499
00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:26,359
Speaker 3: There He Is Again is my favorite because it's it

500
00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:28,760
Speaker 3: can The lyrics can be read as a song about

501
00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:29,920
Speaker 3: a vampire.

502
00:28:30,119 --> 00:28:32,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, Like it feels if you're not analyzing the

503
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:35,480
Speaker 2: lyrics too closely, like yeah, yeah, of course it's about

504
00:28:35,560 --> 00:28:39,680
Speaker 2: Mama Waldi, it's about this vampire. I also note there

505
00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:42,960
Speaker 2: are two tracks on the soundtrack by the twenty first

506
00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:48,240
Speaker 2: Century LTD. This is or I guess I would say

507
00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:52,360
Speaker 2: the twenty first Century limited heavy changes and main chance.

508
00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:55,520
Speaker 2: These are both romantic numbers, and I honestly can't remember

509
00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:58,840
Speaker 2: how they're integrated into the film, or you know, to

510
00:28:58,880 --> 00:28:59,720
Speaker 2: what extent they are.

511
00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:10,800
Speaker 3: Okay, you ready to talk about the plot, let's do it.

512
00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:13,640
Speaker 3: So we open on the exterior of a castle on

513
00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:18,000
Speaker 3: a darkened, stormy night. Rain pours down, battering the castle towers,

514
00:29:18,040 --> 00:29:21,080
Speaker 3: and bolts of lightning cut through the darkness, and a

515
00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:26,960
Speaker 3: chiron text on the screen says Transylvania seventeen eighty Castle Dracula.

516
00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:31,120
Speaker 3: So we cut inside the castle to an ornate dining

517
00:29:31,200 --> 00:29:35,160
Speaker 3: room illuminated by candles and a roaring fireplace, and Count

518
00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:38,440
Speaker 3: Dracula is here and he is hosting a pair of

519
00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:41,680
Speaker 3: guests after what seems to have been some kind of

520
00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:46,880
Speaker 3: international diplomatic function meeting with dignitaries. Now, this Count Dracula

521
00:29:47,080 --> 00:29:51,640
Speaker 3: is not exactly of the Bela Lugosi variety. He has

522
00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:54,680
Speaker 3: like longer hairs, kind of grayish brown in color, and

523
00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:58,120
Speaker 3: a goatee. He's wearing a black and gold coat over

524
00:29:58,160 --> 00:30:01,960
Speaker 3: a blue vest with a frilly white cravat, and he

525
00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:07,920
Speaker 3: is immediately unlikable, smarmy, palpably untrustworthy, and we will soon

526
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:13,000
Speaker 3: come to realize racist. He's at first kind of superficially

527
00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:16,760
Speaker 3: friendly to his two guests, and the guests are Prince

528
00:30:16,800 --> 00:30:21,440
Speaker 3: Mamuwalde and his wife, Princess Luva, who are royalty from

529
00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:25,320
Speaker 3: what is initially an unnamed African country, but we will

530
00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:28,240
Speaker 3: later learn that they are from the Ibani nation in

531
00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:32,360
Speaker 3: the northeast of the Niger Delta. Memo Walde is dressed

532
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:35,440
Speaker 3: in a dark suit with a powder blue cravat, and

533
00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:40,600
Speaker 3: Luva is wearing a beautiful, elaborate multicolored dress with beadwork jewelry.

534
00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:44,200
Speaker 3: So they've just seemingly finished a meeting with an array

535
00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:47,200
Speaker 3: of diplomats and heads of state from around the world,

536
00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:51,760
Speaker 3: and Dracula is pouring cognac all around. Memoalde and Luva

537
00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:55,320
Speaker 3: explain to Count Dracula that they're here for a reason.

538
00:30:55,600 --> 00:31:00,160
Speaker 3: They are on a mission to gain international allies in

539
00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:03,320
Speaker 3: support of what seems to be a treaty, a treaty

540
00:31:03,360 --> 00:31:07,719
Speaker 3: to do what Well, Luva pulls out a text, a

541
00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:10,560
Speaker 3: document to present to Count Dracula, and he reviews it,

542
00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:15,120
Speaker 3: and then he recoils from the document in disbelief. Apparently

543
00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:18,480
Speaker 3: this treaty that they're pursuing would bring about the cessation

544
00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:23,360
Speaker 3: of the international slave trade. Dracula doesn't like this idea.

545
00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:27,160
Speaker 3: He counters that he says, surely slavery has merit, and

546
00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:30,800
Speaker 3: Memoilde raises an eyebrow. He asks how one would find

547
00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:34,560
Speaker 3: merit in barbarity, But Dracula says, well, slavery may be

548
00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:37,000
Speaker 3: barbaric from the point of view of the slave, but

549
00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:39,960
Speaker 3: it holds lots of appeal to the slave owner. And

550
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:44,520
Speaker 3: then he transitions to making revolting comments with sexual overtones

551
00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:47,040
Speaker 3: about how it would in fact be appealing to him

552
00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:48,479
Speaker 3: to own Luva.

553
00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:54,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, the overt racism of Dracula is quite fascinating here.

554
00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:57,440
Speaker 2: I think the film delivers the vibe in a way

555
00:31:57,480 --> 00:32:00,400
Speaker 2: that a mere summary doesn't really capture. But Yeah, this

556
00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:03,880
Speaker 2: Dracula is, in many respects presented, is almost a kind

557
00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:08,440
Speaker 2: of He's almost the institution of slavery incarnate. You know,

558
00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:11,360
Speaker 2: it's all done in a few short scenes here, but

559
00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:15,000
Speaker 2: you know, he dismisses objections to the practice on economic

560
00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:17,880
Speaker 2: and sort of this is the world grounds, but quickly

561
00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:23,560
Speaker 2: slides into it increasingly overtly racist rhetoric before directly provoking

562
00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:27,080
Speaker 2: Mammal Waldy by offering in cruel jess to buy his wife.

563
00:32:27,520 --> 00:32:32,240
Speaker 2: And this then quickly transcends into physical assault, separation, murder,

564
00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:35,760
Speaker 2: and a curse that transcends human lifetimes. And we also

565
00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:40,280
Speaker 2: see his aristocratic mass completely slip from again from this

566
00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:44,959
Speaker 2: like snide aristocrat to just absolute evil, cruelty and hunger.

567
00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:49,560
Speaker 3: Yeah. So at the beginning of the exchange, Dracula is

568
00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:53,640
Speaker 3: condescending and smarmy, but it's it's interesting to see how

569
00:32:53,680 --> 00:32:56,680
Speaker 3: it just flips to overt hostility as soon as he

570
00:32:56,880 --> 00:33:01,000
Speaker 3: is faced with something he disagrees with. So, of course

571
00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:05,280
Speaker 3: Mamiwalde won't tolerate this shocking behavior from Dracula, but he

572
00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:08,320
Speaker 3: keeps his composure. He rises from his seat and he

573
00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:12,080
Speaker 3: gathers Luva and says that they are leaving, but the

574
00:33:12,160 --> 00:33:16,000
Speaker 3: evil Count will not allow it. He summons his minions,

575
00:33:16,040 --> 00:33:18,760
Speaker 3: his hinchman to take hold of them, and then violence

576
00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:22,480
Speaker 3: breaks out. Memowalde puts up a valiant fight. He uses

577
00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:25,160
Speaker 3: like improvised weapons from the room. I think he grabs

578
00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:27,480
Speaker 3: a torch off the wall, and then one of the

579
00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:30,840
Speaker 3: henchmen grabs a saber off the wall and they fight

580
00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:34,479
Speaker 3: there in front of the fire. But eventually Mimiwalde is

581
00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:38,480
Speaker 3: outnumbered and overpowered by the Count's fighters, and eventually we

582
00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:41,920
Speaker 3: see the Count's side including not just like the muscly

583
00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:45,160
Speaker 3: wrestlers the stuntman we were talking about earlier, but like

584
00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:49,160
Speaker 3: a whole coven of looming ghouls and these wheezing hooded

585
00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:54,240
Speaker 3: blood drinkers, and this whole group approaches Prince Mama Walde

586
00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:57,560
Speaker 3: and then Dracula exposes his neck and bites.

587
00:33:58,120 --> 00:33:59,680
Speaker 2: It's all very well done, but I will note that

588
00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:03,640
Speaker 2: one of the vampires in that scene does look to

589
00:34:03,640 --> 00:34:07,440
Speaker 2: be an actual, actual, actual vampire from the apple she has.

590
00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:10,320
Speaker 2: It's kind of like wide eyed and big, big fangs.

591
00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:13,839
Speaker 2: But uh, that's that's still It doesn't doesn't attract from

592
00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:14,800
Speaker 2: the sequence.

593
00:34:14,680 --> 00:34:19,560
Speaker 3: But it goes onto a horrifying escalation here. So there

594
00:34:19,600 --> 00:34:23,000
Speaker 3: is an interment scene Luva and Mama Walde are walled

595
00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:26,719
Speaker 3: up in a secret room in the castle where Dracula

596
00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:29,440
Speaker 3: is going to doom Luva to die of thirst and

597
00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:33,520
Speaker 3: starvation in the room, while Mamo Walde is locked inside

598
00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:37,720
Speaker 3: a coffin to transform into a vampire and forever yearn

599
00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:41,040
Speaker 3: for blood that he cannot have. And here Dracula he

600
00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:44,680
Speaker 3: places a curse. He says, quote, I shall place a

601
00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:47,160
Speaker 3: curse of suffering on you that will doom you to

602
00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:51,600
Speaker 3: a living hell. A hunger, a wild, gnawing animal. Hunger

603
00:34:51,640 --> 00:34:55,000
Speaker 3: will grow in you, a hunger for human blood. Here

604
00:34:55,080 --> 00:34:58,840
Speaker 3: you will starve for an eternity, torn by an unquenchable lust.

605
00:34:59,160 --> 00:35:02,680
Speaker 3: I curse you with my name. You shall be Blacula,

606
00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:06,680
Speaker 3: a vampire like myself, a living fiend. You will be

607
00:35:06,760 --> 00:35:09,720
Speaker 3: doomed never to know that sweet blood which will become

608
00:35:09,840 --> 00:35:14,239
Speaker 3: your only desire. And then slam slam shut the coffin door.

609
00:35:14,360 --> 00:35:17,959
Speaker 3: They pad lock it, and they close the wall, and

610
00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:21,920
Speaker 3: the curse to mam Mawalde and Luva are left trapped

611
00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:23,160
Speaker 3: in this room forever.

612
00:35:23,880 --> 00:35:27,479
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's heavy stuff, and it's also worth noting.

613
00:35:27,520 --> 00:35:30,839
Speaker 2: Here like this, we hear the name Blacula here, and

614
00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:34,160
Speaker 2: we'll hear an echo of this later. But Mama Walde

615
00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:37,400
Speaker 2: never in this film self identifies as Blacula, Like this

616
00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:41,000
Speaker 2: is the name uttered by Dracula as he curses him.

617
00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:47,160
Speaker 3: Yes, now, it might seem curious why Dracula is portrayed, uh, Robin,

618
00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:48,920
Speaker 3: I bet you picked up on the same thing. He's

619
00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:53,080
Speaker 3: portrayed not just as being cruel to them, but specifically

620
00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:58,280
Speaker 3: as having an orientation of vengeance. He is vengeful towards

621
00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:01,799
Speaker 3: Mamma Waldey and Luva, and they've done nothing whatsoever to

622
00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:04,520
Speaker 3: harm him, Like there's no reason for he for him

623
00:36:04,520 --> 00:36:07,360
Speaker 3: to be vengeful. But I think it fits. It goes

624
00:36:07,400 --> 00:36:11,200
Speaker 3: with the theme like this is a common posture of racism,

625
00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:15,239
Speaker 3: like vengeance, a feeling of need for vengeance in response

626
00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:15,840
Speaker 3: to nothing.

627
00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:16,640
Speaker 4: Yeah.

628
00:36:16,840 --> 00:36:21,160
Speaker 2: I think that's a great point. I want to again

629
00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:24,120
Speaker 2: mention that macaulay is really great in this sequence. He

630
00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:28,880
Speaker 2: continues to lay on Dracula's evil very effectively. And I

631
00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:31,000
Speaker 2: love the way that they made him up. So blood's

632
00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:33,160
Speaker 2: dripping from his lips after he has fed on Mama

633
00:36:33,200 --> 00:36:37,120
Speaker 2: Walde and he's taunting Luva, but it's also draining from

634
00:36:37,120 --> 00:36:40,719
Speaker 2: his eyes, you know, like he's like he's he's a

635
00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:44,080
Speaker 2: vicious beast that's so fatted on blood that his body

636
00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:46,560
Speaker 2: can't contain it all anymore. It's just kind of leaking

637
00:36:46,600 --> 00:36:51,240
Speaker 2: out of every orifice. And yeah, it's just brutal stuff.

