The Grim Cellar

1970 / 1971, USA, Directed by Bob Kelljan

Colour, Running Times: 93 / 97 minutes

DVD, Region 1, MGM, Video: Anamorphic 1.85:1, Audio: Mono

Count Yorga, Vampire: After a successful séance piloted by the eminent and charming Bulgarian immigrant, Count Yorga (Robert Quarry), Paul and Erica decide to drop the count off back home. They find he lives in a huge and relatively secluded (just off the freeway…) mansion but, afterwards, on their way to leave the grounds their van becomes jammed in a muddy track and, unable to shift it, they decide to sleep the night inside the vehicle. The next day Erica turns up with holes in her neck and looking slightly anaemic, but without memories of how she came to be in that state. Becoming involved due to her unusual condition a blood specialist, Dr Hayes (Roger Perry), begins to suspect that the count may actually be a real vampire and persuades a couple of friends to visit the mansion in order to find the truth.

The Return of Count Yorga: Count Yorga becomes infatuated with Cynthia, a young woman he meets at a fund raising event, and captures her to keep in his mansion hoping to build some sort of relationship. Having seen too much a deaf/mute housekeeper is persistently unable to persuade anyone what’s really happened to Cynthia due to a child, apparently under the spell of the count, who denies everything she says. Gradually Cynthia’s real love interest, Dr Baldwin (amusingly, Roger Perry again), comes to suspect the count and enlists the help of a couple of reluctant policemen to accompany him to the mansion where Yorga and his horde of undead women await…

Combining traditional elements with modern-day Los Angeles these two films manage to convey some effective atmosphere to the viewer on occasions. The first film contains some standout sequences, the van breakdown near the mansion being quite a classically spooky passage and later on the increasingly tense exchange between Yorga and his guests as they desperately try to keep him talking until sunrise in order to determine whether he is in fact one of the undead. The sequel is slow to start with too much time spent at a fund raising event that is embarrassingly under populated (around ten people are milling around in fancy dress costume) but the final act is great, Baldwin and the policemen lost in a mansion of seemingly endless corridors and rooms, chased by the horde of vampire slaves. Quarry is excellent as the titular creature; literate, elegant, and evil in his portrayal. Unfortunately gore and sex are kept to a minimum (ironic, because the first film was initially intended to be a soft core porno), so they seem a little lightweight in some respects, plus the undead women, while creepy at a distance, look a little silly in close-up. As a side note, I couldn’t help but think that the cackling undead woman later in Return… could easily have been an influence on Raimi for The Evil Dead. These two films are moody chillers with doses of humour injected here and there to keep you off guard and will provide a fun double bill.

MGM originally released Count Yorga, Vampire by itself but later kindly combined it with the sequel for this double-sided DVD release. Image quality on both is perfectly acceptable. The only extra is a trailer for each but, due to the fact that it’s two well presented films for the price of one, it makes a good buy.