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| Courtesy of Arrow Video |
From the director of Scream Blacula Scream, the Count
Yorga films aren’t necessarily parodies or satires but fully fledged horror
films with an impish sense of dark humor with real world nonbelieving
characters suddenly thrust headfirst into the awaiting vampire fangs. With both films slated for the drive-in
circuit where they became enormously successful, the Count Yorga films proved
to be a star power vehicle for character actor Robert Quarry as the titular
Yorga, quickly being ushered in as a new kind of horror star. While his career was tragically cut short by
a drunk driver that left him wounded before fading from the limelight, Arrow’s
collection of the Count Yorga films will ensure his short-lived legacy
of horror isn’t forgotten.
Count Yorga, Vampire (1970)
The titular Count Yorga, Vampire first appears
onscreen amid a group of young friends gathered together for a séance involving
Erica (Judy Lang) trying to contact her mother, the ceremony itself overseen by
hip debonair medium Count Yorga (Robert Quarry). The group is comprised of boyfriend Michael
(producer Michael Macready), Paul (Phase IV actor Michael Murphy) and
Donna (Donna Anders) who are jointly skeptical of the endeavor, until Erica
seems to have a fit that shutters the evening but not before the mercurial
Yorga returns to spread his neck biting bloodthirst, spurring a series of
bizarre murders including a particularly gruesome moment when Erica is seen
eating her cat. From here, Michael
hastily enlists the help of renegade vampire hunter Dr. Hayes (Roger Perry) and
the two find themselves engaged in a battle to the death amid lusty female
vampires who aren’t ready to let the doctor and boyfriend do away with their
eternal master.
Basically a loose rewrite of Bram Stoker’s Dracula with
the names and timelines changed, one of the charms of Count Yorga, Vampire is
the modern day skepticism pitted against inexplicable supernaturalism. Initially intended to be a softcore porno
before being revised as a standard horror feature with some elements of the
first porno shoot surviving the final cut, the film proved to be a vehicle for
Robert Quarry to show off his charismatic acting chops. The ensemble cast is generally good with
Roger Perry channeling Dr. Van Helsing and Michael Murphy playing an outright skeptic
who is gradually convinced by the things he sees. Mainly however the film functions as the
other side of the coin American International Pictures put out alongside the Blacula
films, catering to the then-Hammer Horror oriented vampire craze.
Visually Count Yorga, Vampire is, not unlike Mario
Bava’s Shock, really rough around the edges. Shot by Arch Archambault largely in shaky
handheld that occasionally loses focus, the film has a bit of an inelegant look
to it. Whether it was intentional or
not, it has the feel of a regional documentary rather than an ornate or
polished horror film. Still, scenes of
the handsomely costumed Count Yorga in his luxurious mansion do exhibit an aura
that is kind of ambient and slow-motion shots of open fanged vampires running
at the camera will raise a few hairs.
The soundtrack by Bill Marx who would also return for the film’s sequel The
Return of Count Yorga as well as Scream Blacula Scream is serviceable
orchestral string heavy horror fare that gets the job done but isn’t
particularly memorable.
While not the most graceful vampire film in the world, Count
Yorga, Vampire will get your attention if only for the pleasure of watching
Robert Quarry seduce and munch on the necks of beautiful women to be part of
his newly built vampiric empire. Against
the low budget, the film nevertheless is an entertaining little exploitation
horror flick that proved highly successful at the drive-ins, thereby prompting
a decidedly more polished sequel for the following year. Longstanding horror fans seeking out the likes
of Horror of Dracula or Blood for Dracula with their grisly gory
thrills might come away a bit underwhelmed from Count Yorga, Vampire though
the film’s aforementioned cat scene was enough to earn the film a PG-13 upon
rerelease. Any way you slice it, this
was a solid microbudget bloodsucker.
The Return of Count Yorga (1971)
Despite what you may have seen or heard in the last Count
Yorga flick, The Return of Count Yorga reunites the cast and crew a
year later in a completely new vampire adventure with the titular monster that
has zero connection to or continuity with the previous film, starting fresh
anew despite reusing some of the cast members we saw die in the last
movie. Setting his sights this time on a
Californian orphanage, the Count happens upon a costumed party replete with a
couple of characters dressed like vampires.
As with the first film, his arrival and announcement of vampirism is met
with laughing skepticism but soon after hitting on Cynthia, much to the chagrin
of her fiancé David (Roger Perry again in a different role), Yorga unleashes a
brutal assault on her family from the claws and fangs of his vampire
brides. Cynthia doesn’t know it yet, but
Yorga is fixing for her to be his new bride, as seen in her premonitory
nightmares.
Though reusing much of the same people as before, this Return
of Count Yorga is a decidedly much classier affair than the first
outing. Switching this time to the
legendary cinematographer Bill Butler, the man who shot Jaws, the film’s
visual aesthete this time around is ornate, delicately composed and exceedingly
well lit. A major step up from its predecessor,
Butler’s cinematography gives the proceedings a far richer classically gothic
horror feel to it.
Composer Bill Marx is
back of course though tonally this Yorga outing is far more sinister and
threatening including but not limited to a terrifying scream laden multiple vampire
brides attack. The cast here, though
comprised of much of the same actors, also conjures up more thrills than before
including a truly frightening moment where a deaf woman happens upon a murder
scene and is unable to scream. Oh and
look for a very young Craig T. Nelson in his screen debut as a skeptical
detective who bites off more than he can chew, no pun intended.
Arguably even more successful than the first, The Return
of Count Yorga more than makes up for the shortcomings of the first in what
would’ve been a film trilogy with a third film planned that never came to
fruition. The films themselves, while not
as well known among modern horror filmgoers today, proved to be an indelible
influence on such directors as Frank Darabont who cited the film’s longstanding
impact on him as an 11-year-old boy. If
nothing else, they point to a brief moment in which Robert Quarry was fermenting
into a full blown horror star who sadly never got much due outside of these
films. For film historians, the Count
Yorga Collection points to an important period in American International
Pictures’ legacy when they were giving us modern day vampires in America the
likes of which filmgoers of the regular and drive-in venues have never
encountered before.
--Andrew Kotwicki
