{"id":14542,"date":"2016-10-19T14:35:40","date_gmt":"2016-10-19T18:35:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=14542"},"modified":"2016-10-19T14:55:13","modified_gmt":"2016-10-19T18:55:13","slug":"br-count-yorga-vampire-1970","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=14542","title":{"rendered":"BR: Count Yorga, Vampire (1970)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CountYorga_BR\"Film<\/strong>:\u00a0Good<\/p>\n

Transfer<\/strong>: \u00a0Excellent<\/p>\n

Extras<\/strong>: Excellent<\/p>\n

Label:\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Twilight Time<\/p>\n

Region:<\/strong>\u00a0All<\/p>\n

Released:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0October 13, 2015<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Horror<\/p>\n

Synopsis:<\/strong>\u00a0A modern day vampire feeds off naive Los Angeles suburbanites.<\/p>\n

Special Features:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Audio Commentary Track with film historians David Del Valle and Shock and Roll\u2019s Tim Sullivan \/ Isolated Mono Music Track \/ Audio-only: \u201cMy Dinner with Yorga: 2005 Robert Quarry Rue Morgue Interview as read by Sullivan and Del Valle (13:05) + \u00a0\u201cFangirl Radio Tribute to Robert Quarry with Tim Sullivan\u201d (45:59) \/ Sill Gallery #1: The MGM Archives \/ Still Gallery #2: The Tim Sullivan Archives \/ Theatrical Trailer \/ 8-page colour booklet with liner notes by film historian Julie Kirgo \/ Limited to 3000 copies \/ Available exclusively from Screen Archives Entertainment<\/a> and www.twilighttimemovies.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Back in 1969, actor Bob Kelljan\u00a0co-starred with sexploitation \/ softcore actress Vincene Wallace (Russ Meyer’s\u00a0Vixen!<\/strong>) in Flesh of My Flesh<\/strong>, a film he wrote and also co-directed with Michael Macready, after\u00a0which\u00a0the two formed what became a fortuitous collaborative association that proved quite profitable after their second film, Count Yorga, Vampire<\/strong>, became AIP\u2019s 3rd most profitable film of 1970, netting a sweet $2 million at the box office.<\/p>\n

Exploitation was clearly the route for Bob Kelljan to become a writer-director and escape the vicissitudes of a working actor, but Yorga<\/strong>\u2019s origins lay not in a clever reworking of Bram Stoker\u2019s Dracula<\/strong> tale, but as a softcore porn flick shot on the cheap that happened to have an above-average script, and when actor Robert Quarry was cast as the titular vampire in the then-titled \u201cThe Loves of Count Iorga, Vampire!\u201d the decision was made to make the project less softcore.<\/p>\n

What ultimately emerged via AIP was a GP- (then equivalent PG-13) rated shocker that had hints of naughtiness (the bottom-end of the cast had experience in the sexploitation genre), dollops of gore, but none of the nudity that was reportedly shot but excised from the final cut. The film still retains tangible evidence of risqu\u00e9 material \u2013 the Count sitting almost bored on his basement throne, watching two fanged maidens about to go at each other \u2013 but it\u2019s clear when \u201cIorga” was upgraded to Yorga<\/strong>, it became a B-picture where every thread of cleavage was carefully gaffer-taped in place to ensure the film would reach a broad drive-in audience.<\/p>\n

Kelljan\u2019s scenario resets the story to present day Los Angeles, and introduces Yorga as a medium at a s\u00e9ance who attempts to conjure the spirit of his dead girlfriend for the benefit of her daughter and giggling friends. Little does Donna (Werewolves on Wheels<\/strong>\u2019 Donna Anders) realize her mum (softcore veteran Marsha Jordan) is one of his fanged maidens, and many of her friends will be dead by the end of the picture.<\/p>\n

