Yorga awakens Donna telepathically and has her sabotage Michael's alarm clock before having her come to the mansion. Lang is attractive and reasonably good (soap fans will be interested to know that her daughter Katherine Kelly Lang has played Brooke on "The Bold and the Beautiful" for many years!) The Return of Count Yorga ups the ante and sees the sardonic Count on the streets of San Francisco, his sights set on an . Some good suspense, especially in the stranded van awaiting something to happen, but what? The Return of Count Yorga (originally titled Yorga Returns) is a 1971 American vampire horror film directed by Bob Kelljan and starring Robert Quarry, Roger Perry, Yvonne Wilder, George Macready, Rudy De Luca, Edward Walsh, and Craig T. Nelson in his feature film debut. The rest of the cast is adequate, and I think Roger Perry does a wonderful job as a blood specialist who goads Count Yorga one evening into talking about the supernatural. She strikes Yorga in the chest with Baldwin's battle-axe. Not only is Count Yorga very obviously . Tommy claims that nothing has happened. But Quarry didnt find success until taking on the role of the dashing, dark, and deadly Count Yorga for AIP. the guys spend most of the film running around, looking for the girls. Hayes is forced to the floor and fed on by the vampire women. the only other name i recognize is the narrator, George Macready; he was the nightclub owner in the awesome film Gilda, from 1946. pretty good. The popularity, primarily at drive-ins and other theaters of that ilk, led to a sequel ("The Return of Count Yorga") one year later. COUNT YORGA brought the vampire to modern-day America in full bloody color as culture and fashion were shifting: the free love era of the late 60s was giving way to the cocaine and disco fueled 70s, and the popularity of pornographic films was inspiring a new era for libertines. ; Gratuitous Rape: Does this to Donna in the first movie, much to Yorga's displeasure. Leave your expectations of lavish special effects, intricate plotting, and deep character development at the door. Excellent too are Roger Perry and the entire cast, except for Perry's bed partner who gets more lines than she can handle. She is dressed in a . He also intends to take a new wife, while feeding his bevy of female vampires.Count Yorga continues to prey on the local community while living by a nearby orphanage. A low-budget production, it updates its bare-bones reworking of Stoker's story to the then-present of about 1970 and resets the action in Southern California. We basically know what fate will befall our innocent(just) protagonists, but we become riveted to their actions and those of the Count. The newer members have cleaner silker gowns which can be tied around the waist. Another Dracula film in all but name, "Count Yorga, Vampire" was one of quite a few early-1970s reworkings of Bram Stoker's novel. The rock bottom budget is really evident in a number of scenes, from the lighting to the sloppy camera work. At the beginning of the film, not long after the seance. Enter Robert Quarry, an American actor with transatlantic style and wit. He also intends to take a new wife, while feeding his bevy of female vampires. The Count comes to California and starts up a harem of sexy vampires. They resign themselves to spending the night in their van. Before becoming a genre icon Quarry would go on to appear in the blaxploitation zombie revenge film SUGAR HILL, as well as several Fred Olen Ray pictures in the 80s Quarry performed in radio plays before joining the Army in 1943. One of the orphans, Tommy, wanders into the nearby cemetery where he faintly hears a voice ordering, "Rise, rise, it is time." Originally released in 1970, the first of his movies, Count Yorga, Vampire was a quiet, laid back kind of movie that felt more in line with the Dracula stories that had come before, yet managed to find a firm fan-base, and almost became a huge franchise. Count Yorga (Robert Quarry), a vampire, comes from Bulgaria to 1970 Los Angeles and starts making a coven of beautiful female vampires. In the dark, this is still a pretty intense film. The last shot of the movie is Tommy playing with his ball in front of the orphanage accompanied by a haunting rendition of the song the children sang at the beginning of the film. Count Yorga, Vampire From fun-loving perk girl to a undead bride. As played by Robert Quarry, he is quite creditable and effectively gave Christopher Lee (Hammer Film's Dracula incarnate) a run for his money. However, despite my fear that this would be another stale film, this one turned out to be better than average and well worth a look. He and Donna watch Yorga turn to dust. very average vampire plot, but it's not campy enough for Vincent Price, so you won't see him in here. Meanwhile, Yorga goes to claim Mitzi, killing her boyfriend near their boat house before feeding on her once more, draining her completely and adding her to his vampiric harem. On the next day, they have no recollections from the previous night and Erica has lost blood. One reason for that is that in some significant ways the movie isn't very good. Marx was not a prince of darkness, but Hollywood royalty all the same: the adopted son of Harpo Marx and Susan Flemming, Marx had begun arranging music for his father at 16. Cynthia hugs Baldwin, believing the ordeal over. Count Yorga, Vampire (1970): Near the end of the film, two of Yorga's female vampire try to ambush Micheal. Arkoff retitled the film COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE, explaining that nobody would know how to pronounce Iorga and that horror fans would be turned off by the loves of, particularly with the absence of any sex sequences. Time capsule material. Bob Kelljan's "Count Yorga,Vampire" is an effective horror film which has plenty of suspense and atmosphere.Robert Quarry("Madhouse")is simply outstanding as a deadly vampire Count Yorga and there are some sexy vampiresses.The film may be a little too tame for some people's tastes,but there is enough thrills to satisfy horror fans.Highly recommended. That night, Yorga visits Erica while Paul sleeps downstairs. 