O Lago de Drácula

As I write, it's 69 years since Godzilla first stomped across our planet, causing the kind of destruction that is, even now, wowing audiences across the world. Toho films were originally (and subsequently) responsible for most of The Big G's attempts to save/destroy humanity. Perhaps less well known, particularly to Western audiences, is that Toho also enjoys a run of horror films. They were behind 1998's seminal Ringu, for example, which spawned a whole host of ghostly dark-haired children in horror films.

They flirted with the Prince of Darkness himself with this trilogy of films. Beginning with 1970's 'The Vampire Doll' and ending with ending with 'Evil of Dracula (1974)', 'Lake of Dracula' stars Shin Kishida as a thin glowing-eyed vampire and is more frightening than you might imagine. Nicely directed by Michio Yamamoto and bathed in abrasive colours, he is a force well up to the standing and style of other Draculas.

Any middle section of a trilogy has the most difficult job. No beginning and no end to speak of, it might ungraciously be regarded as 'filler' to any ongoing story. Happily, the stories are so loosely connected, 'Lake' is free to do as it pleases to a large degree.

There's a note of restrain with the horrors here, which isn't always the way with Toho films, and yet the finale is as horrifying as you could hope for. A triumph of lighting, tension and a generally eerie ambience, my score is 8 out of 10.

Arriving at a small lake-side town, a new teacher comes to suspect that someone is behind the strange incidents and dead bodies piling up around town, and when she learns that a master vampire has moved into the area she sets out to stop his blood-soaked reign against the villagers.

This was a decent enough if slightly flawed vampire effort. One of the few solid points involved here comes from the way this goes about trying to instill the idea of the vampire in the area as the build- up here is somewhat credible. Building the strange crate delivery alongside her arrival at the same time is quite nicely handled, and the first attacks, as well as the discovery of their aftermath, all come off rather well as the mystery starts to unfold. Even some of the fine action scenes throughout here, from the abduction in the woods before being startled away and the hospital resurrection of the first body to the idea of the nightly romps through the woods where he's able to feast on her friend despite continually denying it all makes for a rather fun time here and sells the idea of her mental competence rather well which runs through the first half of the film. Once it's confirmed that there are vampires involved, things pick up far more here with the Gothic action scenes really enhancing this one from the ambush in the car at the same time the two of them trap her in the home and begin tormenting her or the hospital awakening sequence give this some really energetic and lively moments. However, it's really the big confrontation at the end which really works best here with the Gothic imagery and action really making for a great finish and gives this one a lot to really like here with the way it all wraps up inside the basement and spreading throughout the rest of the house. Still, while these are the film's good points there are a few negative issues. One of the main problems is the fact that the film really suffers from a stiff and dragged out beginning where not a whole lot really makes an impact. Despite the series of events that play out here detailing the emergence of the vampire around the village, it's still a somewhat dull and dragged-out effort where those brief spurts feel like exceptions to the bland dialogue-heavy sequences that are much more commonly featured so this one really feels like it takes a while to get going. By focusing on her burgeoning mental instability doesn't make for a fun time here regardless of how well the vampire storyline is built through these events, this one really takes more time than it should in letting loose with its story and comes across as somewhat duller than it should be considering what goes on. Likewise, there's also the rather economical manner this one manages to make the heroine think of her predicament and how she buys into it all, as a few throwaway lines regarding the Western methods of dealing with vampires and yet it's completely bought into without so much as a real questionable thought. This makes for a tough time overall, although it does still have its moments.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence, Language and violence-against-animal aftermath.

Okay, color me intrigued when I happened to come across this 1971 Japanese movie titled "Lake of Dracula" (aka "Noroi no yakata: Chi o suu me"). At first I thought it was a spoof, because Dracula in Japanese cinema, come on... But my curiousity won the better of me, and I ended up sitting down to watch this movie from director Michio Yamamoto.

It actually turned out to be an entertaining movie, and the fact that it was from 1971 almost didn't show on the screen. Writers Ei Ogawa and Masaru Takesue definitely had to have been heavily inspired by the old classic Hammer Horror movies, because "Lake of Dracula" definitely had that particular style and quality to it.

I must say that I was adequate quite entertained by "Lake of Dracula", despite it being a bit odd to have Dracula pop up in a Japanese setting. It worked out well enough, actually, maybe because I didn't really see the vampire character as the mythical Dracula himself, despite his name being mentioned a single time in the movie. I suppose I just saw him as a generic, nameless vampire, which worked out quite well actually.

The storyline was good and entertaining, just as it was interesting and enjoyable. It was, however, a stereotypical approach to the vampire genre that writers Ei Ogawa and Masaru Takesue had taken on for the storyline, but it worked out well enough, because the movie had a good flow to it, and you got submerged into the storyline right away.

The acting in the movie was good, although I can't honestly say that I was familiar with any of the actors or actresses that performed in the movie. But they were well-cast for their individual roles and characters.

For a vampire movie from 1971 and from Japan nonetheless, then "Lake of Dracula" is actually well-worth watching for any fans of the older vampire movies. I am rating "Lake of Dracula" a six out of ten stars.

Since the mid-sixties until mid-seventies were made thousand Vampire movies around the world, this wave came from Hammer and many countries used to mimic this successful genre ever since, therefore the Japanese Horror already had his own roots and style, this production made by Michio Yamamoto isn't useful, actually is a fine endeavor, about a young woman who has a memory from the past of a strange happening, when she went in a countryside house near a lake, she and his sister faces the unpredictable events, just as she had as child, a pale vampire appears again, valuable efforts to make something alike of Hammer, it were made as trilogy and apart some mistakes are pretty convincing productions, recommended for all fans of horror pictures!!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7

On the age of five, Akiko Kashiwagi had a weird dream that has traumatized her life. Eighteen years later, Akiko Kashiwagi (Midori Fujita) is a school teacher that lives with her younger sister Natsuko Kashiwagi (Sanae Emi) and their dog Leo in an isolated house by a lake. Her fiancé Dr. Takashi Saeki (Chôei Takahashi) visits her every now and then when possible. When a coffin is delivered in the boat house of her acquaintance nearby her house, he is subdue by a weird man (Shin Kishida). Soon victims without blood and two holes on the neck arrive in the hospital and Dr. Takashi Saeki is attacking them at the lakeshore where Akiko lives and he decides to investigate.

"Noroi no yakata: Chi o suu me", a.k.a. "Lake of Dracula", is another vampire movie produced by Toho studios. The flawed plot is entertaining and is funny to see Akiko and Takashi going to the vampire house during the night without any weapon. The age of the dog Leo is also intriguing. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Lago de Drácula" ("The Lake of Dracula")