Count Yorga, Vampire (1970)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Bob Kelljan

Writer:

Bob Kelljan (writer)

Release Date:

19 October 1972 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Romance

Tagline:

Dashing, Dark and Deadly.

Plot:

Sixties couples Michael and Donna and Paul and Erica become involved with the intense Count Yorga at a Los Angeles seance...

Plot Keywords:

Doctor | Seance | Cat | Noble | Mansion

Cast

Robert Quarry	...	Count Yorga / Dracula
Roger Perry	...	Dr. James 'Jim' Hayes
Michael Murphy	...	Paul
Michael Macready	...	Michael 'Mike' Thompson
D.J. Anderson	...	Donna (as Donna Anders)
Judy Lang	...	Erica Landers (as Judith Lang)
Edward Walsh	...	Brudah
Julie Conners	...	Cleo
Paul Hansen	...	Peter
Sybil Scotford	...	Judy
Marsha Jordan	...	Donna's mother
Deborah Darnell	...	Vampire woman
Erica Macready	...	Babette, the nurse
George Macready	...	Narrator (voice)

Also Known As:

The Loves of Count Iorga, Vampire (USA)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for vampire violence/gore and some sensuality.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:18 | Australia:M | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG-13 (re-release)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Erica Productions Inc.

Trivia:

The working script was titled "Count Yorga, Vampire" and nothing even remotely close to soft-core was in the script or shot.

Goofs:

Plot holes: During a scene in which Count Yorga opens up a set of windows to look upon a thunder and lightning storm, his reflection is clearly visible in the glass panes.

Quotes:

Count Yorga: Doctor Hayes, what an unexpected surprise.
Dr. James Hayes: Yes, so much so that I almost had a massive coronory.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Fantastic Fantasy Fright-o-Rama Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

Pretty good

Count Yorga (Robert Quarry), a vampire, comes from Bulgaria to 1970 Los Angeles and starts making a coven of beautiful female vampires. Will their boyfriends be able to stop him?

This was a huge hit in 1970 because it was the first modern vampire film. Up until then all vampire films had been set in Europe in the 1800s or early 1900s. This was the first vampire film set in modern day. Still it isn't a great film. It was originally shot with soft core sex scenes which were (pretty obviously) edited out and it was turned into a sleazy PG rated film. It was made on a very low budget (it shows) and suffers from some horrible 1970s fashions and dialogue. Also the makeup on the female vampires is pretty poor. Still this isn't a total disaster either.

The script is actually pretty intelligent considering this was a fairly rushed production. The acting is good--especially by Quarry who makes an imposing vampire. Very subtle performance but he handles the violent scenes quite well too. It moves at a fairly quick pace and has a great bloody climax--pretty extreme for a PG film. This won't impress audiences like it did in 1970 but it's still not that bad.

The 2000 video version I have has "Yorga" spelled as "Iorga".