638
00:36:51,440 --> 00:36:53,319
Speaker 3: Well yeah, and I think the blood running out of

639
00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:55,880
Speaker 3: the eyes, to me, it is a visual signal to

640
00:36:55,960 --> 00:36:58,319
Speaker 3: convey hate. Do you get the same thing?

641
00:36:59,000 --> 00:36:59,279
Speaker 2: I think?

642
00:36:59,320 --> 00:36:59,920
Speaker 4: So? Yeah.

643
00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:02,640
Speaker 3: So here we go to the credits, and again I

644
00:37:02,680 --> 00:37:06,240
Speaker 3: love the design of the credits. There's groovy modern music.

645
00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:08,840
Speaker 3: There's the animated bat chasing a woman around in the

646
00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:13,360
Speaker 3: abstract landscape. It's very cool. After the credits, we returned

647
00:37:13,360 --> 00:37:17,040
Speaker 3: to Dracula's castle, but it's the present. Dracula's house is

648
00:37:17,160 --> 00:37:20,239
Speaker 3: undergoing an estate sale, and we've got a couple of

649
00:37:20,320 --> 00:37:24,839
Speaker 3: wholesale antique buyers from America who are here to they're

650
00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:27,800
Speaker 3: about to sign the paperwork to buy everything from the castle.

651
00:37:28,239 --> 00:37:31,440
Speaker 3: The two antique dealers are the characters Bobby McCoy and

652
00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:34,480
Speaker 3: Billy Schaefer. And these are the characters I think you

653
00:37:34,560 --> 00:37:38,439
Speaker 3: alluded to earlier, rob who are portrayed as very stereotypically gay.

654
00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:43,160
Speaker 3: Apparently they don't find out until the last minute that

655
00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:46,279
Speaker 3: all of the stuff they're about to buy belonged to

656
00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:50,399
Speaker 3: Count Dracula. The seller is worried that this is going

657
00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:53,160
Speaker 3: to endanger the deal and gives them a discount. But

658
00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:56,120
Speaker 3: do they really need one. Answer is no, because the

659
00:37:56,200 --> 00:37:59,759
Speaker 3: Dracula thing is a bonus to them. Bobby says, where

660
00:37:59,800 --> 00:38:02,520
Speaker 3: we come from, Dracula is the Krim de la crim

661
00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:05,320
Speaker 3: of camp. We're going to get a fortune for these things.

662
00:38:05,719 --> 00:38:09,719
Speaker 2: Yeah, the guy here was worried about about having to

663
00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:13,759
Speaker 2: deal with a Dracula refund or a Dracula discount. He

664
00:38:13,800 --> 00:38:16,320
Speaker 2: should have been he should have been adding to the price.

665
00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:18,800
Speaker 2: He should have been asking more for all this Dracula stuff.

666
00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:22,880
Speaker 3: Billy also says that he has seen all of Dracula's movies,

667
00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:26,719
Speaker 3: So I think it's interesting that, like, what is the

668
00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:32,680
Speaker 3: understanding of Dracula in the world of this movie. Here's

669
00:38:32,680 --> 00:38:34,760
Speaker 3: what it seems to be. First of all, in this movie,

670
00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:40,200
Speaker 3: vampires are real. Count Dracula was a real historical vampire

671
00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:44,520
Speaker 3: in the late seventeen hundreds, though some modern characters believe

672
00:38:44,600 --> 00:38:47,680
Speaker 3: he was just a myth, and this character is separate

673
00:38:47,719 --> 00:38:51,960
Speaker 3: from Vladdi Impaler, who lived in the fifteenth century. Also,

674
00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:56,279
Speaker 3: in this universe, Dracula exists as a character known in

675
00:38:56,560 --> 00:39:01,560
Speaker 3: horror films and stories, presumably the novel Dracula exists.

676
00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:04,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's interesting to tease all this apart. Rodney Barnes

677
00:39:04,960 --> 00:39:07,960
Speaker 2: in the in blacular Return of the King, the way

678
00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:12,239
Speaker 2: he kind of treated it was okay, Mama Walde had

679
00:39:12,520 --> 00:39:14,680
Speaker 2: like knew that this Count Dracula had there were some

680
00:39:14,760 --> 00:39:17,600
Speaker 2: rumors about him about how he might be connected to

681
00:39:17,760 --> 00:39:23,640
Speaker 2: this earlier tyrannical figure, but he just dismissed it as myth. So, yeah,

682
00:39:24,080 --> 00:39:28,200
Speaker 2: there are multiple layers of fiction and history and fictional

683
00:39:28,280 --> 00:39:30,680
Speaker 2: history that you have to juggle in this scenario.

684
00:39:31,040 --> 00:39:35,400
Speaker 3: But it also portrays the historical figure Count Dracula in

685
00:39:35,440 --> 00:39:39,920
Speaker 3: the late seventeen hundreds as having been an influential player

686
00:39:40,120 --> 00:39:45,320
Speaker 3: in international politics, because the reason Luva and Mama Walde

687
00:39:45,320 --> 00:39:48,240
Speaker 3: are going to his castle is to get his support

688
00:39:48,400 --> 00:39:51,400
Speaker 3: for trying to get allies for an international treaty. So

689
00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:54,000
Speaker 3: he's not just seen as like, you know, a reclusive

690
00:39:54,080 --> 00:39:57,200
Speaker 3: figure of mystery. This is like somebody who has influence

691
00:39:57,280 --> 00:39:58,720
Speaker 3: over the affairs of state.

692
00:39:59,280 --> 00:40:02,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, he is not an evil in the background of

693
00:40:02,680 --> 00:40:07,640
Speaker 2: Europeans aristocracy. He is in the forefront, which which I

694
00:40:07,640 --> 00:40:10,799
Speaker 2: think is key here. But anyway, he's long dad at

695
00:40:10,800 --> 00:40:11,360
Speaker 2: this point.

696
00:40:11,560 --> 00:40:13,719
Speaker 3: Oh that's right. In fact, the guy at the estate

697
00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:16,240
Speaker 3: sale mentions how Dracula died.

698
00:40:16,800 --> 00:40:20,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, he says, you know, don't worry about him. It

699
00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:23,960
Speaker 2: was all over hyped anyway, and Van Helsing destroyed him

700
00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:27,200
Speaker 2: one hundred and fifty years ago. So it's interesting, you know,

701
00:40:27,239 --> 00:40:31,560
Speaker 2: we're set to encounter a reawakened Mamma Walde in a

702
00:40:31,600 --> 00:40:36,719
Speaker 2: world where his greatest adversary is himself long destroyed, but

703
00:40:36,840 --> 00:40:38,920
Speaker 2: the legacy of his crime still resonate.

704
00:40:39,400 --> 00:40:42,560
Speaker 3: Right, So while going around with the seller, Bobby and

705
00:40:42,600 --> 00:40:46,160
Speaker 3: Billy in the castle here discover an undisturbed coffin in

706
00:40:46,239 --> 00:40:50,000
Speaker 3: a hidden room behind a wall, and we see we

707
00:40:50,320 --> 00:40:53,239
Speaker 3: the audience know that this is the room where Memowalde

708
00:40:53,280 --> 00:40:57,280
Speaker 3: and Luva were buried alive. So they add the coffin

709
00:40:57,440 --> 00:40:59,840
Speaker 3: to their hall and we see it brought back to

710
00:40:59,880 --> 00:41:02,440
Speaker 3: the States to be a cargo ship. And here we

711
00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:05,560
Speaker 3: get some a little bit of fish out of time texture,

712
00:41:05,880 --> 00:41:08,560
Speaker 3: so we see modern streets and traffic and it's set

713
00:41:08,600 --> 00:41:11,839
Speaker 3: to a funk soundtrack. We get some you know, wuah

714
00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:15,960
Speaker 3: wah guitar, and then we see Bobby and Billy get

715
00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:19,840
Speaker 3: the coffin back to their warehouse, and Billy is discussing

716
00:41:19,880 --> 00:41:22,319
Speaker 3: the idea of using it as a guest bed at

717
00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:24,040
Speaker 3: their house. I like this idea.

718
00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:28,239
Speaker 2: Bobby is doubtful though, He's clearly doubtful of this idea,

719
00:41:28,280 --> 00:41:29,240
Speaker 2: and he's like, okay.

720
00:41:29,560 --> 00:41:32,200
Speaker 3: So they start trying to open the stuff. But before

721
00:41:32,280 --> 00:41:34,840
Speaker 3: Bobby can get the coffin open, I think he breaks

722
00:41:34,880 --> 00:41:37,239
Speaker 3: off the lock, but he doesn't open it yet. At

723
00:41:37,280 --> 00:41:39,600
Speaker 3: the other end of the room, Billy cuts himself while

724
00:41:39,640 --> 00:41:42,400
Speaker 3: prying at the lid of another crate, and it seems

725
00:41:42,480 --> 00:41:46,120
Speaker 3: the smell of fresh blood stirs something inside the coffin,

726
00:41:46,640 --> 00:41:49,200
Speaker 3: and so while Bobby and Billy are not looking, the

727
00:41:49,239 --> 00:41:54,040
Speaker 3: lid creaks open and Mama Walde, now transformed into a vampire,

728
00:41:54,320 --> 00:41:55,560
Speaker 3: begins to rise.

729
00:41:56,280 --> 00:41:58,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is our first real shot of the awakened

730
00:41:58,640 --> 00:42:03,080
Speaker 2: prince Man w Walde facing the camera, Dracula's curse audibly

731
00:42:03,120 --> 00:42:06,399
Speaker 2: resonating in his mind. Pretty haunting stuff.

732
00:42:06,520 --> 00:42:09,279
Speaker 3: Right, So he rises from the coffin and he he

733
00:42:09,320 --> 00:42:14,319
Speaker 3: looks almost confused, like he's he's changed now, but he's

734
00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:18,840
Speaker 3: torn between his conscious horror at his fate and his

735
00:42:18,960 --> 00:42:22,480
Speaker 3: immediate thirst for blood like the you know, his conscious

736
00:42:22,520 --> 00:42:26,319
Speaker 3: mind is fighting the vampire within him, and here might

737
00:42:26,360 --> 00:42:30,520
Speaker 3: be a good place to discuss Memoilde's two looks as

738
00:42:30,520 --> 00:42:34,600
Speaker 3: a vampire. So sometimes basically, when he's not about to

739
00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:37,120
Speaker 3: bite someone, he just looks like himself. He looks like

740
00:42:37,120 --> 00:42:40,760
Speaker 3: the regular prince Mamuelde from before. But when he goes

741
00:42:40,840 --> 00:42:43,920
Speaker 3: into vampire mode, when he is about to bite someone

742
00:42:44,040 --> 00:42:47,520
Speaker 3: or transform into a bat or something, he grows fangs,

743
00:42:47,560 --> 00:42:50,640
Speaker 3: of course, but he also grows an interesting pattern of

744
00:42:50,800 --> 00:42:54,280
Speaker 3: facial hair where it's like his eyebrows become very bushy

745
00:42:54,760 --> 00:42:57,920
Speaker 3: and they sort of connect to the hair on his temples,

746
00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:01,439
Speaker 3: and his mustache grows out longer, and he gains these

747
00:43:01,520 --> 00:43:07,840
Speaker 3: sharply sculpted sideburns, and there's a redness added to his eyes.

748
00:43:07,880 --> 00:43:11,640
Speaker 3: He has a different look when he is about to

749
00:43:11,920 --> 00:43:15,799
Speaker 3: behave more like a predatory vampire. And the fact that

750
00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:19,520
Speaker 3: there is this physical transformation is almost a bit werewolfy.

