Distinguished stage actor William Marshall seems an unlikely choice for the role of eighteenth-century African prince Mamuwalde, who seeks Count Dracula's support to end the slave trade but is transformed into the vampire Blacula after a first bite from the Count. But the cape-clad Marshall is devilishly entertaining as an inner-city "prince of darkness" in this AIP production directed by African American television veteran William Crain. When Blacula is inadvertently transported to twentieth-century Los Angeles, he searches for his long-lost wife but along the way manages to sink his teeth into a string of unsuspecting victims: Elisha Cook, Jr.; loud-mouthed taxi driver Ketty Lester (who popularized the 1960s hit, "Love Letters"); and leading blaxploitation star Vonetta McGee, as the woman Blacula believes is his wife reincarnated. This PG-rated horror film was one of the most successful of the blaxploitation genre, thanks to Crain's stylish direction, the solid storytelling of the screenwriting team, and the commanding screen presence of William Marshall, also the star of the 1974 sequel, Scream, Blacula, Scream. A highlight: the Hues Corporation musical trio-dressed in classic 1970s retro-shimmying and shaking to several Gene Page tunes.-Doris Worsham