Customer Reviews

Count Yorga, Vampire

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Written and directed by Bob Kelljan, who later directed episodes on various 70's TV shows like Starsky and Hutch, Dukes of Hazzard, and Charlie's Angels, Count Yorga, Vampire (1970), aka The Loves of Count Iorga (not a misspelling), did extremely well when it opened.

The movie starts off with a scene of a large cargo ship sitting at a dock off some California coast, and a large, coffin shaped crate being loaded on a truck. As the truck drives away, we are treated to voice over that sounds like a mix between Ricardo Montalban and Harvey Fierstein talking about the vampire mythos. The truck continues until it comes to a secluded driveway with a large gate. Next we go to a séance in progress, being conducted by Count Yorga, who, if you're familiar with the title of the movie, is a vampire. He ends up secretly putting the whammy on one of the women present, and then gets a ride home from a couple in their VW minibus...I have to say, it was kind of funny seeing this young couple and the aristocratic Eastern European (we learn that the Count came to America from Bulgaria) and very sophisticated Count crammed into the front bench seat of a minibus. Anyway, the couple drops the Count off after declining his offer to come into his home, and they get stuck in some mud along the Count's long driveway. This starts a five-minute discussion about mud. Where did the mud come from? How did we miss it come in? How come the rest of the ground is dry? Blah, blah, blah...it's scenes like this that really dragged this movie down. I guess, among the Count's other supernatural powers, creating wind and lighting, manipulating objects with his mind, mind control over animals and humans, super natural strength, he can also create mud. After hearing a wolf howl, the couple decides not to trek back to the Count's house but to spend the night in the minibus, and after a little lovin' in the back of the van, they are soon visited by a dark stranger (two guesses who). As the movie progresses, the Count takes a couple of women (Count Yorga needs women!) in the way vampires do, and the men begin to suspect something is wrong, and whatever it is, it's directly linked to Count Yorga. They start throwing around the theory of vampirism, with some willing to believe once offered proof, while others refuse to accept even the possibility as they think the idea is purely a work of fiction. After much goofy dialogue, two of the men decide to take matters into their own hands and try to sneak into the castle and convince themselves that Count Yorga is a vampire. They take along a female character, as they fear to leave her alone (great idea, take her into the lair of a suspected vampire). If they are able to confirm that Count Yorga is a vampire, they intend to kill him, and their friends who have been turned, as there is no cure for bloodsucking other than a wooden stake in the heart...the last twenty minutes or so things the pace picks up pretty well, as the two men confront Count Yorga and his brides from hell. And how could I write a review about this movie without mentioning Brudah, the Count's mostly mute, brutish servant? Oh man, he is good for a few laughs...he walks around the entire movie looking like a transported cavemen in a bad sport coat and tie. I kept injecting my own lines for poor Brudah when he had none...I imagined when he spoke, each sentence would be preceded by his own name..."Brudah want woman"..."Brudah drive car"..."Brudah need shave"....

The dialog throughout the movie is rather clunky but oddly realistic at times. The actor playing Count Yorga, Robert Quarry, was the highlight of the movie, really getting into the part creating a truly believable and scary character. I vaguely recognized him, but then remembered seeing him in Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972). The direction was passable, but got annoying at times, especially during scenes with conversation, as the director would make many needless cuts back and forth between characters, sometimes showing the back of a character who was speaking... there was some blood and one scene in particular, with a cat, that was pretty ugly. The one actor most will probably recognize in this film is Michael Murphy, who played the mayor in Batman Returns (1992) and has been in a few Woody Allen movies like Manhattan (1979) and The Front (1976). The scares were mostly of the cheap kind, things popping out at the viewer accompanied by a loud sound effect or startling music. The film has a 90-minute run time, but I thought some trimming would have been useful, and would have quickened the pace.

The presentation on this disc looks really great, and special features include a trailer for the film and a neat reproduction of the original movie poster on a little card on the inside of the case. Age hasn't been kind to this movie, as the dating is very apparent in the wardrobe and hairstyles of the various actors, but I think the movie is worth looking into if you are a horror movie fan, mainly for Quarry's performance. A sequel was released a couple of years later titled The Return of Count Yorga (1972).

