Count Yorga, Vampire

Some friends gather at the mansion of Robert Quarry (Count Yorga) so that they can hold a séance and Donna Anders (Donna) can contact her recently deceased mother Marsha Jordan. Marsha and Quarry had been lovers. What follows is a vampire film with the women predictably the victims/aggressors and the men predictably running around trying to solve things. In the meantime, Quarry is the bad guy with a clichéd side-kick who resembles a monster and has super strength. Good versus evil – can you guess which side wins…..?

The film is OK but I find films in this genre quite limited in emotional connection for me. There are a couple of rare exceptions but on the whole, you know what you're going to get. The film does have one memorably scary part that is well done - check out the stuck-in-the-van sequence. We know what is coming, but it's still scary and gets you. This happens on another occasion as well as at the end. This predictability, unfortunately, lets the film down - as well as the comically bad narration, especially at the end. Aside from that, the film is a little dull and just plods along. The bloody images start to appear at the end of the film and there is a pretty grotesque moment with a kitten. Personally, I don't approve of gratuitous gore so these things lose points for me. I want to like these vampire films but they are ultimately boring and predictable. This one scores on the OK-ometer.

1970's "The Loves of Count Iorga, Vampire" was intended as the second collaboration between screenwriter/director Bob Kelljan and producer Michael Macready, after their little seen soft porn incest obscurity "Flesh of My Flesh" (neither had made any impact as television actors). Robert Quarry agreed to star only if it were done as a straight horror film minus the nudie trappings, as a European vampire recently transplanted from Bulgaria to modern day Los Angeles, residing on a sprawling hilltop estate complete with dungeon, inspired not by Christopher Lee but Jonathan Frid, whose Barnabas Collins was still seen daily on the Dan Curtis soap DARK SHADOWS. He establishes Yorga right away in the opening scene, conducting a seance for Donna (Donna Anders) that no one seems to take seriously, to communicate with her recently deceased mother (Marsha Jordan), who, not surprisingly, already resides in his abode as a vampire bride. At all times cool, calm and collected, Yorga receives a ride home in the van owned by Paul (Michael Murphy) and Erica (Judith Lang), whose attempt to leave is stymied by an unexpected patch of mud, revealing Yorga's mastery of the elements to maintain a grip on potential victims. An untimely lovemaking session is rudely interrupted by the hungry Count, an amnesiac Erica decidedly withdrawn and in need of a blood transfusion done by Dr. Jim Hayes (Roger Perry), particularly after devouring half a kitten in her sudden bloodlust. By night, she is spirited away following an erotic coupling with Yorga, Paul foolishly rushing off to find her as Dr. Hayes, Donna, and her fiancee Michael (producer Macready) all pay an unannounced call on an initially hospitable but increasingly agitated host. This is easily the picture's best scene, Quarry frequently amused and utterly defiant in his responses to the inane questions posed by his nemeses, impeccably dressed in blood red robes, before taking his leave before the sun rises. The final two reels find our last remaining heroes entering the domain of the undead after dark, without a concrete plan of action, and little hope to succeed. Quarry would self finance his own "Guru Vampire," later picked up for release by AIP as "Deathmaster" (a name taken from this film's posters) before taking on the sequel "The Return of Count Yorga," which benefits from a bigger budget, larger cast, better script, and an even deeper connection to Barnabas Collins.

In this alternate take on the Dracula story, the titular count (from Bulgaria) holds a seance to contact the mother of young Donna. Donna's mom died of some kind of anemia, which of course fits in with the movie's theme. The seance doesn't go as planned, but Yorga is able to implant some post-hypnotic control on poor Donna, and soon enough bodies are piling up as Donna and her friends try to figure out what's what. There's even a henchman who's (apparently) a werewolf! But aside from the present-day (well, 1970) atmosphere and setting, this is a movie useful only as a cult hit. Tired of the same old vampires? Try Count Yorga, sort of a Diet Dracula. 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.

At the time this film was made, vampires were almost always slow and hypnotic. This was really the first vampire film that treated them as swift and animalistic. That made this film surprisingly effective. It was even more surprising since it was originally supposed to be a pornographic vampire film called THE LOVES OF COUNT IORGA. It is flawed, but I still think it is the most effective vampire film I have ever seen. And I have seen quite a few.

You have to know what you're in for when you sit down to watch a movie like "Count Yorga." Leave your expectations of lavish special effects, intricate plotting, and deep character development at the door. This movie is about what most vampire movies are about – cool confrontations with the undead, spiced with some lightweight eroticism. If that's your bag, you should like this.

But I'm already sounding too critical. I honestly think that "Yorga" has several strong points which elevate it above the standard bloodsucker flick. Chief among them is actor Robert Quarry, who cuts a striking figure as the Count. His performance walks a very fine line between camp and credibility, and somehow he pulls it off. He plays the best kind of vampire – suave and smart and friendly, until of course he decides to dispatch his opponents with almost animal savagery.

There are some memorably horrifying moments, including the infamous cat scene and Roger Perry's final confrontation with Yorga in the crypt. I also enjoy the séance - a funny way to set the scene and introduce the characters (such as they are). On the downside, Perry is a faintly annoying actor (I much prefer the secondary hero, Michael Murphy, who later played the thankless role of the mayor in "Batman Returns"), and there are some strange cuts in the action where sex scenes were apparently excised.

On the whole, though, I have little to complain about. It seems that vampires are always up to the same tricks – putting the bite on women and fighting off their vengeful boyfriends – but as long as the vampires are cool and the women are pretty, I'll tune in.