751
00:43:19,880 --> 00:43:24,120
Speaker 3: I like the visual transformation because it coincides with the

752
00:43:24,200 --> 00:43:28,080
Speaker 3: dual nature of Mamoulde the vampire, so he hasn't been

753
00:43:28,200 --> 00:43:31,880
Speaker 3: changed into just a demon of pure evil. Most of

754
00:43:31,920 --> 00:43:34,960
Speaker 3: the time he is simply like himself, like he was

755
00:43:35,040 --> 00:43:38,600
Speaker 3: before the change. And even in the form of even

756
00:43:38,680 --> 00:43:42,040
Speaker 3: as a vampire, Memo Walde is shown to be a

757
00:43:43,239 --> 00:43:47,320
Speaker 3: good and moral man. He has thoughtful, kind, suave, even

758
00:43:47,360 --> 00:43:52,000
Speaker 3: tempered charming, but when he goes into vampire mode, he

759
00:43:52,080 --> 00:43:55,000
Speaker 3: thirsts only for blood and it is almost like a

760
00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:56,080
Speaker 3: werewolf transformation.

761
00:43:56,719 --> 00:44:00,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the pronounced widow's peak he develops when

762
00:44:00,680 --> 00:44:04,200
Speaker 2: he's in full vampire mode in hunger mode is key.

763
00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:06,640
Speaker 2: And I think the real take home here is if

764
00:44:06,640 --> 00:44:08,880
Speaker 2: someone you know you suddenly encounter them and they have

765
00:44:09,239 --> 00:44:15,239
Speaker 2: a pronounced widow peak that extends further down than their

766
00:44:15,239 --> 00:44:18,600
Speaker 2: hairline originally was, then you need to run because that

767
00:44:18,640 --> 00:44:21,080
Speaker 2: person has become a dracula of some sort.

768
00:44:21,320 --> 00:44:25,080
Speaker 3: So Mema Walde bites and drains Billy and Bobby there

769
00:44:25,120 --> 00:44:28,440
Speaker 3: in the antique warehouse, and next we go to a

770
00:44:28,480 --> 00:44:31,399
Speaker 3: scene at a funeral home where we're going to meet

771
00:44:31,440 --> 00:44:35,680
Speaker 3: our other main characters. So Bobby's body is lying out

772
00:44:35,800 --> 00:44:39,200
Speaker 3: for it's lying out in the coffin for visitation, and

773
00:44:39,320 --> 00:44:42,600
Speaker 3: somehow Mima Walde is there like he's looking on from

774
00:44:42,640 --> 00:44:45,279
Speaker 3: behind a curtain at the back of the room, and

775
00:44:45,440 --> 00:44:48,600
Speaker 3: slowly we see Bobby's hand to begin to move from

776
00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:51,840
Speaker 3: its resting place and grip the wall of the coffin,

777
00:44:52,400 --> 00:44:55,680
Speaker 3: but then Bobby stops moving when the living approach, and

778
00:44:55,760 --> 00:45:00,160
Speaker 3: our living characters are Michelle. This is Denise Nicholas we

779
00:45:00,239 --> 00:45:05,680
Speaker 3: mentioned her earlier. Michelle's coworker and romantic partner, doctor Gordon Thomas.

780
00:45:05,760 --> 00:45:10,919
Speaker 3: This is Thalmas Resulola. We get Michelle's sister, Tina, who

781
00:45:10,960 --> 00:45:14,640
Speaker 3: is played by Vanetta McGee, the same actress who played Louva.

782
00:45:16,160 --> 00:45:19,640
Speaker 3: And so Michelle and Tina are visiting Bobby because they've

783
00:45:19,640 --> 00:45:23,000
Speaker 3: known him since childhood. And at first, Tina is wearing

784
00:45:23,040 --> 00:45:25,920
Speaker 3: a hood covering her face when she comes into the room,

785
00:45:26,640 --> 00:45:28,960
Speaker 3: but there's a reveal moment. She pulls it back to

786
00:45:29,000 --> 00:45:33,480
Speaker 3: reveal her face and Mama Walde sees her and he whispers, Luva.

787
00:45:33,760 --> 00:45:36,279
Speaker 2: The hood is almost too much because I initially thought

788
00:45:36,320 --> 00:45:38,120
Speaker 2: she was going to be some sort of sorceress or

789
00:45:38,600 --> 00:45:41,080
Speaker 2: cult member or something, but we quickly learned that she's

790
00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:42,239
Speaker 2: just very stylish.

791
00:45:42,840 --> 00:45:45,400
Speaker 3: Well, I would say, by and large, all of the

792
00:45:45,480 --> 00:45:49,400
Speaker 3: modern costumes in this movie are awesome, Like everybody's clothes

793
00:45:49,440 --> 00:45:52,480
Speaker 3: look really cool. I was gonna mention this later, like

794
00:45:52,719 --> 00:45:56,920
Speaker 3: essentially everything Thalmas rasoulil awares looks awesome. He has this

795
00:45:57,000 --> 00:46:00,680
Speaker 3: great collection of coats and jackets. He has cool like

796
00:46:00,760 --> 00:46:05,240
Speaker 3: a herringbone blazer, and he has a double breasted jacket

797
00:46:05,320 --> 00:46:07,839
Speaker 3: he wears later that looks really cool, often paired with

798
00:46:07,840 --> 00:46:12,200
Speaker 3: a turtleneck. He's got a great look. But Michelle, Michelle

799
00:46:12,200 --> 00:46:15,920
Speaker 3: and Tina also have really cool clothes. Absolutely, and I

800
00:46:15,920 --> 00:46:19,120
Speaker 3: would put the sorceress hood and cloak in that category

801
00:46:19,160 --> 00:46:22,160
Speaker 3: as well. I think it looks great. You know, people

802
00:46:22,160 --> 00:46:27,080
Speaker 3: should dress like sorcerers more often. So anyway, Tina and Michelle,

803
00:46:27,120 --> 00:46:30,280
Speaker 3: they're confused about what happened to Bobby. His death doesn't

804
00:46:30,320 --> 00:46:33,920
Speaker 3: make any sense, and they're asking Gordon if he can

805
00:46:33,920 --> 00:46:36,840
Speaker 3: get any answers for them, because Gordon is not just

806
00:46:36,960 --> 00:46:42,120
Speaker 3: any boyfriend of Michelle. Gordon is some kind of science cop.

807
00:46:42,280 --> 00:46:45,160
Speaker 3: We've talked about science cops on a Weird House before.

808
00:46:45,640 --> 00:46:49,840
Speaker 3: He is a forensic investigator. We're later told he works

809
00:46:49,920 --> 00:46:54,280
Speaker 3: for the Scientific Investigation Division, I suppose of the police.

810
00:46:54,719 --> 00:46:56,480
Speaker 3: So it seems I think he's supposed to be a

811
00:46:56,480 --> 00:46:59,160
Speaker 3: medical doctor at Core, but he is. He works as

812
00:46:59,200 --> 00:47:03,479
Speaker 3: a forensic investment togator. So after Tina and Michelle leave,

813
00:47:04,120 --> 00:47:08,239
Speaker 3: the funeral director is there alone. With Gordon, and he explains,

814
00:47:08,280 --> 00:47:10,840
Speaker 3: I worked very hard on that neck wound, trying to

815
00:47:10,840 --> 00:47:12,800
Speaker 3: make it look as natural as I could so it

816
00:47:12,840 --> 00:47:15,759
Speaker 3: wouldn't be offensive to his loved ones. The flesh was

817
00:47:15,880 --> 00:47:18,600
Speaker 3: just torn right out in a big chunk. I've never

818
00:47:18,640 --> 00:47:23,400
Speaker 3: seen a rat bite that size, and Gordon says rat bite.

819
00:47:23,719 --> 00:47:26,320
Speaker 3: He wants to know how deep was the wound before

820
00:47:26,360 --> 00:47:28,960
Speaker 3: it was repaired, and the funeral director says two or

821
00:47:29,000 --> 00:47:33,720
Speaker 3: three inches at least. So Gordon is his radars pinging.

822
00:47:33,840 --> 00:47:38,520
Speaker 3: Something is seeming off to him, and he's perplexed by

823
00:47:38,560 --> 00:47:40,640
Speaker 3: what he sees. So a rat bite in the neck

824
00:47:40,719 --> 00:47:43,399
Speaker 3: two or three inches deep. He starts looking at other

825
00:47:43,480 --> 00:47:46,480
Speaker 3: things about Bobby's body. He notices that the body is

826
00:47:46,600 --> 00:47:50,400
Speaker 3: drained of blood, even though the funeral director says that

827
00:47:50,520 --> 00:47:54,560
Speaker 3: no embalming has taken place. Gordon points out that the

828
00:47:54,680 --> 00:47:58,200
Speaker 3: veins collapse under pressure. Why would he have been drained

829
00:47:58,239 --> 00:48:01,440
Speaker 3: of blood? Gordon decides he wants to see the body

830
00:48:01,480 --> 00:48:06,160
Speaker 3: of the other victim. But the other victim, Billy, is

831
00:48:06,200 --> 00:48:09,200
Speaker 3: not at this funeral home. He was white and he

832
00:48:09,239 --> 00:48:12,040
Speaker 3: was sent to a white funeral home. The funeral director

833
00:48:12,080 --> 00:48:16,240
Speaker 3: tells us, So our investigator is now on the case.

834
00:48:16,480 --> 00:48:19,680
Speaker 3: He can tell something weird is up. We cut to

835
00:48:19,800 --> 00:48:22,839
Speaker 3: Michelle and Tina walking outside the funeral parlor and they

836
00:48:22,880 --> 00:48:25,720
Speaker 3: split up because Michelle is going to go visit Bobby's family.

837
00:48:26,120 --> 00:48:28,600
Speaker 3: Tina is tired and she wants to go straight home,

838
00:48:28,920 --> 00:48:31,920
Speaker 3: And while walking alone on the sidewalk at night, Tina

839
00:48:32,000 --> 00:48:36,480
Speaker 3: starts to become uneasy. Something doesn't feel right. She picks

840
00:48:36,520 --> 00:48:40,040
Speaker 3: up the pace. She glances around nervously. Then suddenly she

841
00:48:40,160 --> 00:48:43,440
Speaker 3: comes round a corner and runs straight into Mama Welde.

842
00:48:43,480 --> 00:48:46,880
Speaker 3: And he's not in vamp mode here, but he is

843
00:48:46,920 --> 00:48:50,040
Speaker 3: in a full vampire costume, which he pretty much always wears,

844
00:48:50,760 --> 00:48:54,239
Speaker 3: so he's in his dark suit. He's got the cravat,

845
00:48:54,320 --> 00:48:57,800
Speaker 3: and he's got this trailing black cape. And he addresses

846
00:48:57,840 --> 00:49:02,000
Speaker 3: her hopefully at first, saying love, but Tina doesn't know

847
00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:04,640
Speaker 3: what he's talking about. She tries to back away and

848
00:49:04,680 --> 00:49:07,000
Speaker 3: he takes hold of her. He says, Luva, it's me,

849
00:49:07,960 --> 00:49:10,960
Speaker 3: but she doesn't know him. She screams let go, and

850
00:49:11,000 --> 00:49:13,719
Speaker 3: he does. She runs away in a panic, and she

851
00:49:14,160 --> 00:49:17,720
Speaker 3: drops her purse in a pedestrian underpass tunnel, and Memo

852
00:49:17,719 --> 00:49:21,280
Speaker 3: Walde follows and picks up the pocketbook He's still looking

853
00:49:21,280 --> 00:49:23,759
Speaker 3: around for where she went when suddenly he is hit

854
00:49:23,840 --> 00:49:24,520
Speaker 3: by a cab.

855
00:49:25,080 --> 00:49:27,600
Speaker 2: I also want to just mention really quickly. William Marshall

856
00:49:27,840 --> 00:49:30,719
Speaker 2: a very physically imposing actor as well. I think he

857
00:49:30,800 --> 00:49:34,319
Speaker 2: was like six ' five, so that's notable in all

858
00:49:34,400 --> 00:49:36,600
Speaker 2: of these scenes where he is either perceived as a

859
00:49:36,640 --> 00:49:39,560
Speaker 2: threat or is an active threat in vampire mode.

