Director: Bob Kelljan
Year: 1970
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: The Loves of Count Iorga, Vampire
Genre: Vampire
Plot:
After arriving in Los Angeles, a group of upper-class friends finds that a series of strange encounters is largely due to the charismatic vampiric newcomer to their circle of friends and race to stop him before he manages to turn more of them into vampires as he searches for a bride.
Review:
This was quite the decent if flawed vampire effort. One of the better elements of the film is the fact that there's some rater nice work done to bring those elements commonly found in centuries-old affairs back to a more modern setting. Rather than confine matters to Gothic hovels and turn-of-the-century villages out in the middle of nowhere, this one ventures into more recent times with a mod-based group of friends and setting this somewhat close to the suburbs of the city. The Gothic castle is replaced with the idea of the Gothic-flavored mansion but otherwise the film plays out closely to those other films of the past which helps to give this one some accessible attributes to get into the other factors found here. That is the film's strong final half where it really turns the Gothic-set action into motion with a frenzy of strong activity here, from the meeting of the minds to the confrontation with the vampires in the dungeon, a bloody and brutal brawl in the dingy, cobweb-filled hallways of the house and leading into the slightly-underwhelming if still satisfying action in the end which has some nice bloodshed mixed into the proceedings.
The cast here is quite appropriate for this type of effort. Robert Quarry is somewhat intimidating and menacing in the title role as he adds a debonair attitude to the vampire count with a touch of class yet is still ferocious and feral when need be. He's not the greatest on-screen vampire but he's good enough in the role and gives this enough for a credible threat. Judith Lang is slightly better as the corrupted Erica, who goes from sweet, goodhearted individual to bloodthirsty cat-eating psychopath once bitten and gives off a nice freaky charm. Her slow turn is vital to the film as she succumbs to it's transitional effects and that is pulled off rather well even if not really making much else of an impression before she's changed here. Her hotheaded boyfriend Paul, played by Michael Murphy, is a lot more resourceful than normal where he genuinely tries to help her but makes some simple mistakes in his rush to help and ends up requiring rescue. Roger Perry as Dr. Haynes is also rather enjoyable in a Van Helsing-like role as he tries to convince other of the creatures' threat and manages to handle the action rather well. The rest of the small cast isn't too bad and handle themselves decently if not spectacularly.
Frankly, one of the many flaws with this one is the utterly dreary and dull pacing throughout here. The film never seems to catch fire at all, limping along from one continuously bland sequence after another, from watching the group sit around talking about the outcome of the seance to them being incredibly witty and verbose about them being trapped out in the wilderness and finally the nearly endless series of scenes featuring the two walking around town talking about the situation. We see it happen several times over throughout the film and it's bland and excruciating to see it play out where the two walk side-by-side with what appears to be no actual dialog being spoken between them yet overdubbed voices play out their conversation. Whenever it happens there's barely anything about that plays out like a truly engaging piece as the whole thing feels like a banal discussion going nowhere and it just really eats up the time by making it last longer than it really should.
As well, the other issue with the film is the rather obvious and really weird jumpcuts that are use to hide it's more salacious and sleazy elements. This one had plenty of opportunities for more sleaze here with nudity or graphic killings, yet it keeps this incredibly tame which doesn't make the edits done to cut that out any less obvious where it quickly hides it, moves away before it happens or just doesn't offer any of these exploits in the first place which make it lacking in that regard. The fact that it really should've offered up some more of these scenes, rather than sweeping around a lovemaking couple so they don't show anything off, a lesbian interaction is shown only with him observing the proceeds rather than the women and the girls are shown in flowing, open nightgowns that are held tight so nothing is shown. Seeing the nude women holding objects in front of them to hide it looks even worse and it really looks like plenty of opportunities to go for more sleaze yet drops it before it can offer it. The silly-looking gore is mostly just aftermath paint on their bodies around the wound and it never shows the entry wound when it does so it comes off somewhat silly, lowering the exploitation further. These here are what lower this one somewhat.
Overview: ** 1/2/5
Despite some minor issues involved with this one that hold it back somewhat, the fact that there's quite a few pieces of positive elements found here to give it some watchable points throughout here. Give it a shot if you're into the Gothic vampire films of the time and want to diverge into something else while those looking for more impressive elements here should really heed caution.
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