Donna\u2019s beau Mike (producer Macready) has no idea she\u2019s under the control of Yorga, while Paul (Michael Murphy!) and sexy gal Erica (The Trip<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s Judy Lang) encounter the Count when their VW love van becomes stuck in mud just outside of his hillside manor. Erica is soon nicked in the neck, and told to \u2018eat lots of red steaks\u2019 by blood expert Dr. Hayes (prolific character actor Roger Perry), but after eating a kitten, Hayes sets up a makeshift blood transfusion between Eric and Paul to halt her transitioning from human to bloodsucker.<\/p>\n

The final battle naturally occurs in the Count\u2019s \u2018castle\u2019 after Hayes (a van Helsing variant) attempts to keep the Count awake into the wee hours of the morning, just in time for sunlight to pierce the windows and turn the fiend into dust. Whoever dies and survives is ultimately irrelevant, because like a classic Hammer vampire tale, Yorga would return in a sequel, back from the dust and ready for action.<\/p>\n

By sticking with a loose and fast crew, Kelljan\u00a0managed to shoot the film over two weeks on real locations, and although Count Yorga<\/strong> has legions of fans, its main virtues in order of prominence are Quarry\u2019s superb, restrained performance as an eloquent vampire with a horrible streak of brutality; the clever reworking of characters and scenario to an easily identifiable group of bored suburbanites whose silly flirtation with the occult proves deadly; and some genuinely striking scenes (a moment in which Hayes hands over a makeshift \u2018stake\u2019 to a beckoning Yorga is a marvelous bloodless moment of good confronting evil) and shocks that are vividly remembered and cherished by fans.<\/p>\n

The excision of the softcore material (reportedly shot, and evidenced by surviving stills with very naked Lang and Murphy in the love van) does make the film a little disjointed, but what really harms the film is the lopsided cinematography, with clumsy framing in both handheld and steady shots; poor follow focusing and stuttering panning motions; and continuity issues that must have made editor Tony de Zarraga (Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid<\/strong>, The Killer Elite<\/strong>) pull out a few hairs.<\/p>\n

Although Arch Archambault had served as cinematographer on a few prior movies, including Richard Comptom\u2019s first two films The Gun Runner <\/strong>(1969) and Angels Die Hard <\/strong>(1970), at least with the Yorga<\/strong> diptych, he was no cinematographic ace: a midnight discussion between Erica and Paul in the immobilized\u00a0love van was clearly shot in the daytime; and in a scene where Hayes, Paul, and Mike discuss the possibility of an actual vampire, there\u2019s a moment when a distant crewman\u2019s head is seen in a mirror. (In the Yorga<\/strong> sequel, a chase scene around a dining table is intercut with the cast running past blatantly visible light stands!)<\/p>\n

Bill Marx\u2019s score (the raw recording session cues are isolated in mono on Twilight Time\u2019s super-loaded Blu-ray) is fine, and contains an effective, unconventional seduction theme and some striking instrumentation, but a few cues for the \u2018labyrinth chase\u2019 in Yorga\u2019s castle are a little amateurish. Marx would score several of Kelljan\u2019s exploitation films, including the Yorga sequel, Scream Blacula Scream<\/strong> (1973), and Act of Vengeance<\/strong> \/ aka Rape Squad<\/strong> (1974).<\/p>\n

Regardless of the film\u2019s technical flaws, some starkly weak performances (co-producer \/ co-star Macready is exceptionally wooden) and sudden doses of bizarre dramaturgy (the blood transfusion borders on bathos; and when Hayes argues the only ploy to end the killings is accepting Yorga is a vampire and staking him dead, Mike\u2019s response is a tepid \u201cwow\u2026.\u201d), Count Yorga<\/strong> is an important step in the evolution of the vampire mythos. Kelljan\u2019s film is rightly credited as one of the first if not most important attempt to credibly transpose a classic vampire into the present day, making it possible for other scribes to play with the archetypes, mythos, and tropes.<\/p>\n

