Count Yorga, Vampire
by Bob Kelljan
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: D.J. Anderson, Michael Macready, Michael Murphy, Robert Quarry, Roger PerryDirector: Bob Kelljan
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 99 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-08-28
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of Count Yorga, Vampire
Movie Review: A Vampire in L.A.
Summary: 4 Stars
In the 1960s and `70s, horror films made a comeback after having been overshadowed by the science fiction craze that began in the `50s. With revolutionary films like Rosemary's Baby and Night of the Living Dead, the horror genre was revived with an added edge of sex and gore. One great film, which is often overlooked, is Count Yorga, Vampire. Count Yorga updated the vampire story by placing the events in a contemporary urban setting. The film starred Robert Quarry as the titular vampire and featured an attractive, though unremarkable, supporting cast. When the film was released in 1970, it was a modest hit for American International, an independent film studio that was later bought by MGM. The film even spawned a sequel, The Return of Count Yorga, which saw the Count resurrected after his demise in the end of this film (this isn't really a spoiler as the vampire always dies at the end of these films).
Traveling from Bulgaria to Los Angeles, Count Yorga moves into a mansion, where he is aided by his deformed servant, who watches over his coffin during the day. By night the Count uses his psychic abilities to hold s?ances and hypnotize beautiful women, who he then turns into his vampiric love slaves.
During one of these s?ances, Count Yorga meets two young women, Donna and Erica. Donna seeks his help in contacting her mother, who recently passed away. But Yorga has no intention of doing this; instead he casts his hypnotic spell over Donna. After the s?ance, Erica and her boyfriend Paul offer to drive Yorga back to his mansion. As Paul and Erica are leaving the mansion, after having dropped Yorga off, their van gets stuck in the mud. Forced to spend the night in the van, Erica and Paul make the most of things but during the night Yorga attacks Erica, though she has no memory of it afterward. When she goes to the doctor the following day, Erica is told that she has an unusual form of anemia, but it's more than that. Erica goes home and begins to act strangely and a few hours after her doctor's appointment, she has a violent breakdown, during which she eats her pet kitten. When Erica's doctor, Jim Hayes, reexamines her and is left baffled, he calls his an expert hematologist who believes that Erica's condition is the result of a vampire bite. At first no one believes him, but when Erica goes missing they are forced to reconsider the idea. Convinced that Yorga is the vampire, Paul goes to his mansion but he never returns. Donna's fianc?, Michael, along with Jim and Donna make an impromptu trip to Yorga's home. There they learn of Yorga's belief in the occult, which confirms their suspicions. The next day, Michael, Donna, and Jim plan an attack on Yorga's home, but things don't go quite as planned.
The film is powered by an eerie score composed by William Marx and memorable narration by George MacReady.
Also starring Roger Perry, Michael Murphy, Michael MacReady, Donna Anders, Judith Lang, and Edward Walsh.
Written and directed by Bob Kelljan, Count Yorga is a great horror film in the Hammer tradition.
Also recommended:
Hammer Horror Collection
Dracula: 4 Film Favorites
Dracula A.D. 1972
Blacula
The Exorcist - The Complete Anthology
The Complete Omen Collection
Summary of Count Yorga, Vampire
The Dracula legend gets a suavely competent makeover in this 1970 bloodsucker, bringing vampirism to present-day Los Angeles with a harem of semi-clad females and the sharp casting of Robert Quarry in the title role. The film's original title (The Loves of Count Iorga, Vampire) is perhaps more fitting, since it's really about how Quarry--posing as a Bulgarian psychic medium--seduces his female clients into neck-bitten submission. The victims' abandoned boyfriends (including Michael Murphy, who costarred in M*A*S*H the same year) recruit a vampire-hunting doctor (Roger Perry) to track Yorga down (with wooden stakes made from a broomstick, no less), and the body count rises predictably. Dry performances and tepid dialogue don't help much, but the then-modern setting and intelligent plotting make Count Yorga worthy of its 1971 sequel. It's not as stylish as Christopher Lee's Hammer films, but it's certainly not anemic. --Jeff ShannonCult Movies DVD Video
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