860
00:49:40,040 --> 00:49:42,560
Speaker 3: That's right, and he is about to change from pining

861
00:49:42,600 --> 00:49:46,799
Speaker 3: for his lost love to thirsting for blood because he

862
00:49:46,880 --> 00:49:49,120
Speaker 3: was hit by a cab. The cab driver gets out,

863
00:49:49,160 --> 00:49:53,359
Speaker 3: and this is a character named Juanita. She is sort

864
00:49:53,400 --> 00:49:56,440
Speaker 3: of vulgar and starts scolding Memo waal Day, telling him

865
00:49:56,680 --> 00:49:59,719
Speaker 3: that chasing tail could get him killed. Mema Walde is

866
00:49:59,840 --> 00:50:02,560
Speaker 3: very frustrated. He says I lost her because of you,

867
00:50:03,200 --> 00:50:06,839
Speaker 3: and they trade insults, and after she hurls some disrespected him,

868
00:50:07,200 --> 00:50:09,880
Speaker 3: we suddenly see a change come over him. He needs

869
00:50:09,880 --> 00:50:13,560
Speaker 3: blood once again, and he transforms into vampire mode and

870
00:50:13,680 --> 00:50:17,600
Speaker 3: bites her. Now later, Tina makes it back home. She

871
00:50:17,600 --> 00:50:19,680
Speaker 3: has to use a hidden spare key to get into

872
00:50:19,719 --> 00:50:22,080
Speaker 3: her apartment because she lost her purse in the tunnel

873
00:50:22,120 --> 00:50:26,160
Speaker 3: and she's extremely rattled. Michelle comes home and Tina confesses

874
00:50:26,200 --> 00:50:30,520
Speaker 3: what happened. Michelle says, maniacs are running in the streets,

875
00:50:31,040 --> 00:50:34,120
Speaker 3: and meanwhile, Mima Walde goes back to his coffin in

876
00:50:34,160 --> 00:50:38,440
Speaker 3: the antique warehouse dejected. He's broken by the fact that

877
00:50:38,840 --> 00:50:41,759
Speaker 3: his Louva ran away from him. Now the next day

878
00:50:41,800 --> 00:50:45,680
Speaker 3: we see Gordon Thomas on the case. The doctor is

879
00:50:45,680 --> 00:50:48,040
Speaker 3: paying a visit to the city Morgue to check out

880
00:50:48,040 --> 00:50:51,680
Speaker 3: the body of a cab driver found dead the night before,

881
00:50:52,160 --> 00:50:55,600
Speaker 3: and here we meet a minor character, Sam the Morgue worker,

882
00:50:55,680 --> 00:50:58,680
Speaker 3: played by Elisha Cook Junior, who is a character actor

883
00:50:58,680 --> 00:51:01,439
Speaker 3: you've probably seen in lots of stuff. In this movie,

884
00:51:01,480 --> 00:51:04,360
Speaker 3: he plays a surly mortician with a hook for a hand.

885
00:51:05,080 --> 00:51:07,520
Speaker 2: Yeah. He lived nineteen oh three through nineteen ninety five,

886
00:51:07,760 --> 00:51:10,240
Speaker 2: probably best known for such films as The Maltese Falcon,

887
00:51:10,560 --> 00:51:14,239
Speaker 2: The Killing House on Haunted Hill, and Rosemary's Baby. I

888
00:51:14,280 --> 00:51:16,719
Speaker 2: found an image here for you Joe from nineteen forty

889
00:51:16,719 --> 00:51:20,000
Speaker 2: four's Phantom Lady, in which he's pulling this shocked face

890
00:51:20,040 --> 00:51:23,200
Speaker 2: that I'm pretty sure he pulls at least once in

891
00:51:23,880 --> 00:51:24,480
Speaker 2: this movie.

892
00:51:24,560 --> 00:51:26,959
Speaker 3: It's his signature. Look, it's his blue steel.

893
00:51:27,600 --> 00:51:30,920
Speaker 2: He's like, oh, and then inevitably he's about to be murdered,

894
00:51:31,040 --> 00:51:33,080
Speaker 2: or has discovered a murder, or is about to be

895
00:51:33,120 --> 00:51:33,840
Speaker 2: killed by a monster.

896
00:51:34,200 --> 00:51:37,320
Speaker 3: Yeah, or in these movies from the forties and fifties,

897
00:51:37,320 --> 00:51:38,520
Speaker 3: he just saw a skeleton.

898
00:51:39,000 --> 00:51:40,160
Speaker 2: Yeah.

899
00:51:40,360 --> 00:51:43,200
Speaker 3: So Sam leads Gordon inside. They pulled the victim out

900
00:51:43,200 --> 00:51:46,799
Speaker 3: of the freezer. Sam's just kind of like gabbin at him,

901
00:51:46,840 --> 00:51:48,920
Speaker 3: so Gordon has to like get him to leave, leave

902
00:51:48,960 --> 00:51:51,360
Speaker 3: him alone so he can investigate. And what do you know,

903
00:51:51,840 --> 00:51:55,359
Speaker 3: he finds bite marks on the victim's neck. This cab

904
00:51:55,480 --> 00:51:59,120
Speaker 3: driver was also bitten, just like Bobby. So we know

905
00:51:59,239 --> 00:52:01,920
Speaker 3: what he's thinking, and we see him reacting to his

906
00:52:01,960 --> 00:52:04,959
Speaker 3: own thoughts. He laughs and says to himself, come on now,

907
00:52:05,120 --> 00:52:09,439
Speaker 3: that's ridiculous. But he still he has to pursue this lead.

908
00:52:09,520 --> 00:52:13,680
Speaker 3: So Gordon goes to consult with police Lieutenant Jack Peters.

909
00:52:14,239 --> 00:52:18,000
Speaker 3: Gordon says he needs reports on the post mortem examinations

910
00:52:18,000 --> 00:52:21,279
Speaker 3: of both Bobby and Billy, the first two victims, but

911
00:52:21,480 --> 00:52:24,239
Speaker 3: the department bureaucracy is giving him the run around while

912
00:52:24,239 --> 00:52:26,840
Speaker 3: he's been looking for these reports, and eventually they admit

913
00:52:26,960 --> 00:52:29,560
Speaker 3: that the reports seem to have been lost. They don't

914
00:52:29,560 --> 00:52:32,799
Speaker 3: know where they are and Gordon says, strange, how many

915
00:52:32,840 --> 00:52:38,040
Speaker 3: sloppy police jobs involve black victims. Peters, who is a

916
00:52:38,080 --> 00:52:41,239
Speaker 3: white police commander, seems to suggest he's like, hey, what

917
00:52:41,280 --> 00:52:43,640
Speaker 3: if all these neck bite murders were caused by the

918
00:52:43,640 --> 00:52:47,359
Speaker 3: black panthers? Think about it, and Gordon is like, get real.

919
00:52:48,200 --> 00:52:51,760
Speaker 3: So Peters promises they will keep looking for the info

920
00:52:51,840 --> 00:52:55,320
Speaker 3: that Gordon needs, and he puts a cop named Watson

921
00:52:55,360 --> 00:52:58,920
Speaker 3: on the job. Gordon explains that if they find the reports,

922
00:52:59,200 --> 00:53:01,799
Speaker 3: he'll need them brought by the club tonight because he's

923
00:53:01,840 --> 00:53:04,200
Speaker 3: going to be at the club tonight with Michelle celebrating

924
00:53:04,200 --> 00:53:07,040
Speaker 3: her birthday. Oh and we also see here Gordon wants

925
00:53:07,080 --> 00:53:09,640
Speaker 3: to do an autopsy on Bobby, so he calls the

926
00:53:09,640 --> 00:53:12,040
Speaker 3: funeral home and says that he's going to send some

927
00:53:12,120 --> 00:53:23,240
Speaker 3: cops over after closing to collect the body. So next

928
00:53:23,280 --> 00:53:26,360
Speaker 3: comes the club scene, a scene that is great for

929
00:53:26,480 --> 00:53:30,520
Speaker 3: multiple reasons, one of which is the awesome performance by

930
00:53:30,560 --> 00:53:34,800
Speaker 3: the house band, the Hughes Corporation, who we already mentioned earlier,

931
00:53:35,440 --> 00:53:38,040
Speaker 3: but this is a full musical number. We get to

932
00:53:38,040 --> 00:53:42,400
Speaker 3: see the entire song, full band playing. There are three

933
00:53:42,600 --> 00:53:46,439
Speaker 3: lead singers like a singing ensemble in the group, and

934
00:53:46,920 --> 00:53:49,600
Speaker 3: they are awesome dancers. They each have their own like

935
00:53:49,680 --> 00:53:52,680
Speaker 3: solos and all that. The song is called there he

936
00:53:52,760 --> 00:53:56,080
Speaker 3: Is Again, and the Hughes Corporation just rocks. I thought

937
00:53:56,120 --> 00:53:59,800
Speaker 3: the song was killer, as I think we said this earlier,

938
00:53:59,840 --> 00:54:02,480
Speaker 3: but it sounds like the lyrics could be about the

939
00:54:02,560 --> 00:54:06,000
Speaker 3: vampire in the film. So the lyrics are like, there

940
00:54:06,040 --> 00:54:08,600
Speaker 3: he is again looking at me from across the street.

941
00:54:09,000 --> 00:54:11,480
Speaker 3: There he is again, making my heart skip another beat.

942
00:54:12,000 --> 00:54:14,680
Speaker 3: There's some line in there, oh well. The chorus is

943
00:54:14,719 --> 00:54:17,319
Speaker 3: look the other way when he comes by you. There's

944
00:54:17,320 --> 00:54:19,239
Speaker 3: one part where they're talking about how they think he

945
00:54:19,280 --> 00:54:22,080
Speaker 3: can read your mind. There's a line where he says,

946
00:54:22,160 --> 00:54:24,640
Speaker 3: I know he thinks I want his love so much.

947
00:54:24,760 --> 00:54:27,160
Speaker 3: I love the levels of mental simulation in that.

948
00:54:29,080 --> 00:54:32,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is my favorite of the Hughes Corporation tracks,

949
00:54:32,760 --> 00:54:36,480
Speaker 2: And if I haven't mentioned it already, the combined score

950
00:54:36,520 --> 00:54:40,000
Speaker 2: and soundtrack is widely available on music streaming platforms, so

951
00:54:40,040 --> 00:54:42,000
Speaker 2: you can definitely dip in and get a taste of this.

952
00:54:42,640 --> 00:54:44,640
Speaker 2: It originally came out on vinyl as well, but I

953
00:54:44,680 --> 00:54:47,160
Speaker 2: don't think it's benefited from one of those awesome modern

954
00:54:47,239 --> 00:54:49,920
Speaker 2: vinyl restorations, which which seems like a missed opportunity.

955
00:54:50,239 --> 00:54:53,000
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, this is truly great stuff. It doesn't just

956
00:54:53,200 --> 00:54:55,120
Speaker 3: like work in the movie. I'd love to just put

957
00:54:55,120 --> 00:55:00,160
Speaker 3: this on anytime. So anyway, Gordon, Michelle, and Tina are

958
00:55:00,000 --> 00:55:04,360
Speaker 3: at the club. They're celebrating Michelle's birthday and Mama Welde

959
00:55:04,480 --> 00:55:07,920
Speaker 3: arrives and at first it's like, oh no. But then

960
00:55:08,160 --> 00:55:12,719
Speaker 3: he meets with Tina and maybe she's a little apprehensive

961
00:55:12,760 --> 00:55:16,040
Speaker 3: at first, but he very kindly returns the purse that

962
00:55:16,160 --> 00:55:20,040
Speaker 3: she dropped the night before, and she rethinks her initial

963
00:55:20,080 --> 00:55:24,800
Speaker 3: impression of him, and Tina then surprisingly invites Mama Walde

964
00:55:24,920 --> 00:55:28,400
Speaker 3: to join them at their table. And this is not

965
00:55:28,840 --> 00:55:32,480
Speaker 3: vamp mode Mama wel dey, obviously, this is evening attire

966
00:55:32,560 --> 00:55:36,360
Speaker 3: Mama Wlde. He is super charming at the absolute height

967
00:55:36,480 --> 00:55:40,360
Speaker 3: of debonair sophistication. Now, it's been kind of a running

968
00:55:40,400 --> 00:55:44,400
Speaker 3: theme so far that Gordon, despite being our hero in

969
00:55:44,400 --> 00:55:48,080
Speaker 3: a way, he is somewhat brusque and anti social. He

970
00:55:48,120 --> 00:55:51,759
Speaker 3: doesn't exactly play nice with people. He's not polite. The

971
00:55:51,800 --> 00:55:54,000
Speaker 3: more charitable way of putting this that I is that

972
00:55:54,080 --> 00:55:56,440
Speaker 3: I think he's very like task oriented and most of

973
00:55:56,480 --> 00:55:58,120
Speaker 3: the time he's all business.

