COUNT
YORGA, VAMPIRE (1970)/THE RETURN OF COUNT YORGA
(1971)Director: Bob Kelljan
MGM
COUNT
YORGA, VAMPIRE (1970)/THE RETURN OF COUNT YORGA
(1971)Originally
intended as a softcore horror film (the presence of nudie actress Marsha Jordan--in
her only straight movie--is a dead giveaway), COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE was instead
shot and released as a PG-rated vampire flick taking place in modern California,
and it was one of AIP's biggest money-makers at the time. Casting Robert Quarry
as a Dracula-like Bulgarian Count with a small coven of undead brides was a brilliant
idea, as the actor was born to play the role and ranks among the silver screen's
all-time best bloodsuckers. Originally released as a single DVD in 2001, MGM has
now re-released it with its sequel, THE RETURN OF THE COUNT YORGA to make for
one nifty double feature disc!
Count Yorga (Quarry) gets entangled in the lives of two couples: Paul (Robert Altman regular Michael Murphy) and Erica (Judith Lang), and Michael (Michael Macready, also the film's producer) and Donna (Donna Anders) after he holds a seance to contact Donna's recently dead (or undead!) mother (Jordan), who happened to be Yorga's mistress. That night, Paul and Erica give the Count a ride back to his mansion, but Paul is knocked out and Erica is left with fang marks on her neck and no remembrance of what occurred. The next day, blood specialist Dr. Hayes (Roger Perry) gets involved as Erica grows weaker, obviously having lost a lot of blood. After Erica is found devouring a cat, Hayes gives her a transfusion and it's now his belief that Yorga is an Old World vampire residing in California, 1970!
As
stated earlier, Quarry is simply perfect in the role, creating a dark, romantic
and supernatural character of the highest caliber. Raven-haired Judith Lang is
a very alluring vampire girl, Donna Anders is a great heroine, and likable Roger
Perry smoothly and convincingly plays the modern Van Helsing. Although the film
includes the obligatory idiot servant, Bruddah (Edward Walsh, complete with bad
makeup and an unkempt suit) as well as some awkward dialog and narration that
borders on self-parody, COUNT YORGA still holds up very well over 30 years later.
The highly erotic film definitely has sequences you won't soon forget.
Since
COUNT YORGA was conceived as a sex film, there's a lot of talk about scenes that
were possibly filmed but tossed out before release. One character mentions a baby
drained of blood, 
but
we don't actually see anything like this on screen. There are stills of a vampiric
Marsha Jordan holding a fake infant, so it's quite possible that a scene of this
sort was shot and ended up on the cutting room floor. When Thorn EMI released
it in on video in the 80s, COUNT YORGA had restored scenes that were never before
in any of the theatrical prints. These included extra (but still obscured) lovemaking
between Paul and Erica in a van, Erica's extended fondling of her semi-exposed
breasts to lure Yorga, and Yorga's extended bloody necking and biting of Erica.
MGM's remastered DVD maintains all these scenes, but it also has new extra footage
of Erica holding the devoured cat. There are a few extra seconds of Erica waving
the poor mutilated thing in front of the camera, in a sadistic, trance-like manner.
Also note that the onscreen title on this new transfer reads, "The Loves
of Count Iorga, Vampire," the original shooting title!
With
a new "PG-13" rating replacing the old "GP," MGM's new DVD
of COUNT YORGA has been restored to its longest and most complete variant possible,
and that's enough to give BIG thanks for. The colors look very good generally,
and the source material is in excellent shape. It's letterboxed at 1.85:1 with
anamorphic enhancement. Since this was a very cheap picture, there is still some
grain evident from time to time, and several brief outdoor bits are just too darkly
lit for the sake of this disc, but overall, the transfer is very satisfactory.
The mono audio is replicated very nicely (just listen to those noisy insects immediately
before Yorga's initial attack!), and there is an additional French language track,
as well as French and Spanish subtitles. The only extra is a trailer, which appears
to be a 60-second TV spot.
One
of the most-long awaited Midnite Movies, THE RETURN OF COUNT YORGA finally makes
its DVD debut on the flip side. With obvious improvements budget wise and production
wise
(it had basically the same production team as the first one), Quarry again stars
as Yorga, showing up out of nowhere with a horde of grotesque, night-gowned vampire
brides. He stumbles upon a masquerade party held at a local orphanage, and immediately
becomes obsessed with the lovely Cynthia (Mariette Hartley). Yorga has his bloodsucking
females raid Cynthia's house, attacking all her family members in a truly well-staged
and scary sequence. Cynthia is kidnapped, brought to Yorga's elaborate new mansion,
and put under his spell. Only the deaf housekeeper, Jennifer (Yvonne Wilder, the
co-screenwriter and then-wife of director Kelljan) knows of the horrible occurrence,
as a creepy orphan boy (Philip Frame) seems to be under the vampire's influence
and is hiding the truth from the police.
Although
Roger Perry's character perished in the first film, he's (thankfully) back as
a new vampire-hunting hero, Dr. David Baldwin. He is also the love interest of
Cynthia and after her disappearance and a number of bloody murders, he begins
to suspect Yorga as the monster that he really is. Edward Walsh also returns as
faithful servant Bruddah, sporting some really bad face make-up and sloppy neck-tie.
Although the film has some humorous tones to it (Yorga is seen glued to the TV
watching THE VAMPIRE LOVERS in Spanish!), and the bumbling cops (played by Mel
Brooks regular Rudy De Luca and future "Coach" star Greg T. Nelson)
are useless and idiotic, there's still an underlying feeling of doom and decay
making it an entertaining gothic vampire feature again set in modern California.
Basically utilizing the same motifs and storyline of the first YORGA, this one
still delivers the goods, embracing more stylish celluloid vampirism. 
What really makes THE RETURN OF COUNT YORGA is the return of Robert Quarry. Still one of the best screen vampires of all time, his grand presence is undeniable, and he obviously took his role very seriously. Quarry would only play a vampire in one other film, THE DEATHMASTER (actually shot between the two Yorgas), as RETURN didn't pull in enough dough for AIP to demand another sequel. Kelljan went on to direct the Yorga-inspired SCREAM BLACULA SCREAM for AIP and became a highly successful TV director up until the time of his death in 1982. Producer Michael Macready this time throws his dad George in the film for an amusing cameo (he narrated the first Yorga), and look for Michael Pataki (who would go on to star as vampires in both GRAVE OF THE VAMPIRE and DRACULA'S DOG) as one of Yorga' victims.
Although
the same in content as it was in its initial release, THE RETURN OF COUNT YORGA
has been re-rated R (replacing the old "GP") for "some horror violence."
MGM's transfer is a great improvement over the first film, probably since the
budget was better here. The colors are very strong and the source material is
in excellent shape. Like the first film, it's letterboxed in its original 1.85:1
aspect ratio with anamorphic enhancement. Though there is some grain present,
the blacks are very solid, and the overall picture has a nice level of detail.
The Dolby Digital mono audio is as good as with the first film, with no apparent
hiss or background noise. There are additional French and Spanish language tracks,
as well as English, French and Spanish subtitles. The only extra is a trailer,
which makes use of spooky stock AIP music by Les Baxter! The "Fun Facts"
on the back of the box for this are erroneous, confusing it with the first film.
NOTE: MGM's August 24 Midnite Movies are in-store exclusives to Best Buy, but they can also be found online at CD Universe, as well as Canadian retailer DVD Soon. (George R. Reis)