Cookieman108

It was no secret in the early 1970's that American International Pictures were grooming Robert Quarry to take over the mantle of their number one horror star, from the ageing Vincent Price. Price was none too happy about the treatment he received from studio executive's and made his feelings felt on several occasions. One well known story has it that during the filming of "Dr Phibes Rises Again", Price heard someone singing Gershwin and looked around the corner to see Quarry in full voice. Quarry turned to Price and remarked "Vincent, you didn't know I was a singer !". To which Price replied "Well, I knew you weren't a ******* actor."

However, Quarry did make a pretty decent vampire on three occasions in "Count Yorga", "The Return of Count Yorga", and the lesser known "Deathmaster"....all films being made virtually back to back ! "Count Yorga" started out as a concept from writer / director Bob Kelljan to make a soft porn style vampire film, however when he recruited Robert Quarry to play the lead, Quarry convinced him to play it straight for thrills. Keeping in line with the new age, hippie influenced culture of the 1970's, the film sees Count Yorga posing as a psychic medium and leading unsuspecting & naïve guests into his vampire clutches ! The film saw a departure from the more Hammer influenced style of vampire movie where the female underlings to Christopher Lee were buxom, attractive women. In "Count Yorga" however, the female servants of Yorga are haggard, disheveled harpies from the grave that mercilessly carry out the evil biddings of their master. Additionally, the film was noticeably more violent than Hammer's Dracula series, and shifting vampires to a contemporary setting ( as opposed to Hammer's Carpathian Mountains of the 1900's ) became the standard for vampire film's for many years to come, and definitely revitalized the declining movie fan's interest in blood suckers.

Kelljan does a pretty good job of keeping the plot ticking along, and Quarry does provide some solid scares....especially the shots of him bearing down on his victims in slow motion, arms outstretched and fangs bared. Well worth a look, "Count Yorga" is an interesting piece of vampire cinema that provided the genre with much needed fresh blood.

Very well paced horror movie, great gore, and suspense. I have viewed all of the (American) classic Vampire movies, also all Hammer Vampire flicks. This is up there w/ the best of em' You will be as surprised (Pleasantly!) as I was after viewing this hidden treasure. I do not like writing reviews that give away (or give an overview) of a story. However, the scene w/ the cat is worth the price of this film!

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.

COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE is a fairly run-of-the-mill offering from AIP. Still, there's something about the title character that elevates CYV above most trashy vampire epics. Robert Quarry (Count Yorga Returns, Dr. Phibes Rises Again) is the toothy, dashing count. He performs a seance, where he hipnotizes a woman named Donna, who wants to hear from her dead mother. Unknown to her, Yorga was the one who killed mum and added her to his growing harem of undead babes! After the seance, Donna's friend Erica and her husband Paul (Michael Murphy) give Yorga a ride home in their hippy-van, complete with ultra-groovy curtains! Well, they get stuck in the mud outside Yora's mansion, and like anyone else, they decide to get nekkid and do the love thing. The count shows up and invades their privacy, tossing Paul like a piece of paper and giving Erica something to remember him by! Yep, she gets the hellacious hicky of death! Later, Paul and a friend find Erica feasting on a kitten! This infamous scene is the only real icky one in the whole movie. Paul has Erica see his buddy, Dr. Hayes (Roger Perry) who happens to be a blood specialist. Now, wouldn't you take her to a psychiatrist?? Or just strap a straight-jacket on her yourself and drive her to the ha-ha-ranch?? Anyway, Dr. Hayes gives Erica a transfusion which has no real effect. Yorga comes to her at night to finish the dirty deed. Now a full-fledged vampire chick, Erica takes her place in Yorga's secret dungeon. Paul attempts a rescue, only to be squished by the count's incredibly strong servant, Bruda (who looks a lot like one of the sinister hillbillies in "Deliverence"). Meanwhile, convinced of Count Yorga's vampirism, Dr. Hayes and company go to his home for the final encounter. I liked Yorga and his evil brides too. The Dr. Hayes character isn't bad either. Ignore the 70s hairstyles / fashions and just enjoy the show! If you like modern / urban vampires, check out The "Night Stalker" or "The Satanic Rites Of Dracula (aka: Count Dracula's Vampire Brides)" as well...

