The Return of Count Yorga (1971)

Director:

Bob Kelljan

Writers:

Bob Kelljan (writer)
Yvonne Wilder (writer)

Release Date:

1971 (UK)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

The DEATHMASTER is back from beyond the grave!

Plot:

Count Yorga continues to prey on the local community while living by a nearby orphanage. He also intends to take a new wife, while feeding his bevy of female vampires. |

Plot Keywords:

Vampire | Police | Living Dead | Reverend | Sequel

Cast

Robert Quarry	...	Count Yorga
Mariette Hartley	...	Cynthia Nelson
Roger Perry	...	Dr. David Baldwin
Yvonne Wilder	...	Jennifer Nelson
Tom Toner	...	Rev. Thomas, Westwood Orphanage
Rudy De Luca	...	Lieutenant Madden
Philip Frame	...	Tommy
George Macready	...	Professor Rightstat
Walter Brooke	...	Bill Nelson
Edward Walsh	...	Brudda, Yorga's Valet
Craig T. Nelson	...	Sgt. O'Connor (as Craig Nelson)
David Lampson	...	Jason, Ellen's Boyfriend
Karen Ericson	...	Ellen Nelson (as Karen Huston)
Helen Baron	...	Mrs. Liza Nelson
Jesse Wells	...	Mitzi Carthay

Also Known As:

Curse of Count Yorga
The Abominable Count Yorga

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:R (re-release) | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

San Francisco, California, USA

Company:

Peppertree Productions Inc.

Trivia:

The film that Yorga watches on television is Hammer Films' The Vampire Lovers (1970). A "foreign" language soundtrack has been added to this English-language film for this purpose.

Quotes:

Dr. David Baldwin: Let Reverend Thomas go to the door, work his way in. Do something to keep the Count occupied. Talk about fund raising or some damn thing, I don't know, anything to distract him while we find another way in and search the place.
Lieutenant Madden: That's a very ingenious plan. Unique.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Nightmare Theatre's Late Night Chill-o-Rama Horror Show Vol. 1 (1996) (V)

Uneven but well-directed; undermined by cliches

If all of this movie were as good as its best parts, it would be a minor classic, but the plot is very thin -- a lot of time is marked by people wandering through corridors -- and the ending is a serious letdown, since it simply repeats that of the first Count Yorga movie.

But Quarry is excellent, a little more stately, less witty, than in the first movie; his dialog tends at times toward the pompous, and just what his ultimate goal is remains unclear. What he's doing would seem likely to call a lot of unwanted attention to himself.

The direction by Kelljan is excellent, as is the cinematography and music. Marx actually UNDERSTATES the music, very unusual for a horror movie, and Kelljan stages several scenes without any music at all. If the script had been given a bit more work, perhaps if AIP had allowed the filmmakers some more leeway, this would be a significant film. As it is, it remains uneven -- imaginative, with excellent performances and a great deal of spooky tension. Hartley is generally outstanding.