974
00:55:58,440 --> 00:56:01,239
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, and sometimes rough some feathers, for sure.

975
00:56:01,560 --> 00:56:06,560
Speaker 3: Yeah. But his sort of antisocialness comes through in this

976
00:56:06,640 --> 00:56:10,000
Speaker 3: scene as well, because Mama Walde sits down and tries

977
00:56:10,040 --> 00:56:13,720
Speaker 3: to order French champagne and Gordon is like, that won't

978
00:56:13,719 --> 00:56:17,440
Speaker 3: be necessary, but then the ladies overrule him, so they

979
00:56:17,440 --> 00:56:18,800
Speaker 3: do get the champagne service.

980
00:56:19,120 --> 00:56:22,560
Speaker 2: Now. Side note, this is another scene in a film

981
00:56:22,719 --> 00:56:26,000
Speaker 2: where they're sipping champagne from coop glasses, you know, from

982
00:56:26,080 --> 00:56:29,719
Speaker 2: wide glasses as opposed to flutes. I really need to

983
00:56:29,719 --> 00:56:32,360
Speaker 2: dive into the history of appropriate glass wear for Bubbley

984
00:56:32,760 --> 00:56:35,080
Speaker 2: because I've seen that. I feel like we've seen this

985
00:56:35,120 --> 00:56:38,280
Speaker 2: in some films we've watched on Weird House. In HBO's

986
00:56:38,280 --> 00:56:40,440
Speaker 2: The Gilded Age, which is set in the eighteen eighties,

987
00:56:40,440 --> 00:56:42,960
Speaker 2: they're also drinking all their champagne out of coop glasses

988
00:56:43,320 --> 00:56:47,200
Speaker 2: or something very close to a coop glass, And I

989
00:56:47,200 --> 00:56:50,120
Speaker 2: feel like I've always heard that argument was like, oh, no,

990
00:56:50,160 --> 00:56:52,160
Speaker 2: you want a narrow glass because you know the way

991
00:56:52,200 --> 00:56:53,880
Speaker 2: the bubbles form and so forth.

992
00:56:55,120 --> 00:56:58,640
Speaker 3: I feel like coop blesses for champagne have come in

993
00:56:58,680 --> 00:57:00,640
Speaker 3: and out of fashion over time.

994
00:57:00,640 --> 00:57:02,560
Speaker 2: It would seem to be. But my main area of

995
00:57:02,600 --> 00:57:05,760
Speaker 2: research on this is seeing it in movies that sometimes

996
00:57:05,840 --> 00:57:07,759
Speaker 2: have vampires in themselves. I don't know.

997
00:57:08,760 --> 00:57:11,520
Speaker 3: Well anyway, One interesting thing about the scene is that

998
00:57:11,800 --> 00:57:16,720
Speaker 3: I had expected Mama Welde would be more coy about

999
00:57:16,760 --> 00:57:20,000
Speaker 3: who he is and his relationship to Tina, but instead

1000
00:57:20,000 --> 00:57:23,560
Speaker 3: he comes right out and tells, Tina, you bear You

1001
00:57:23,640 --> 00:57:26,360
Speaker 3: bear an amazing resemblance to my wife, whom I lost

1002
00:57:26,360 --> 00:57:29,160
Speaker 3: a short while ago. I loved her very much. When

1003
00:57:29,160 --> 00:57:31,760
Speaker 3: you left the mortuary, I had to follow you. I

1004
00:57:31,760 --> 00:57:35,200
Speaker 3: didn't consider that I might frighten you, so leading with

1005
00:57:35,440 --> 00:57:39,680
Speaker 3: you look like my beloved dead wife. And just judging

1006
00:57:39,720 --> 00:57:42,200
Speaker 3: by the way she looks back at him, I think

1007
00:57:42,240 --> 00:57:46,800
Speaker 3: Tina is already over whatever apprehension she had previously. She

1008
00:57:46,960 --> 00:57:47,959
Speaker 3: is charmed now.

1009
00:57:48,680 --> 00:57:51,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, the film will stress this later, but it's definitely

1010
00:57:51,000 --> 00:57:55,880
Speaker 2: worth noting that she is charmed but not bewitched. We

1011
00:57:55,920 --> 00:57:59,000
Speaker 2: see either, and perhaps sometimes both in different vampire movies.

1012
00:57:59,040 --> 00:58:03,160
Speaker 2: You know, Sometimes a Dracula figure or a vampire lord

1013
00:58:03,200 --> 00:58:07,000
Speaker 2: figure is definitely controlling people and overwhelming their senses. Other

1014
00:58:07,040 --> 00:58:09,200
Speaker 2: times it is more of a I guess, a pure

1015
00:58:09,280 --> 00:58:13,520
Speaker 2: charisma role. So yeah, he is not controlling her, and

1016
00:58:13,600 --> 00:58:17,440
Speaker 2: their connection across time would seem to be legitimate.

1017
00:58:17,400 --> 00:58:21,480
Speaker 3: That's right, And she seems to imply in a later

1018
00:58:21,520 --> 00:58:24,200
Speaker 3: scene that maybe she feels this is true as well.

1019
00:58:24,800 --> 00:58:26,280
Speaker 3: But I guess we'll get there in a few minutes.

1020
00:58:26,320 --> 00:58:28,760
Speaker 3: So first of all, there's a cutaway to the funeral

1021
00:58:28,760 --> 00:58:31,080
Speaker 3: home where we mentioned that the cops were going to

1022
00:58:31,120 --> 00:58:33,919
Speaker 3: go collect Bobby's body. But when they get there, they

1023
00:58:34,120 --> 00:58:36,120
Speaker 3: like throw open the lid to the coffin in the

1024
00:58:36,200 --> 00:58:39,760
Speaker 3: visitation room and the body is missing. Gordon gets a

1025
00:58:39,800 --> 00:58:42,840
Speaker 3: call at the club reporting this. He has to like

1026
00:58:42,920 --> 00:58:44,760
Speaker 3: go up to the bar and take a phone call,

1027
00:58:45,200 --> 00:58:47,280
Speaker 3: and then for some reason, when he comes back to

1028
00:58:47,320 --> 00:58:50,360
Speaker 3: the table for Michelle's birthday party, he shares the news

1029
00:58:50,400 --> 00:58:55,040
Speaker 3: that Bobby's body is missing, and Mama Walde says, perhaps

1030
00:58:55,120 --> 00:58:57,880
Speaker 3: he wasn't dead. At Gordon is like, what does that

1031
00:58:58,000 --> 00:59:01,520
Speaker 3: mean he was dead? I examined him my and Mama

1032
00:59:01,560 --> 00:59:04,440
Speaker 3: Weelde says, I'm just a passing thought. But then we

1033
00:59:04,520 --> 00:59:07,560
Speaker 3: get the arrival of Skillett. This is the guy who

1034
00:59:07,640 --> 00:59:11,919
Speaker 3: keeps showing up to admire Mamaelde's cape and to say

1035
00:59:11,920 --> 00:59:16,680
Speaker 3: that he's strange. But Mama Walde is suddenly driven away

1036
00:59:16,960 --> 00:59:21,200
Speaker 3: from the table because a photographer comes by, and as

1037
00:59:21,200 --> 00:59:24,480
Speaker 3: soon as she snaps a photo of their table, Mamaulde

1038
00:59:24,760 --> 00:59:28,360
Speaker 3: stands up and abruptly excuses himself, saying that it has

1039
00:59:28,400 --> 00:59:31,480
Speaker 3: been a rare pleasure. Tina chases after him, and then

1040
00:59:31,520 --> 00:59:33,560
Speaker 3: near the door, she catches him to say that she

1041
00:59:33,680 --> 00:59:36,680
Speaker 3: wants to see him again, and they promised to meet

1042
00:59:36,800 --> 00:59:40,160
Speaker 3: again at the club the next night, but the photographer

1043
00:59:41,160 --> 00:59:43,600
Speaker 3: comes barges in one more time and takes a picture

1044
00:59:43,640 --> 00:59:46,200
Speaker 3: of them a second time. This picture is just Mama

1045
00:59:46,200 --> 00:59:50,120
Speaker 3: Weelde and Tina, and this drives Mama Walde away. He

1046
00:59:50,160 --> 00:59:53,360
Speaker 3: seems alarmed at having his picture taken. So here I

1047
00:59:53,360 --> 00:59:57,240
Speaker 3: guess we should describe what appears to be the photographer's

1048
00:59:57,320 --> 00:59:59,880
Speaker 3: business model. Maybe this is a thing that used to

1049
00:59:59,880 --> 01:00:02,680
Speaker 3: have happen. I don't know, but it seems what she

1050
01:00:02,440 --> 01:00:06,040
Speaker 3: She goes around the club taking pictures of people, and

1051
01:00:06,080 --> 01:00:08,960
Speaker 3: then she has a house right next door to the club,

1052
01:00:09,360 --> 01:00:12,200
Speaker 3: and so she runs out of the club next door

1053
01:00:12,240 --> 01:00:15,880
Speaker 3: to her house, develops the photos and makes prints, and

1054
01:00:15,920 --> 01:00:18,560
Speaker 3: then brings the prince back to the club the same

1055
01:00:18,680 --> 01:00:20,640
Speaker 3: night and sells them to people. Is that how you

1056
01:00:20,720 --> 01:00:21,320
Speaker 3: understood it?

1057
01:00:21,920 --> 01:00:22,320
Speaker 2: I think so.

1058
01:00:22,480 --> 01:00:22,640
Speaker 4: Yeah.

1059
01:00:22,720 --> 01:00:24,200
Speaker 2: I feel like this might be something that would have

1060
01:00:24,200 --> 01:00:26,240
Speaker 2: been more clear to the audience of the time. And

1061
01:00:26,320 --> 01:00:30,520
Speaker 2: I know, based on conversations with my wife who's a photographer,

1062
01:00:30,640 --> 01:00:34,280
Speaker 2: there were you know, there were all sorts of practices

1063
01:00:34,400 --> 01:00:35,920
Speaker 2: kind of like this back in the day when you

1064
01:00:35,960 --> 01:00:38,560
Speaker 2: had to develop your film. There was one in particular

1065
01:00:38,640 --> 01:00:41,000
Speaker 2: that I remember hearing that involved like a zipline, like

1066
01:00:41,040 --> 01:00:43,240
Speaker 2: they had to like take the photo, get the film,

1067
01:00:43,360 --> 01:00:45,400
Speaker 2: zipline it down to where it was going to be produced.

1068
01:00:45,440 --> 01:00:47,280
Speaker 2: So there are all sorts of things like that that

1069
01:00:47,400 --> 01:00:51,200
Speaker 2: had to occur given the limitations of film technology. Nowadays,

1070
01:00:51,200 --> 01:00:52,800
Speaker 2: you know, it's all digital and so you have an

1071
01:00:52,880 --> 01:00:55,200
Speaker 2: entirely different model and everything moves so much faster.

1072
01:00:55,680 --> 01:00:57,840
Speaker 3: The only other way I could understand this is if

1073
01:00:57,920 --> 01:01:00,560
Speaker 3: she's is if this is not her job and she's

1074
01:01:00,680 --> 01:01:03,880
Speaker 3: just like a hobbyist photographer and taking pictures of her

1075
01:01:03,920 --> 01:01:06,520
Speaker 3: friends and happens to live next door to the club.

1076
01:01:06,640 --> 01:01:07,080
Speaker 4: I don't know.

1077
01:01:08,400 --> 01:01:11,120
Speaker 2: But the real take home here is that it gives

1078
01:01:11,160 --> 01:01:13,720
Speaker 2: us an excuse for a dark room scene, which I

1079
01:01:13,760 --> 01:01:15,280
Speaker 2: absolutely love in my movies.

1080
01:01:15,440 --> 01:01:18,040
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, this is great. So she runs off next

1081
01:01:18,120 --> 01:01:20,880
Speaker 3: door to develop the photos, and here we get a

1082
01:01:20,960 --> 01:01:24,080
Speaker 3: vampire attack and I think a very creepy one at that.