Many thanks to MGM for re-mastering, as best they could, and re-releasing "Count Yorga, Vampire" on VHS and DVD. I had rented the out of print Laserdisc twice so I could watch it and share it with my brother. We had seen the film together at the Drive-in theater when we were lets say, a little younger! Robert Quarry makes for a suave, classy and chilling vampire. Although the film is certainly low-budget its not at all bad and is far more entertaining than many higher budget and more recent films are today. I actually bought a copy on VHS as a gift before I found out it was also released on DVD which I also bought. I had found a copy of the sequel, "The Return of Count Yorga" previously released by Orion, still in print some years ago. Now I understand MGM has re-released this sequel "The Return of Count Yorga" on VHS, but so far not on DVD. As it is also a short film I would ask MGM to give us a Widescreen edition with a Pan and Scan fullscreen on the reverse. And please get Robert Quarry to record a running commentary on the movie! Also, don't forget we still want the DVD at a bargain price. I am sure for MGM this won't be a problem! Well, I can go on wishing anyway!! In the meantime, enjoy "Count Yorga, Vampire" and let MGM know that we would like to see the sequel on DVD as well. Thanks and Best Wishes.

Okay. So it's probably not the best vampire flick ever made, and it's time of setting does date the film a bit, but it is certainly a standout from a fairly rotten bunch.

It's best feature, is a brilliant performance by Robert Quarry in the lead role of Count Yorga; an inspired blend of viciousness and culture, all at the same time.
It certainly gives Christopher Lee's Count Dracula a run for his money!
The vampire women come straight from the set of a zombie flick in regards to their almost mindless search for blood. Curiously, they possess a ROW of sharp teeth (as does Count Yorga, when they're revealed), rather than the required elongated set of upper canines in which to delicately leave behind the standard two small puncture wounds on the neck.
This reflects the more primal, bestial, and dare I say "evil" interpretation these vampires take in the film, something in decided absense in the wake of Anne Rice's contributions to the genre.

THESE vampires are clearly predators, as we see towards the end of the movie, which finishes in a downbeat, post-"Night of the Living Dead" kind of way.

The film recycles the usual vampire movie cliches of the aristocratic, Eastern European vampire; the vampire's "brides"; the All-Wise Vampire Hunter (albeit, if Van Helsing was a "swinger"!), the vampire's black cloak, etc. and updates them to a modern day setting (well...for 1970, that is!), and fairly effectively introduces a nineteenth century vampire count into the twentieth.

This was the film Hammer's "Dracula A.D. 1972" and "The Satanic Rites of Dracula" should have been.

I collect vampire movies. I purchased this one, and watched it and it wasn't too bad. It had a good feel of the 70s in it. The people at the film studio had to have made money on this one. The opening shot at the dock used the same footage that was used in Blackula. I didn't expect it to be an Academy award winner, and I was not too disappointed.

I was pleasantly suprised that MGM released the uncut version of this film on VHS and DVD. The title card reads: "The Loves of Count Iorga:Vampire", which I believe may be the European cut of this film. It includes some extra scenes of gore(mostly in the kitten devouring sequence!!!)and overall is a fun movie to watch. Avoid the "sequel" The Return of Count Yorga.

Yikes! I must have been stoned when originally viewing this in the theatre. I'd watch it only for pure camp now or at Halloween. The acting is hammy (but lovable)and only one actor emerged unscathe from this project (Michael Murphy) to go on to better things.

Rent this DVD, then quickly return it to the store. This is fun along with "Blacula" for those dreary nights when television thinks it is offering us their best. Dim the lights, butter up the popcorn and be prepared to howl. Now what was I thinking of? Does anyone want a used DVD?