Count Yorga, Vampire (1970)

The Dracula legend gets a suavely competent makeover in this 1970 bloodsucker, bringing vampirism to present-day Los Angeles with a harem of semi-clad females and the sharp casting of Robert Quarry in the title role. The film's original title (The Loves of Count Iorga, Vampire) is perhaps more fitting, since it's really about how Quarry--posing as a Bulgarian psychic medium--seduces his female clients into neck-bitten submission. The victims' abandoned boyfriends (including Michael Murphy, who costarred in M*A*S*H the same year) recruit a vampire-hunting doctor (Roger Perry) to track Yorga down (with wooden stakes made from a broomstick, no less), and the body count rises predictably. Dry performances and tepid dialogue don't help much, but the then-modern setting and intelligent plotting make Count Yorga worthy of its 1971 sequel. It's not as stylish as Christopher Lee's Hammer films, but it's certainly not anemic. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com

A Vampire in L.A.

In the 1960s and `70s, horror films made a comeback after having been overshadowed by the science fiction craze that began in the `50s. With revolutionary films like Rosemary's Baby and Night of the Living Dead, the horror genre was revived with an added edge of sex and gore. One great film, which is often overlooked, is Count Yorga, Vampire. Count Yorga updated the vampire story by placing the events in a contemporary urban setting. The film starred Robert Quarry as the titular vampire and featured an attractive, though unremarkable, supporting cast. When the film was released in 1970, it was a modest hit for American International, an independent film studio that was later bought by MGM. The film even spawned a sequel, The Return of Count Yorga, which saw the Count resurrected after his demise in the end of this film (this isn't really a spoiler as the vampire always dies at the end of these films).

Traveling from Bulgaria to Los Angeles, Count Yorga moves into a mansion, where he is aided by his deformed servant, who watches over his coffin during the day. By night the Count uses his psychic abilities to hold séances and hypnotize beautiful women, who he then turns into his vampiric love slaves.
During one of these séances, Count Yorga meets two young women, Donna and Erica. Donna seeks his help in contacting her mother, who recently passed away. But Yorga has no intention of doing this; instead he casts his hypnotic spell over Donna. After the séance, Erica and her boyfriend Paul offer to drive Yorga back to his mansion. As Paul and Erica are leaving the mansion, after having dropped Yorga off, their van gets stuck in the mud. Forced to spend the night in the van, Erica and Paul make the most of things but during the night Yorga attacks Erica, though she has no memory of it afterward. When she goes to the doctor the following day, Erica is told that she has an unusual form of anemia, but it's more than that. Erica goes home and begins to act strangely and a few hours after her doctor's appointment, she has a violent breakdown, during which she eats her pet kitten. When Erica's doctor, Jim Hayes, reexamines her and is left baffled, he calls his an expert hematologist who believes that Erica's condition is the result of a vampire bite. At first no one believes him, but when Erica goes missing they are forced to reconsider the idea. Convinced that Yorga is the vampire, Paul goes to his mansion but he never returns. Donna's fiancé, Michael, along with Jim and Donna make an impromptu trip to Yorga's home. There they learn of Yorga's belief in the occult, which confirms their suspicions. The next day, Michael, Donna, and Jim plan an attack on Yorga's home, but things don't go quite as planned.

The film is powered by an eerie score composed by William Marx and memorable narration by George MacReady.
Also starring Roger Perry, Michael Murphy, Michael MacReady, Donna Anders, Judith Lang, and Edward Walsh.
Written and directed by Bob Kelljan, Count Yorga is a great horror film in the Hammer tradition.

Also recommended:
Hammer Horror Collection
Dracula: 4 Film Favorites
Dracula A.D. 1972
Blacula
The Exorcist - The Complete Anthology
The Complete Omen Collection October 18, 2008

A standard vampire movie with some brilliant moments.

