Count Yorga, Vampire (1970) in the PNW

Details: Written by: Mortado; Category: The 1970s in Northwest Cinemas

This is a collection of media from the initial runs of "Count Yorga, Vampire" (1969) in the Pacific Northwest. "The Dunwich Horror" was the second feature.

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Count Yorga, Vampire (1970)
“Count Yorga, Vampire” reads like a cranky postcard from a moment when horror was trying to grow up and kept tripping over its own shoelaces. It wants to be a serious update of the old vampire tale, but mostly ends up as a clever little con that knows how to look the part. The sets are thrift-store charming, and the camerawork is competent enough to keep you watching even when the script is content to circle the same idea until it wears thin.

The actors do the heavy lifting. The lead sells charm like a practiced pickpocket, and the rest of the cast wobble between genuine fear and the kind of obliviousness that makes the predator look smarter than fate. The film moves at a pace that sometimes feels like confidence and sometimes like laziness. Scares arrive not because the movie invents new terrors but because it keeps poking at the same soft spot until something gives.

What sticks is attitude more than plot. There is a sour little thesis here about a modern world that is too polite and too distracted to notice when something dangerous slips through the door. It is cynical without being preachy and rough around the edges in a way that can be oddly satisfying. If you go in expecting a polished masterpiece, you will be annoyed. If you go in wanting a compact, slightly sleazy mood piece that knows how to make a few effective choices and then walk away whistling, you will get your money's worth.

Director: Bob Kelljan
Writer: Bob Kelljan
Stars: Robert Quarry, Roger Perry, Michael Murphy
Buy "Count Yorga, Vampire" (1969) bluray on Amazon (SPONSORED)
Buy "Count Yorga, Vampire" (1969) DVD on Amazon (SPONSORED)

June 16, 1970 ad (Portland)