'Count Yorga, Vampire' is interesting because it is set in contemporary America, quite a rarity at the time. Overseeing the seance is Count Yorga, a mysterious Bulgarian mystic who has recently moved to the states from Europe. The Return of Count Yorga (1971) Rated PG 97 minutes Cast Roger Perry as Dr. David Baldwin Robert Quarry as Count Yorga Rudy DeLuca as Lt. Madden Mariette Hartley as Cynthia Nelson Tom Toner as Rev. Hayes finds Erica's body among them, finding no heartbeat or pulse when he examines her. It's up to those that are left, including Michael (Michael Macready, who also produced the film), and doctor / blood specialist Jim Hayes (Roger Perry), to wage war with the fiend. Erica visits Dr. Hayes to have the mysterious bite wounds on her neck inspected. "[7] Kenneth Thompson of The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that "the understated acting and the tightly controlled, increasingly staccato tempo make this the most distinctive essay in the macabre since Night of the Living Dead."[8]. Michael and Donna rest while Hayes studies vampire lore until he, too, falls asleep. This was a huge hit in 1970 because it was the first modern vampire film. Now, Arrow Video have brought it, and its sequel, to Blu-ray for new audiences to discover. One of the female character turned within the movie. The film was given a second VHS release by MGM Home Entertainment in September 2000. They also wear no shoes . Macready, who produced and directed the film (and enlisted his more famous father to provide a ripe, flavorful voice-over), while nice enough looking, is almost laughably expressionless and wooden during most of his screen time. "Film Reviews: The Return Of Count Yorga". The film opens with a narration by character actor George Macready, whose son, Michael Macready, produced the film and also played "Michael". Yes, this little horror flick, despite an underlit fight scene with the count's lupine manservant Brudah, is a pretty perfect outing. External Reviews 1969 : 4 . Its gory, sexy modern sensibility would go on to inspire American International Pictures releases throughout the 70s, as well as 80s vampire classics and beyond. Yeah, it sucks that you're dead, but still, what a way to go, right? Quarry watches as two of his undead brides ALMOST make out and Lang has a self-caressing sequence as she's falling under his spell. As well as two Count Yorga movies he also directed 'Scream Blacula Scream' and the notorious 'Rape Squad'. Its revealed that Yorga insisted that Donnas mother not be cremated so that he could add her to the undead harem that he keeps in the old-world dungeon of his thoroughly modern home. Though Count Yorga is referred to as "the Deathmaster" in publicity for this film, a later film called The Deathmaster, also starring Robert Quarry as a vampire, has no relation to the Count Yorga series. Screen:'Count Yorga, Vampire' and 'The Crimson Cult' Bow at Local Theaters", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Count_Yorga,_Vampire&oldid=1146722089, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 26 March 2023, at 15:41. Perhaps the big-haired living dead women crawl their way out of the dirt with too much ease, but style is more important than being realistic. Michael and Hayes switch places to keep Yorga off his guard, but Yorga becomes increasingly insistent that it is late and his guests must leave. And, even though he kind of looks like and acts like Count Dracula, he's not Dracula! The ending, which I won't spoil, is also a bit confusing as to what actually takes place. He praised the acting as being "of a generally high standard" and the castle set as "skilfully utilised to give the impression of a labyrinth of Borgesian proportions," though he criticized "a totally unnecessary and feeble attempt to make the Count into a sympathetic figure through such lines as, 'The most fragile emotion ever known has entered my breast.'"[7]. Up until then all vampire films had been set in Europe in the 1800s or early 1900s. The climax is also pretty memorable, and there are a few other scenes (like when the protagonists try to keep Yorga around for sunrise) that come across as pretty original. And I have seen quite a few. Perry has a bedmate who was clearly chosen more for her body than her ability to recite dialogue, though he scene is amusing whether intentional or not! Of course, I said yes, if its going to be a straight horror film.. Really, the film is an update of the classic Dracula story, only with more of a seventies horror swing to it. FAQ This time, the Count (played by Robert Quarry), having purchased an old mansion in California, is terrorising the nearby Westwood Orphanage. The family is quickly overrun. It is flawed, but I still think it is the most effective vampire film I have ever seen. However, nothing was spared as far as creativity and skill. Yorga takes Cynthia and flees to the upper balcony of the estate as Baldwin (who grabs an iron battle-axe from a wall) chases the two. | The films climax features our heroes storming Yorgas home at dusk, having overslept despite their plan to attack during daylight hours. After the sequel The Return of Count Yorga, a third Yorga film was planned, which would have featured a broken Count living in Los Angeles's sewers and creating an army of undead street people, but it never materialised. After leaving the manor, Hayes convinces Michael that killing Yorga will not be easy: vampires have greater strength and the wisdom that comes from living much longer than a "mere mortal". In these scenes, director Robert Kelljan tries to play the dreamy horror thing a la the same year's Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971), but it proves rather vague and none of it coheses into a solid script. Hayes, Michael, and Donna go to the mansion themselves to inquire about Paul's whereabouts and keep Yorga active until sunrise. As with many genre pics of the period, the acting and direction are pretty nondescript, and the whole thing looks like it was filmed through a screen door. Iorga/Yorga was named after Romanian historian and politician Nicolae Iorga, though he's supposed to be Bulgarian. This isnt the tragic, romantic vamp featured in so many gothic tales; Quarrys take on the Count displayed both a dry sense of humor, a proto-Studio 54 sleaziness, and a mouth full of fangs. 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