The commentary on TT\u2019s disc is part film history, and an overtly affectionate tribute to stage-trained Quarry, whom David Del Del Valle knew during the 70s and early 80s, and co-commentator & Shock n\u2019 Roll\u2019s Tim Sullivan knew during the actor\u2019s final years.<\/p>\n

From his intro in the s\u00e9ance scene it\u2019s clear Quarry was a fine actor and should\u2019ve enjoyed a prolific career. Friends with Christopher Lee and Vincent Price, Quarry was seen by AIP to be a possible successor to Price, but as Del Valle points out, when The Exorcist<\/strong> (1973) pushed the boundaries of occult horror to new graphic levels in every department, AIP\u2019s drive-in fodder seemed quaint, and Quarry\u2019s talent never fully blossomed into a long-term career.<\/p>\n

AIP cast him in The Return of Count Yorga<\/strong> (1971), Dr. Phibes Rises Again <\/strong>(1972), Deathmaster<\/strong> (1972), Sugar Hill<\/strong> (1974) and Madhouse<\/strong> (1974), and his non-horror roles include Rollercoaster<\/strong> (1977), WUSA<\/strong> (1970), and early in his career,\u00a0A Kiss Before Dying<\/strong> (1956), which also co-starred George Macready (My Name is Julia Ross<\/a><\/strong>, Gilda<\/strong>), father of Yorga\u2019s producer \/ co-star. (The elder Macready narrates the bookend narration to Yorga<\/strong>, and appeared in the sequel.)<\/p>\n

According to Del Valle and Sullivan, TT\u2019s HD transfer comes from a fresh 35mm print commissioned and paid for <\/em>by Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption<\/strong>, The Mist<\/strong>). A huge fan of the film, in 2004\u00a0Darabont\u00a0held a screening of both Yorga films\u00a0at the Egyptian Theatre, which also featured a post-screening Q&A with the actor, Darabont, and Sullivan.<\/p>\n

The disc\u2019s other extras include a 45 min. podcast tribute to Quarry via Fangirl\u2019s Jessica Dwyer and Tim Sullivan; and an audio recreation of the 2004 dinner interview between Sullivan and Quarry, with Del Valle reading from the interview transcripts, as the original audiotape is now lost. (A reprint of the original Q&A is also archived at Icons of Fright<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

In a quirk of timing and licensing in North America, The Return of Count Yorga<\/strong> was released separately by Scream Factory, which includes original promo material and a commentary by film historians Steve Haberman and actor Rudy De Luca.<\/p>\n

Britain\u2019s Arrow Films<\/a> released U.K. editions of both films in their Count Yorga Collection in 2016, and Del Valle did double-duty by recording a new commentary with Courtney Joyner for each film. Arrow\u2019s set also includes a 33 min. appreciation of the films by genre historian Kim Newman.<\/p>\n

Del Valle and Sullivan\u2019s commentary for TT\u2019s disc is superb, but there\u2019s one omission that might cause Canadians to raise their fingers and decry \u2018Wait a minute!\u2019. Yes, there have been subsequent erotic variants of the vampire mythos, but perhaps the most ostentatious is\u00a0Sexcula<\/a><\/strong> (1974), the hardcore (and CanCon) tale of Countess Sexcula, and her quest to help a cousin solve a male servant\u2019s case of grievous of limp pickle.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a9 2016 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

External References:<\/strong>
\nEditor’s Blog<\/a> — IMDB<\/a> \u00a0—\u00a0Composer Filmography<\/a> \u00a0<\/span>
\nVendor Search Links:<\/strong>
\nAmazon.ca<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" \"\" —\u00a0<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back in 1969, actor Bob Kelljan co-starred with Vincene Wallace in Flesh of My Flesh, a film he wrote and also co-directed with Michael Macready, after which the two formed what became a fortuitous collaborative association that proved quite profitable after their second film, Count Yorga, Vampire…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[18],"tags":[4726,4723,4722,4727,4728,4725,4689,4724],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-3My","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14542"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14542"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14542\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14557,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14542\/revisions\/14557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}