1083
01:01:24,520 --> 01:01:26,600
Speaker 3: So she's in her house. She puts on a record,

1084
01:01:26,800 --> 01:01:29,600
Speaker 3: music is playing, but other than the music playing, it's

1085
01:01:29,720 --> 01:01:34,960
Speaker 3: very still inside, and she's developing the photos and she

1086
01:01:35,240 --> 01:01:38,680
Speaker 3: notices when looking at the negatives that Mama Waldey is

1087
01:01:38,800 --> 01:01:41,760
Speaker 3: missing from the pictures she took. So it's just like Tina,

1088
01:01:42,160 --> 01:01:45,919
Speaker 3: they're embracing with no one. And then she peeks out

1089
01:01:45,920 --> 01:01:48,520
Speaker 3: through the curtains of her dark room and suddenly Mama

1090
01:01:48,520 --> 01:01:54,640
Speaker 3: Waldey's there in vampire mode, gliding frictionlessly directly toward her

1091
01:01:54,760 --> 01:01:57,600
Speaker 3: fangs showing. It's a really scary moment.

1092
01:01:57,920 --> 01:02:00,360
Speaker 2: Absolutely yeah, this is this is This is one of

1093
01:02:00,520 --> 01:02:04,200
Speaker 2: two really good scares in the picture. This is probably

1094
01:02:04,200 --> 01:02:05,360
Speaker 2: my favorite.

1095
01:02:04,880 --> 01:02:07,440
Speaker 3: And in fact, this scene develops into a double scare

1096
01:02:08,200 --> 01:02:10,800
Speaker 3: no pun intended on develops with the dark one. But

1097
01:02:11,280 --> 01:02:14,520
Speaker 3: it's a double scare because shortly after this a cop

1098
01:02:14,600 --> 01:02:17,560
Speaker 3: shows up. Because remember Gordon was supposed to get those

1099
01:02:17,800 --> 01:02:20,800
Speaker 3: reports delivered to him at the club. So this cop

1100
01:02:20,920 --> 01:02:24,680
Speaker 3: named Barnes appears to deliver the reports and he's in

1101
01:02:24,720 --> 01:02:27,160
Speaker 3: the parking lot of the club and he sees at

1102
01:02:27,160 --> 01:02:29,760
Speaker 3: the house next door a woman stumbles out of the

1103
01:02:29,760 --> 01:02:31,800
Speaker 3: front door and she appears to be dying, so he

1104
01:02:31,880 --> 01:02:34,160
Speaker 3: goes to help her, but when he picks her up

1105
01:02:34,200 --> 01:02:38,160
Speaker 3: to carry her inside Fangs, it's the photographer and she

1106
01:02:38,320 --> 01:02:43,120
Speaker 3: has changed rapidly. So in the way the mythology, the

1107
01:02:43,160 --> 01:02:46,240
Speaker 3: vampire mythology works here, you can change and I don't know,

1108
01:02:46,240 --> 01:02:47,200
Speaker 3: it seems like minutes.

1109
01:02:47,600 --> 01:02:49,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it's very viral.

1110
01:02:49,920 --> 01:02:53,480
Speaker 3: So she vamps the cop and Gordon never gets his reports,

1111
01:02:54,160 --> 01:02:56,560
Speaker 3: and he tells Peters as much. The next day at

1112
01:02:56,560 --> 01:03:00,040
Speaker 3: the police station. Peters is mad about this Gordon. He

1113
01:03:00,080 --> 01:03:03,600
Speaker 3: wants to get permission to dig up Billy Schaefer's grave

1114
01:03:03,800 --> 01:03:06,680
Speaker 3: to do an autopsy. Peters tries to get a permit

1115
01:03:06,760 --> 01:03:08,960
Speaker 3: for this, but he can't, so then, in a very

1116
01:03:08,960 --> 01:03:12,840
Speaker 3: funny turn, Gordon he explains to Michelle that they're just

1117
01:03:12,920 --> 01:03:15,520
Speaker 3: gonna have to go and illegally dig up Billy's body

1118
01:03:15,560 --> 01:03:18,560
Speaker 3: themselves that night, and Michelle is kind of resistant to

1119
01:03:18,640 --> 01:03:21,240
Speaker 3: this idea at first, but he likes sweet talks her

1120
01:03:21,240 --> 01:03:24,440
Speaker 3: into it. He basically he kisses her and he's like,

1121
01:03:24,480 --> 01:03:27,080
Speaker 3: come on, do it for me, and she's like, okay.

1122
01:03:27,080 --> 01:03:30,000
Speaker 2: Okay, we'll go violate the graveyard.

1123
01:03:31,240 --> 01:03:33,920
Speaker 3: So that night, while Gordon and Michelle are out digging

1124
01:03:34,000 --> 01:03:37,760
Speaker 3: up a grave. Mama Walde comes and visits Tina's apartment.

1125
01:03:38,200 --> 01:03:40,160
Speaker 3: He says he couldn't wait to see her and he

1126
01:03:40,240 --> 01:03:43,680
Speaker 3: needed to speak to her alone. They've been dying to

1127
01:03:43,680 --> 01:03:47,560
Speaker 3: see one another again, and Tina explains her complicated feelings.

1128
01:03:47,640 --> 01:03:50,520
Speaker 3: He frightens her, but also when he left the night before,

1129
01:03:50,600 --> 01:03:53,720
Speaker 3: she wanted to run after him. So he says he

1130
01:03:53,800 --> 01:03:56,400
Speaker 3: needs to speak to her about something, and she asks,

1131
01:03:56,600 --> 01:03:59,720
Speaker 3: is it about your wife? And he says, you are

1132
01:03:59,760 --> 01:04:04,200
Speaker 3: my wife. She says that's impossible, Mamualde, and he says,

1133
01:04:04,560 --> 01:04:07,640
Speaker 3: and yet you believe it, and it seems like she does.

1134
01:04:07,720 --> 01:04:11,960
Speaker 3: She's a bit confused, but he explains as if she

1135
01:04:12,360 --> 01:04:18,280
Speaker 3: is Luva reincarnated. He explains who they are, that they

1136
01:04:18,320 --> 01:04:21,800
Speaker 3: come from the Abani people and were sent as diplomats

1137
01:04:21,840 --> 01:04:25,440
Speaker 3: to Europe to gain allies who would support their protest

1138
01:04:25,560 --> 01:04:29,160
Speaker 3: of the slave trade. And then Mama Walde says, on

1139
01:04:29,240 --> 01:04:33,320
Speaker 3: that mission, I myself was enslaved, my wife murdered, and

1140
01:04:33,400 --> 01:04:36,200
Speaker 3: I was placed under the curse of the Undead. Our

1141
01:04:36,240 --> 01:04:41,320
Speaker 3: assassin was the vampire Count Dracula. Tina protests that Count

1142
01:04:41,360 --> 01:04:44,600
Speaker 3: Dracula is a myth. He wasn't real but mamu Walde

1143
01:04:44,680 --> 01:04:48,280
Speaker 3: explains he was real quote as real as I am now,

1144
01:04:48,480 --> 01:04:50,920
Speaker 3: as real as you are, and as real as my

1145
01:04:51,040 --> 01:04:55,240
Speaker 3: need for you. You are my luva recreated. So she

1146
01:04:55,360 --> 01:04:57,640
Speaker 3: asks again what he wants, and he says that he

1147
01:04:57,720 --> 01:05:02,000
Speaker 3: wants her to rejoin him. And it's not spelled out

1148
01:05:02,000 --> 01:05:05,360
Speaker 3: exactly what that means, but it seems that's understood as

1149
01:05:05,600 --> 01:05:10,280
Speaker 3: join him in undeath. Now she seems torn. She she

1150
01:05:10,520 --> 01:05:13,600
Speaker 3: wants to, but she's afraid. She says I can't, and

1151
01:05:13,640 --> 01:05:15,880
Speaker 3: then he says, you must come to me freely, with

1152
01:05:16,040 --> 01:05:18,560
Speaker 3: love or not at all. I will not take you

1153
01:05:18,640 --> 01:05:21,960
Speaker 3: by force, and I will not return. I have lived

1154
01:05:21,960 --> 01:05:25,080
Speaker 3: again to lose you twice, and he rises to leave.

1155
01:05:25,200 --> 01:05:27,400
Speaker 3: He goes to the door, but she stops him and

1156
01:05:27,480 --> 01:05:30,520
Speaker 3: asks him to stay. They embrace. It seems she does

1157
01:05:30,600 --> 01:05:34,360
Speaker 3: want to rejoin him, whatever the cost. It's a pointed scene,

1158
01:05:34,640 --> 01:05:37,320
Speaker 3: it is, and it's emotionally complex because you can see

1159
01:05:37,320 --> 01:05:40,200
Speaker 3: in his performance that when they embrace and kiss, that

1160
01:05:40,640 --> 01:05:42,600
Speaker 3: it's not just that he loves her, it's not just

1161
01:05:42,640 --> 01:05:46,480
Speaker 3: that he desires her, but there is a feeling of relief,

1162
01:05:48,160 --> 01:05:52,240
Speaker 3: of like of a burden being lifted. And because I

1163
01:05:52,240 --> 01:05:55,760
Speaker 3: guess because he won't have to be like this alone.

1164
01:05:56,440 --> 01:06:02,760
Speaker 3: And so meanwhile Gordon and Gordon and Michelle are doing

1165
01:06:02,800 --> 01:06:05,520
Speaker 3: their grave digging. Gordon digs up Billy's grave in the

1166
01:06:05,560 --> 01:06:08,640
Speaker 3: middle of the night while Michelle holds a flashlight. They

1167
01:06:08,720 --> 01:06:11,040
Speaker 3: open the coffin and what do you know, Billy pops

1168
01:06:11,120 --> 01:06:14,960
Speaker 3: up a full vampire. He attacks Gordon. Gordon throws some

1169
01:06:15,000 --> 01:06:17,720
Speaker 3: really good punches some haymakers, beats him up with a

1170
01:06:17,720 --> 01:06:21,680
Speaker 3: shovel and stakes him. And now it seems that Michelle

1171
01:06:21,720 --> 01:06:24,720
Speaker 3: and Gordon have both seen the proof. They are definitely

1172
01:06:24,840 --> 01:06:26,160
Speaker 3: dealing with vampires.

1173
01:06:26,680 --> 01:06:28,160
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's no denying it now.

1174
01:06:28,440 --> 01:06:31,200
Speaker 3: And Michelle is like, oh, all those books you've been reading.

1175
01:06:31,200 --> 01:06:33,800
Speaker 3: Apparently Gordon has been doing a lot of vampire research.

1176
01:06:35,200 --> 01:06:39,440
Speaker 3: But Gordon quickly realizes that the other vampire victims will

1177
01:06:39,480 --> 01:06:43,680
Speaker 3: also rise from their slumber and attack, including the cab

1178
01:06:43,800 --> 01:06:47,440
Speaker 3: driver at the morgue, So he calls Sam from a

1179
01:06:47,480 --> 01:06:50,880
Speaker 3: payphone that Sam was what's his name? Elisha Cook Jr.

1180
01:06:52,200 --> 01:06:55,040
Speaker 3: Calls him from a payphone and tells him to take

1181
01:06:55,080 --> 01:06:57,480
Speaker 3: her body out of the freezer so he can come

1182
01:06:57,520 --> 01:07:00,640
Speaker 3: and perform an autopsy with Peters, but also to like

1183
01:07:00,800 --> 01:07:02,840
Speaker 3: leave her in a locked room, lock the door and

1184
01:07:02,920 --> 01:07:05,880
Speaker 3: stay away, and then Gordon goes to pick up Peters

1185
01:07:05,920 --> 01:07:08,680
Speaker 3: to show him the evidence of the vampire menace. What's

1186
01:07:08,720 --> 01:07:11,439
Speaker 3: gonna happen? Of course, there is a vampire attack, so

1187
01:07:11,920 --> 01:07:17,560
Speaker 3: vampire Juanita rises from her frozen slumber to attack Sam.

1188
01:07:17,840 --> 01:07:20,720
Speaker 2: And this is another really well done vampire attack sequence.

1189
01:07:20,720 --> 01:07:24,120
Speaker 2: The music is really great. This, this is this is awesome.

1190
01:07:24,280 --> 01:07:27,280
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a it's a creepy, unusual shot where the

1191
01:07:27,360 --> 01:07:30,240
Speaker 3: door opens and we see from Sam's perspective, he's like

1192
01:07:30,280 --> 01:07:33,840
Speaker 3: at the phone down the hall and she's running directly

1193
01:07:34,000 --> 01:07:38,800
Speaker 3: at the camera in slow motion, just eyes wild, fangs out.