It's 1970, and the charismatic Count Yorga is leading a group of young people in a séance to attempt to contact the deceased mother of one of the women there. Things eventually take a dramatic turn, and we soon find the Count taking a ride home with one of the couples. Unfortunately for that couple, they will not return from Count Yorga's as they were. When Yorga unleashes his bloodlust on the lovely Erica, her boyfriend Paul turns to their friend Dr. Hayes, a blood specialist, for help. Along with Michael and Donna, another couple from the séance, the heroes (some reluctantly) agree that Yorga must be a vampire and set forth to confront him. This, of course, proves to be a very dangerous course of action. And there's not just Yorga to deal with, but his brides and his brute, Brudah.

Count Yorga may seem like a typical vampire movie by today's standards. In fact, the story is similar to most Dracula films, except for the 1970 setting. Perhaps this is due to the film originally being planned (or so I hear) to be a softcore sexploitation film (The Loves of Count Iorga) most likely attempting to spoof Christopher Lee's Hammer Horror Dracula classics. The story goes that Robert Quarry, who plays Yorga, refused to do the film unless they made it a straight-up horror piece, and that's why we have it as it is today, a reasonably good modern-day (so to speak) vampire movie with a few scenes of true genius (like the most famous bit where Miss Erica is caught dining on a cat, or the ending, which thankfully isn't the usual "heroes triumphant" stuff). Overall, it's a great addition to a real vampire movie-lover's DVD collection; a fun movie with a good cast and interesting story. If you love Hammer Dracula films, this is sort of a 1970-American take on them. The DVD includes the theatrical trailer (those are always fun), and there's a double-feature version available as well that couples it with the sequel (in fact, I believe the solo version is out of print, but obviously still in stores since I just bought it myself). The sequel is titled "Count Yorga Returns", and from what I've read, it sounds great, but I hear it is more like a parallel universe story in that it doesn't make any reference or continuation from this one. Still need to see it for myself though, but I look forward to it.
September 14, 2008

Suave and sophisticated

This is the sort of vampire movie that Hammer should have been making in the 70's. All the Hammer sequels failed to match the original because Christopher Lee was given less and less to do.

In this updating of the vampire legend Robert Quarry is exactly what Christopher Lee should have been in the later Hammer sequels. Count Yorga is still a blood-sucking fiend at heart but he is quite happy to sit and discuss the supernatural with a Doctor during the film. He cuts quite a dash, and amongst the many vampire films I've seen, his portrayal is one of the very best.

The tension is racked up quite nicely throughout the film, and the modern (early 1970's) setting in Los Angeles seems to work well. Also being only 93 minutes long it doesn't overstay its welcome. You can get this film and the sequel (which I have not seen yet) in a nice double bill. November 24, 2007

A Lot Better than the Average Vampire Movie

I have seen this movie quite a few time and I must say that I'm a fan of the Count Yorga films. This film is better than the last three Christopher Lee Dracula movies. For a low-budget movie, it offered good acting from Robert Quarry, eerie scenes (the stuck van and dead kitten scenes), and a surprise ending. The style is much different than the Hammer films and it's a fairly hip 70's movie.

I have around 130 vampire movies and this movie is in the top 20, so it's pretty good. You've probably read what this movie is about, so If you're looking for something other than a Christopher Lee movie, pop up some popcorn and and watch this movie late at night (with the lights out)...you won't be disappointed. August 25, 2006

OUTDATED AND TOOTHLESS

When the two Yorga movies came on the scene in the early seventies, they were lauded for their novel take on a familiar theme. Made on shoestring budgets with hardly any special effects, the movies relied on pervasive moods and sinister lighting. We don't know much about Yorga's history, just that he's suddenly in Los Angeles, posing as a psychic to lure beautiful women into his lair. Robert Quarry is effectively sinister as the Count, but he comes nowhere near the finesse of Frank Langella or the pure evil of Christopher Lee. Michael Murphy (Tanner and Tanner) has the thankless role of one of the young men out to snare the vampire, and Roger Perry (Barbara Eden Show) is hopelessly tedious as the knowledgeable chain-smoking doctor. A voice over from veteran character actor George Macready (Peyton Place) is campy but ridiculous. There are lots of unintentional (?) laughs, and thirty five years later, the Yorga series of two seems outlandishly outdated. June 25, 2005

More reviews at Amazon.com ...