'Blacula' won first Saturn Award for Best Horror Film

Today, I began my quest to watch all of the horror movies that have received the Saturn Award for Best Horror Film. “Blacula” won the very first Saturn Award for Horror in 1972, and I scratched it off my list this afternoon.
“Blacula” was released on Aug. 25, 1972 by American International Pictures and is just over 1-1/2 hours long. It was directed by William Crain.
For those of you who’ve never seen this movie, it’s about an African prince who’s made a vampire by Count Dracula in 1780. Prince Mamuwalde, played by actor William Marshall, is then imprisoned in a sealed coffin by Dracula, only to be released nearly two centuries later when two interior decorators inadvertently transport Mamuwalde’s coffin to Los Angeles. As you might imagine, by this time Mamuwalde’s a very thirsty vampire, and he immediately begins claiming victims in 1972 Los Angeles. That’s when the police get involved and set off on the hunt for Mamuwalde.
In the end, this movie was fairly entertaining. By today’s standards, it was pretty tame and was little more scary than an episode of “Little House on the Prairie.” However, it did have its moments and was well worth the time it took to watch. I give this movie a B-, that is, it was good, but not great.
Next on the list of Saturn Award Horror winners is “The Exorcist,” which received the award in 1973. I’ve read the book and have seen various edited-for-TV versions of the movie, but I’ve never seen the bona fide theatrical version, so far as I can remember.