1194
01:07:39,440 --> 01:07:41,840
Speaker 2: You can imagine this, this, this whole sequence playing really

1195
01:07:41,880 --> 01:07:44,160
Speaker 2: well in the theater too, because you get that moment

1196
01:07:44,240 --> 01:07:47,280
Speaker 2: where he almost he has the keys out right, he's

1197
01:07:47,320 --> 01:07:49,560
Speaker 2: almost gonna do it. He's almost gonna gonna lock the

1198
01:07:50,080 --> 01:07:52,280
Speaker 2: body in the room, but then the phone rings. So yeah,

1199
01:07:52,520 --> 01:07:55,920
Speaker 2: it's like you can imagine like the energy in the theater.

1200
01:07:56,000 --> 01:07:59,960
Speaker 3: Right, No, no, no, So back at Tina's a part,

1201
01:08:00,120 --> 01:08:02,959
Speaker 3: and we see Tina and Mama Weelde in bed and

1202
01:08:03,040 --> 01:08:06,480
Speaker 3: she expresses a desire to join him, but he says

1203
01:08:06,600 --> 01:08:09,360
Speaker 3: that can wait now he has to leave before daylight

1204
01:08:09,440 --> 01:08:12,520
Speaker 3: because daylight would be fatal to him, and she tells

1205
01:08:12,600 --> 01:08:16,080
Speaker 3: him that she loves him. Gordon and Peters arrive at

1206
01:08:16,080 --> 01:08:18,599
Speaker 3: the morgue and they are attacked by the vampire. But

1207
01:08:18,680 --> 01:08:21,360
Speaker 3: Gordon he's got the he knows what to do now.

1208
01:08:21,439 --> 01:08:25,479
Speaker 3: He subdues the vampire with a big, chunky silver cross.

1209
01:08:25,520 --> 01:08:27,880
Speaker 3: I like this cross. It looks really substantial.

1210
01:08:28,479 --> 01:08:31,120
Speaker 2: It's really huge. I guess it's not one that you

1211
01:08:31,120 --> 01:08:33,280
Speaker 2: would normally just carry on your person, and it would

1212
01:08:33,320 --> 01:08:36,680
Speaker 2: look ridiculous on like a chain around your neck. I'm

1213
01:08:36,680 --> 01:08:37,479
Speaker 2: not sure where he got is.

1214
01:08:37,800 --> 01:08:44,560
Speaker 3: Yeah, and Gordon explains to Peters that vampires multiply geometrically.

1215
01:08:44,640 --> 01:08:47,280
Speaker 3: He's done the math. They have to stop this fast,

1216
01:08:47,439 --> 01:08:50,599
Speaker 3: so they put out an APB to look for dead

1217
01:08:50,640 --> 01:08:53,640
Speaker 3: people who have gone missing, like Bobby. And then we

1218
01:08:53,680 --> 01:08:55,920
Speaker 3: get another club scene. I guess it's the next night

1219
01:08:56,120 --> 01:08:58,479
Speaker 3: and they're at the club again. The Huges Corporation is

1220
01:08:58,520 --> 01:09:02,679
Speaker 3: playing again. It's another jam and Gordon, Michelle and Tina

1221
01:09:02,760 --> 01:09:05,920
Speaker 3: are sitting around at a table and Mama Walde joins

1222
01:09:05,960 --> 01:09:10,880
Speaker 3: them once again. He cheekily orders a bloody Mary, and

1223
01:09:10,920 --> 01:09:14,000
Speaker 3: then Gordon is like, hey, Mama Walde can maybe you

1224
01:09:14,000 --> 01:09:17,719
Speaker 3: can help me? Are you into the occult? It seems

1225
01:09:17,800 --> 01:09:20,120
Speaker 3: kind of out of nowhere, but I think maybe it

1226
01:09:20,240 --> 01:09:22,559
Speaker 3: means like he's asking him because he wears the cape,

1227
01:09:22,680 --> 01:09:26,000
Speaker 3: so he, you know, looks like a vampire, I guess because.

1228
01:09:25,760 --> 01:09:28,320
Speaker 2: Of the and the follow up question, how about the

1229
01:09:28,320 --> 01:09:29,040
Speaker 2: heavy stuff?

1230
01:09:29,760 --> 01:09:34,000
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, witchcraft all that and this is so it

1231
01:09:34,040 --> 01:09:36,839
Speaker 3: turns into a general quiz on the subject of the occult,

1232
01:09:37,000 --> 01:09:40,920
Speaker 3: vampires and the devil, and Mama Walday is like, oh, yeah,

1233
01:09:41,040 --> 01:09:45,479
Speaker 3: vampires are the most interesting of all that stuff. We

1234
01:09:45,560 --> 01:09:49,160
Speaker 3: get another visit from Skillett and when he arrives, mamualde

1235
01:09:49,320 --> 01:09:52,840
Speaker 3: leaves and takes Tina with him. More talked about how

1236
01:09:52,840 --> 01:09:57,080
Speaker 3: he wants the cape, but there's a little tip off here.

1237
01:09:57,120 --> 01:09:59,479
Speaker 3: What happened to the photographer who was here the night

1238
01:09:59,520 --> 01:10:03,479
Speaker 3: before or I guess two nights before maybe. Gordon decides

1239
01:10:03,520 --> 01:10:06,479
Speaker 3: to investigate. He goes next door to her house and

1240
01:10:06,520 --> 01:10:10,679
Speaker 3: there he finds the photos where mamaul Day is missing.

1241
01:10:11,600 --> 01:10:15,439
Speaker 3: Gordon realizes that he is the vampire he's been looking for,

1242
01:10:16,000 --> 01:10:18,120
Speaker 3: and of course this makes him worried for Tina, who

1243
01:10:18,240 --> 01:10:21,280
Speaker 3: just went home with him. So Gordon and Michelle rushed

1244
01:10:21,320 --> 01:10:24,880
Speaker 3: to Tina's apartment to rescue her. They bust in, Gordon

1245
01:10:24,920 --> 01:10:28,320
Speaker 3: and Mama Alde fight and Mama Alde runs off, and

1246
01:10:28,360 --> 01:10:31,000
Speaker 3: the police arrive on the scene, and then there's like

1247
01:10:31,040 --> 01:10:34,240
Speaker 3: a chase. The people are running around through alleyways trying

1248
01:10:34,280 --> 01:10:37,960
Speaker 3: to find the vampire, and then he finally appears. He

1249
01:10:38,000 --> 01:10:41,360
Speaker 3: gets one cop isolated and he appears in vampire mode

1250
01:10:41,400 --> 01:10:45,439
Speaker 3: and kills the cop. So now Gordon and Peters know

1251
01:10:45,520 --> 01:10:48,599
Speaker 3: who the King Vampire is, but they don't know where

1252
01:10:48,760 --> 01:10:52,000
Speaker 3: he is, so they begin an investigation to find his

1253
01:10:52,120 --> 01:10:57,280
Speaker 3: coffin because you know, in accordance with standard lore, the

1254
01:10:57,320 --> 01:10:59,719
Speaker 3: way you can destroy him is to destroy his coffin,

1255
01:11:00,000 --> 01:11:01,040
Speaker 3: Troy's resting place.

1256
01:11:01,800 --> 01:11:03,960
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, especially I hunt him out during the day.

1257
01:11:04,280 --> 01:11:05,960
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I guess that's the other way is find

1258
01:11:06,040 --> 01:11:08,200
Speaker 3: him during the day and stake him while he's sleeping.

1259
01:11:09,360 --> 01:11:11,360
Speaker 3: So from here on out, the film becomes a lot

1260
01:11:11,360 --> 01:11:15,120
Speaker 3: more action oriented. Like there's a scene where they find

1261
01:11:15,360 --> 01:11:18,600
Speaker 3: vampire Bobby and trace him back to the antique warehouse,

1262
01:11:18,920 --> 01:11:21,439
Speaker 3: and there's like a raid on the vampire nest there

1263
01:11:21,479 --> 01:11:24,799
Speaker 3: at the warehouse, and there's a big fight with Gordon

1264
01:11:24,880 --> 01:11:29,240
Speaker 3: and the other police getting ambushed by vampires and in

1265
01:11:29,320 --> 01:11:31,960
Speaker 3: the sort of maze of crates and boxes, and they

1266
01:11:32,040 --> 01:11:35,120
Speaker 3: end up throwing these oil lanterns to fight them off.

1267
01:11:35,200 --> 01:11:37,320
Speaker 3: There are a bunch of like a person in a

1268
01:11:37,360 --> 01:11:40,920
Speaker 3: fire suit stunts. Oh yeah, there's a scary moment where

1269
01:11:41,000 --> 01:11:43,200
Speaker 3: you remember the cop Barnes who went to help the

1270
01:11:43,200 --> 01:11:46,160
Speaker 3: photographer at her house. He of course we saw it

1271
01:11:46,160 --> 01:11:49,200
Speaker 3: in Bitten, but he's like one of their investigating party,

1272
01:11:49,280 --> 01:11:51,680
Speaker 3: and of course he turns on them. At the end

1273
01:11:51,680 --> 01:11:55,360
Speaker 3: of this fight, Mamualde appears and then escapes in bat

1274
01:11:55,439 --> 01:11:57,240
Speaker 3: form by transforming into a bat.

1275
01:11:57,560 --> 01:11:59,439
Speaker 2: Yeah, and of course this is a classic bit, right

1276
01:12:01,000 --> 01:12:04,160
Speaker 2: vampire transforms into a bat. But from an effects standpoint,

1277
01:12:04,360 --> 01:12:07,639
Speaker 2: it's kind of a daring vampire movie trope to include,

1278
01:12:07,720 --> 01:12:10,400
Speaker 2: because I think we've all seen examples of it. Look

1279
01:12:10,960 --> 01:12:13,920
Speaker 2: that look a bit silly, right, you know you can

1280
01:12:13,960 --> 01:12:17,120
Speaker 2: imagine like here's here's a human poof of smoke and

1281
01:12:17,160 --> 01:12:18,759
Speaker 2: then a floppy bat on a string.

1282
01:12:18,880 --> 01:12:21,599
Speaker 3: Right, it almost always looks silly. I'm trying to think

1283
01:12:21,640 --> 01:12:24,200
Speaker 3: of a movie where the transformation into a bat does

1284
01:12:24,240 --> 01:12:25,800
Speaker 3: not look silly.

1285
01:12:26,960 --> 01:12:29,840
Speaker 2: And you know, maybe I'm being super generous here because

1286
01:12:29,840 --> 01:12:31,519
Speaker 2: I like so many other things about the picture, but

1287
01:12:31,720 --> 01:12:34,600
Speaker 2: I thought this one looked reasonably good considering what the

1288
01:12:34,640 --> 01:12:35,200
Speaker 2: effect is.

1289
01:12:35,439 --> 01:12:37,240
Speaker 3: This is one of the better ones. I like it.

1290
01:12:37,680 --> 01:12:40,240
Speaker 3: But anyway, this all leads up to a big final

1291
01:12:40,360 --> 01:12:44,320
Speaker 3: showdown a set piece at a chemical factory, which is

1292
01:12:44,439 --> 01:12:48,920
Speaker 3: where Mama ALDE's coffin is stored. Now, so he Mamaelde

1293
01:12:49,000 --> 01:12:54,160
Speaker 3: takes Tina there and the police give chase. And then tragically,

1294
01:12:54,200 --> 01:12:57,559
Speaker 3: while the police are running around in this place looking

1295
01:12:57,600 --> 01:13:00,439
Speaker 3: through them through these like mazes of pipes and and

1296
01:13:00,800 --> 01:13:03,760
Speaker 3: you know, chemical tanks and things, they see the two

1297
01:13:03,800 --> 01:13:06,800
Speaker 3: of them, and then a cop shoots at them and

1298
01:13:06,960 --> 01:13:11,920
Speaker 3: Tina is killed. Horrible tragedy Tina. And then of course

1299
01:13:12,000 --> 01:13:15,519
Speaker 3: Mama Welde turns Tina into a vampire because at that

1300
01:13:15,600 --> 01:13:18,320
Speaker 3: point it's the only way to save her. But he

1301
01:13:18,520 --> 01:13:22,439
Speaker 3: is now of course furious, and he he yells at

1302
01:13:22,439 --> 01:13:25,040
Speaker 3: the at all of their pursuers through and it like

1303
01:13:25,120 --> 01:13:29,040
Speaker 3: sort of echoes throughout the entire building. Is sort of

1304
01:13:29,439 --> 01:13:31,960
Speaker 3: a curse of vengeance. He says, this will be your

1305
01:13:32,160 --> 01:13:33,360
Speaker 3: inglorious tomb.

