Rayzor’s Retro Review: Count Yorga, Vampire (1970)

How do I stumble on films like this one?  Actually, my brother in law finds the most random titles and some how gets me excited to watch them.  There is a level of trust there, I mean he did buy me Blacula on Blu Ray for Christmas and really it is thanks to the zombie film, Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things.

Count Yorga is a strange tale and a very tame movie.  It has the feel of a movie that should have tons of naked people in the movie, but has one, possible boob shot.  That is fine, because the rest of the movie is gold.  I mean, there is a conversation of two men walking through the city and it is all done in long shots, nothing close.  It is so bizarre.  We have a girl who is bitten by the vampire himself and because of the blood loss, he tells her to eat as much steak as possible.

The movie begins with a coffin in the back of a truck and we follow the truck into the hills of Los Angeles…yeah.  Then we cut to a séance led by Count Yorga himself.  There are some jokes and we learn Count Yorga is a serious guy.  Donna, is trying to contact her recently departed mother, with the help of her last lover, yes Count Yorga.  Later two of the characters take Count Yorga home and get stuck in the mud.  This is when the steak girl is bitten as they are stranded over night.  Later we learn it was a trap and that mud spot was the only wet spot on the path.

The movie mostly follows a few guys who are convinced Count Yorga is a vampire and they even approach him at his house before dawn.  This was actually one of the more entertaining scenes in the movie.  They come back the next day after Donna has been, taken to Count Yorga’s and there is a little battle.  We also find Donna’ mom is one of Count Yorga’s brides.

I kind go spoiled this 48 year old movie…but its ok, check it out anyway.  I will not spoil the ending, no way!  It is silly, poorly made and a lot of fun.  Hammer Horror films, Dracula films were losing steam at this point and it was time to give America a vampire.  There is a sequel, Return of Count Yorga and it is just as good.  I am not 100% sure, but there was a third movie planned but never made.  I have heard rather than making a third Count Yorga, we got Blacula and that is ok in my book.

But I want a Count Yorga vs Blacula movie!!!  Of course it is way too late for that, but how cool would it be, then the sequel, Count Yorga vs Blacula vs Dracula.  Damn it, if I were alive in the 70s I would have made this happen.  Ok, now I am getting silly.

Yorga vs Blacula

IMDB.com has a score of 5.8

I love Count Yorga, but it is probably a 5.8.

Robert Quarry was so good, I want, no I demand a remake.  I have some casting ideas, mostly I think, Will Arnett for Count Yorga!  I mean he is kind of the American Dracula, isn’t he? I am probably just crazy and I want too much from my Count Yorga.

About Ray Marek III 699 Articles
I have been watching horror films since I was 6 years old. The story, one Saturday night, my mom and I were watching movies and she fell asleep on the couch. We had the channel set on HBO and the movie we were watching ended and the next one, A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge. This was some time in 1986. I watched then entire film, I was sitting on the edge of my seat. When my mom woke, she asked me what just ended and I told her, “Freddy”. That was all I talked about for weeks and finally she broke down and rented more horror films for me. She rented, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre part 2, Re-Animator, Friday the 13th VI: Jason Lives and Halloween II. I watched all and fell in love with horror films forever. 5 Horror Films to Watch Inferno (1980) A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) The Beyond (1981) Friday the 13th VI: Jason Lives (1986) Horror of Dracula (1958)