The Return of Count Yorga (1971)

Touches You

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

The Return of Count Yorga (1971) *** (out of 4)This sequel to COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE finds Count Yorga (Robert Quarry) and his five vampire brides stalking out an orphanage where there are plenty of victims but along the way Yorga decides to try and take a wife.When AIP released COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE they had no idea that it would turn out to be such a huge hit. Obviously with the film making so much money a sequel was bound to follow and THE RETURN OF COUNT YORGA didn't take long to materialize. If you're a fan of the first film then you'll probably also appreciate this sequel, which was made for much more money but in many ways it's more of a remake than anything else.I say that because this here follows a very similar story and in fact the biggest difference is obviously in the budget, which was a lot higher here. The film manages to be quite entertaining on a number of levels even with a story that's less than good. The highlight of course are the vampire brides who I thought looked quite excellent and especially in their slow-walking ways. The slow pacing of them was a major plus and I thought the look of the brides were terrific.The action picks up a lot more during the finale and there are actually some very good attack scenes. The supporting players are nice but it's Quarry who once again steals the picture as Count Yorga. I really loved the way that the actor played the role and I thought he really delivered a fun and menacing character.THE RETURN OF COUNT YORGA certainly isn't a flawless picture but it's a good one that will keep you entertained.

This sequel to "Count Yorga, Vampire" actually isn't too bad. In fact, in some aspects it's an improvement over the original movie. It's clear throughout that this sequel had more of a budget, and the filmmaking techniques here are more professional. There are also some very good horror moments, many of them filmed in near silence - a technique that proves to be very effective and better than if more noise had been heard. As for Count Yorga himself, once again Robert Quarry gives a good performance that makes this particular vampire figure more believable than some vampires in other films. However, what is odd is that Yorga makes somewhat of a lesser appearance in this film; there are big chunks where he is simply absent. The script has additional problems elsewhere, namely some unanswered questions like how Yorga got resurrected after being killed in the first movie, and how he was able to clean up a massacre sequence in a short time. The biggest problem with the script, however, is that there's not enough story; the movie moves really slowly at times with little to nothing important happening. But fans of the first movie who are patient and able to accept the movie's shortcomings will probably be reasonably satisfied by the end results.(P.S. - I'm not sure why the movie's MPAA rating was changed from PG to R for its DVD release; the movie isn't very bloody or explicit in any other way.)

Count Yorga (Robert Quarry) is living in a small town outside of San Francisco, where he becomes involved with an Orphanage, primarily as a source of victims. A tragic event leads persons from the orphanage to contact the local police, and together, they end up investigating Count Yorga.Ostensibly a sequel to Count Yorga, Vampire (1970), this film really plays more like a re-imagining, similar to the relationship between Evil Dead (1981) and Evil Dead II (1987). Because of this, it doesn't really matter which film you see first. This also explains why there is no explanation given of Count Yorga's sudden appearance in the San Francisco area. The first film didn't necessarily happen in this film's world. This is more another version of the same story, told in an "alternate universe".And at that, I liked it just as well. This film is also a 10 out of 10 for me. The extensive hand-held cinematography of the first film, which gave it a Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)-like feel, is gone for the most part, but cinematography that is just as interesting has taken its place. This time around, we get very strong contrasts, from near black night scenes--but wherein we can still see the action, to very bright, strong contrast shots of the orphanage during the day. Bright greens often show up in the night shots, as well. But the film wouldn't receive a 10 just for cinematography. The story works well, and although less dialogue-intensive than the first film, the dialogue is just as intriguing here. A lot of it, like the first film, is carried by Roger Perry, who is present in both films as a doctor, although a different character in each, lending further evidence to this being more of a re-imagining than a sequel. Whereas the vampires of the first film were more sensual, partially due to the fact that early conceptions of Count Yorga, Vampire had it as a sexploitation vampire film, the vampires here are more a combination of Night Of The Living Dead (1968)-like zombies and vampires. At that, they're still somewhat sensual, but a more literal idea of vampires as a kind of living dead is invoked beautifully here. It's too bad the idea has been so little used in later films.Also like the first film, The Return of Count Yorga knows that it is somewhat absurd, and although this one is more conspicuously humorous, that aspect is not dominant. Writer/director Bob Kelljan doesn't forget to focus on creepiness and the disturbing, which are liberally present. In fact, this film contains one of my favorite "massacre" scenes. It is the centerpiece of at least the first half of the film, and propels the plot.Quarry is one of my favorite "Draculas", and the creepiest "Renfield" makes a return here, too, in the guise of Brudah (Edward Walsh). The new home is as good if not better than the home in the first Count Yorga, Vampire, and the climax may be better here as well.Don't miss either Count Yorga film. They're both underrated.

First of all, the sets and atmosphere are great. An opening grave yard is truly beautiful and spooky. Perhaps the big-haired living dead women crawl their way out of the dirt with too much ease, but style is more important than being realistic. The Count appears to have no reason to be at the boarding school's halloween bash, but he is there, uninvited, clashing with the other guests. The fact that there is a costumed vampire at the party, leads to amusing tension and the viewer knows that the Count will be teaching these people a thing or two about real vampires as the movie continues.Cameras are placed creatively throughout the film. One strangulation scene on a dock is shot from underwater with screaming whale sound effects. Shots in Yorga's mansion utilize quite a bit of framing through doorways. In fact doors are important to the film, the house is rigged with mechanical gates that open to reveal vampires (or close to trap intruders) numerous times. Also in the house, unexplained baby dolls, but they are creepy and so serve their purpose. Sound effects include whispering voices and laughter, perhaps not original, but fun.You could look at this film as a mess, or you could have a good time watching it as I did. I don't need every phenomenon to make perfect sence or for all elements to be resolved. I like mysterious, bizarre, artistic horror.