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Count Yorga, Vampire
Directed By Bob Kelljan
Released: 1970
Starring: Robert Quarry, Michael Murphy, Michael Macready, Judith Lang,
and Donna Anders
Running Time: 90 minutes
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Two couples (Michael and Donna and Paul and Erica) are drawn into a web of
vampirism after attending a séance given by the strange Count Yorga
(Robert Quarry of Madhouse and Deathmaster). Count Yorga turns out to be a
vampire and has bitten Erica. Her husband, Paul (Michael Murphy of Strange
Behavior), knows he must confront the Count and battle him for Erica’s
soul. With the help of the family doctor (Perry), Paul goes after Yorga on
his home ground.
Bob Kelljan (director of Scream Blacula Scream) actually
managed to pull of a pretty cool vampire flick. His directing is tight on
an obviously small budget but there are a few lulls in the action that are
somewhat tedious. The biggest problem is with the script. The characters
spend too much time questioning the existence of vampires. There’s simply
too much time dedicated to the psychological prepping of our heroes for
the task at hand.
Robert Quarry (who would return as Count Yorga in the film's sequel) is very cool as the Count and is quite menacing as a
villain. The actresses playing Donna (Donna Anders) and Erica (Judy Lang) are quite good in certain
aspects of their roles but both come off as bland before the vampirirc
ball gets rolling. Erica gets creepy once the vampire in her starts to
take over. Of course, there’s the doctor’s ditzy girlfriend who serves no
purpose whatsoever other than eye candy.
The whole movie almost goes up in smoke when the Count’s servant, Brudah
(sounds like "Boogah" in the movie), shows up. Instead of casting an actor
to play a simple yet ominous servant for Yorga, they put this poor duder
(Edward Walsh)
in some laughable Ygor-esque makeup.
Count Yorga, Vampire is a somewhat bloody and definitely
campy horror movie. The main problem is the dialogue heavy scenes but once
the action picks up, they’re easy to forget. Most of the acting is good
and even the narration is effective. Vampire lovers should give this one a
chance. It’s definitely characteristic of cheaply made American horror
flicks of the early 70’s but you could do worse.
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