Grade: B-
Synopsis: A doctor (Roger Perry) battles a vampire (Robert Quarry) in 1970’s Los Angeles.
Count Yorga, Vampire is a better than it really has any right to be. I began life as a soft-core porn before morphing into a straight horror. Some of the erotic elements remain though, and add to the film’s bizarre charm.
This is a prime example of how a small budget can be an asset. With little money for lighting, the small crew only had a few actual lights, but this translated into lots of dark, atmospheric shots. With little money for special effects, the filmmaker’s had to improvise ways to shock the audience, such as a particularly memorable scene involving a cat.
That scene also brings up an important point. There are two versions of the film floating around. The original, superior version bears the title “The Loves of Count Iorga, Vampire” (the ‘I’ isn’t a typo) on the print, and includes a previously edited, and very memorable, sequence involving Judy Lang’s character that’s referenced later in the film.
Robert Quarry is great in the titular role, despite the shoddy wardrobe and ridiculous cape, and his scenes with Roger Perry are really exceptional. Once again, the low budget pays off, as the lack of any elaborate back-story is an asset. The opening sequences show a coffin being unloaded from an ocean liner and driven up a highway, but the next cut has Quarry’s Count Yorga conducting a séance with a group of young people. By leaving it to the viewer’s imagination to fill in the details, they’ve created a wonderfully enigmatic, suave, monster.
The script’s efficiency doesn’t stop there either. The movie runs a brisk 90 minutes and wastes little time moving from set piece to set piece. While this approach doesn’t allow for any real characterization, it does maximize the popcorn thrills and helps smooth over the budgetary constraints.
Bottom Line: For fans of Vampire movies, Count Yorga, Vampire should be more than entertaining.