1306
01:13:34,040 --> 01:13:37,479
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then follows it up with your tomb, your tomb,

1307
01:13:37,840 --> 01:13:41,080
Speaker 2: your tomb. And I have to say this This bit

1308
01:13:41,240 --> 01:13:43,800
Speaker 2: just keeps playing through my mind because, on one hand,

1309
01:13:44,120 --> 01:13:46,360
Speaker 2: just an absolutely great moment in the film that drives

1310
01:13:46,400 --> 01:13:49,839
Speaker 2: home just the vengeful power of vampire Prince Mama Walde.

1311
01:13:49,960 --> 01:13:52,600
Speaker 2: You know, his enemies here are clearly doomed. They have

1312
01:13:53,040 --> 01:13:55,800
Speaker 2: crossed the line. But it's also one of those bits

1313
01:13:55,840 --> 01:13:59,120
Speaker 2: of dialogue that, on paper or coming from a lesser actor,

1314
01:14:00,200 --> 01:14:02,080
Speaker 2: have come off a bit silly, a bit fake, but

1315
01:14:02,680 --> 01:14:06,160
Speaker 2: Marshall absolutely imbues it here with Shakespearean power.

1316
01:14:06,520 --> 01:14:10,000
Speaker 3: It's strong. You can feel his rage. And then it

1317
01:14:10,080 --> 01:14:15,760
Speaker 3: becomes even worse because so he turns Tina into a

1318
01:14:15,840 --> 01:14:18,400
Speaker 3: vampire because it's the only way to save her at

1319
01:14:18,400 --> 01:14:23,320
Speaker 3: this point. And then Gordon and Peters come across the

1320
01:14:23,400 --> 01:14:26,400
Speaker 3: vampire's coffin. They think they've discovered his coffin and they're

1321
01:14:26,439 --> 01:14:29,439
Speaker 3: going to stake him to end this. They rip the

1322
01:14:29,479 --> 01:14:33,400
Speaker 3: lid off, throw the steak down, and then they realize

1323
01:14:33,439 --> 01:14:37,960
Speaker 3: they have staked Tina by accident. I guess they would

1324
01:14:38,000 --> 01:14:39,960
Speaker 3: have had to stake her either way, because she is

1325
01:14:40,000 --> 01:14:43,439
Speaker 3: a vampire now, but yeah, it wasn't what they were

1326
01:14:43,439 --> 01:14:44,320
Speaker 3: intending to do.

1327
01:14:44,840 --> 01:14:47,519
Speaker 2: Yeah, but at this point, the Malaldi shows up. He

1328
01:14:47,560 --> 01:14:50,880
Speaker 2: sees this, and this takes the fight out of him,

1329
01:14:51,360 --> 01:14:53,479
Speaker 2: you know, because this was his whole reason for being,

1330
01:14:53,520 --> 01:14:56,200
Speaker 2: and he says as much. There's this great moment where

1331
01:14:56,280 --> 01:14:59,400
Speaker 2: Gordon reaches in to get that big chunky cross out

1332
01:14:59,400 --> 01:15:02,000
Speaker 2: of his jack get, you know, like he's pulling a

1333
01:15:02,040 --> 01:15:06,840
Speaker 2: gun or something, and Mamaldi says that won't be necessary. Right.

1334
01:15:07,360 --> 01:15:09,680
Speaker 3: It's an incredibly sad turn. You could see he's just

1335
01:15:09,720 --> 01:15:14,560
Speaker 3: given up now and with his love gone, he surrenders

1336
01:15:14,680 --> 01:15:19,360
Speaker 3: himself to his ultimate fate and decides that he is

1337
01:15:19,400 --> 01:15:22,120
Speaker 3: going to walk out into the daylight, which he does.

1338
01:15:22,240 --> 01:15:24,679
Speaker 3: He like struggles, you can see the pain in him,

1339
01:15:25,080 --> 01:15:27,280
Speaker 3: but he walks up the staircase under the roof of

1340
01:15:27,320 --> 01:15:31,599
Speaker 3: the building and bathes himself in sunlight and then collapses dead.

1341
01:15:31,680 --> 01:15:35,000
Speaker 3: And then we see like his skin rots away and

1342
01:15:35,080 --> 01:15:39,559
Speaker 3: turns to worms. And it's a very bleak and tragic ending.

1343
01:15:39,560 --> 01:15:42,840
Speaker 3: There's not really anything there's not really anything happy to

1344
01:15:42,960 --> 01:15:46,000
Speaker 3: redeem it that comes back. You just end on this

1345
01:15:46,439 --> 01:15:51,120
Speaker 3: moment of absolute loss. And Yeah, I don't know what

1346
01:15:51,160 --> 01:15:53,479
Speaker 3: to say about that. It's one of the bleakest endings

1347
01:15:53,479 --> 01:15:54,080
Speaker 3: I can think of.

1348
01:15:54,680 --> 01:15:56,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't want it any other way.

1349
01:15:56,840 --> 01:15:59,479
Speaker 2: You could imagine cuts the film where you could have

1350
01:15:59,479 --> 01:16:01,400
Speaker 2: had something different, like, you know, the sort of like

1351
01:16:01,479 --> 01:16:05,280
Speaker 2: police chummy chummy having that moment where they're like, hey, well,

1352
01:16:05,280 --> 01:16:07,320
Speaker 2: well at least we stop the vampires. It's sad, but

1353
01:16:08,200 --> 01:16:10,720
Speaker 2: the good guys won. Or you could have gone an

1354
01:16:10,840 --> 01:16:13,280
Speaker 2: entirely different direction. It also wouldn't be out of keeping

1355
01:16:13,280 --> 01:16:14,920
Speaker 2: with other films and just just cut back to the

1356
01:16:14,960 --> 01:16:18,080
Speaker 2: Hughes Corporation doing another number, you know, and just sort

1357
01:16:18,120 --> 01:16:21,640
Speaker 2: of almost like insisting on a change of pace. But

1358
01:16:21,880 --> 01:16:24,080
Speaker 2: they stick to the ending here, and the last thing

1359
01:16:24,120 --> 01:16:27,320
Speaker 2: we see is the skull of Mama Walde. Now a

1360
01:16:27,400 --> 01:16:29,800
Speaker 2: quick note about the fate of Mama Walde here in

1361
01:16:29,840 --> 01:16:33,519
Speaker 2: the film. The main poster for Blackula features an image

1362
01:16:33,560 --> 01:16:37,240
Speaker 2: of him being staked, an image that appears to be

1363
01:16:37,479 --> 01:16:40,240
Speaker 2: very manipulated, like it's not I don't think it's a

1364
01:16:40,240 --> 01:16:44,000
Speaker 2: shot from the film. And this, of course is dumb,

1365
01:16:44,000 --> 01:16:46,240
Speaker 2: but in line with plenty of other vampire movies and

1366
01:16:46,240 --> 01:16:49,759
Speaker 2: trailers that show the movie's main vampire being staked.

1367
01:16:51,640 --> 01:16:54,120
Speaker 3: If that were true, it would seem to be a spoiler.

1368
01:16:54,600 --> 01:16:56,880
Speaker 2: Yeah, but again, it wouldn't be out of line with

1369
01:16:57,040 --> 01:16:58,960
Speaker 2: marketing for other vampire films.

1370
01:16:59,360 --> 01:17:01,600
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it's not even true. In this case, he

1371
01:17:01,640 --> 01:17:04,960
Speaker 3: does not get staked. He just surrenders himself to death

1372
01:17:05,000 --> 01:17:05,559
Speaker 3: by the sun.

1373
01:17:06,240 --> 01:17:08,680
Speaker 2: Yeah, but it makes me wonder like was this Like

1374
01:17:08,720 --> 01:17:11,519
Speaker 2: I'm wonder of what stage in production the poster was

1375
01:17:11,560 --> 01:17:14,600
Speaker 2: made and maybe at one point was the character was

1376
01:17:14,640 --> 01:17:18,120
Speaker 2: going to be staked and William Marshall was like, no,

1377
01:17:18,240 --> 01:17:20,680
Speaker 2: that's not going to work for me. And if that's

1378
01:17:20,720 --> 01:17:22,840
Speaker 2: the case, I applaud him for sticking to his guns

1379
01:17:22,840 --> 01:17:24,639
Speaker 2: and going and pushing for this ending.

1380
01:17:25,200 --> 01:17:29,280
Speaker 3: So I guess that's Blackula a really good tragic romance

1381
01:17:29,320 --> 01:17:30,800
Speaker 3: and a really good horror movie too.

1382
01:17:31,200 --> 01:17:34,400
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, I was really impressed with it on the whole.

1383
01:17:34,800 --> 01:17:37,639
Speaker 2: So as always, we'd love to hear from folks out

1384
01:17:37,640 --> 01:17:40,639
Speaker 2: there if y'all have any thoughts on the film, any

1385
01:17:40,680 --> 01:17:44,320
Speaker 2: memories of seeing it originally for the first time, or

1386
01:17:44,360 --> 01:17:48,800
Speaker 2: revisiting it and so forth. Everything is fair game. I

1387
01:17:48,920 --> 01:17:51,120
Speaker 2: just want to remind everybody that's stuff to blow your mind.

1388
01:17:51,280 --> 01:17:54,880
Speaker 2: Is primarily a science podcast with core episodes on Tuesdays

1389
01:17:54,880 --> 01:17:57,639
Speaker 2: and Thursdays. We do a listener mail episode on Mondays.

1390
01:17:57,680 --> 01:18:00,360
Speaker 2: We do a short form episode on Wednesdays, and we

1391
01:18:00,360 --> 01:18:02,400
Speaker 2: set aside most serious concerns to just talk about a

1392
01:18:02,439 --> 01:18:05,040
Speaker 2: weird movie on weird House Cinema. If you want to

1393
01:18:05,040 --> 01:18:08,280
Speaker 2: see a complete list with thumbnails or posters of all

1394
01:18:08,320 --> 01:18:11,280
Speaker 2: the movies we've considered so far on weird House Cinema, well,

1395
01:18:11,280 --> 01:18:13,120
Speaker 2: you can go over to letterbox dot com. It's l

1396
01:18:13,120 --> 01:18:15,760
Speaker 2: E T T E r box d dot com. Our

1397
01:18:15,840 --> 01:18:18,360
Speaker 2: username is weird House. We have a fabulous list there.

1398
01:18:18,360 --> 01:18:20,160
Speaker 2: You can see everything we've done. Sometimes there's a peak

1399
01:18:20,160 --> 01:18:23,599
Speaker 2: ahead what's coming next, and you can sort by genre. Now,

1400
01:18:23,600 --> 01:18:25,439
Speaker 2: I don't think it can go so specific as to

1401
01:18:25,520 --> 01:18:29,120
Speaker 2: just say show me only the vampire movies, but you

1402
01:18:29,120 --> 01:18:31,519
Speaker 2: know you could. You can set it to horror and

1403
01:18:31,560 --> 01:18:34,120
Speaker 2: then figure it out on your own. I don't know

1404
01:18:34,120 --> 01:18:36,200
Speaker 2: how many vampire movies we've done at this point, but

1405
01:18:37,080 --> 01:18:39,439
Speaker 2: we've done a few, and we'll do a few more,

1406
01:18:39,479 --> 01:18:39,920
Speaker 2: I'm sure.

1407
01:18:40,200 --> 01:18:44,240
Speaker 3: Here's thanks, as always to our excellent audio producer Jjposway.

1408
01:18:44,360 --> 01:18:45,960
Speaker 3: If you would like to get in touch with us

1409
01:18:46,000 --> 01:18:48,759
Speaker 3: with feedback on this episode or any other, to suggest

1410
01:18:48,760 --> 01:18:50,840
Speaker 3: a topic for the future, or just to say hello,

1411
01:18:51,000 --> 01:18:53,599
Speaker 3: you can email us at contact at stuff to Blow

1412
01:18:53,640 --> 01:19:01,559
Speaker 3: your Mind dot com.

1413
01:19:01,760 --> 01:19:04,720
Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For

1414
01:19:04,800 --> 01:19:08,640
Speaker 1: more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts,

1415
01:19:08,720 --> 01:19:10,439
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.