(1970)
Dir - Bob Kelljan
Overall: MEH
One of the seemingly untold number of horror films to be distributed by American International Pictures, Count Yorga, Vampire, (The Loves Of Count Iorga, Vampire), is an adequately entertaining though ultimately run-of-the-mill, modern day vampire yarn. It primarily takes its cue from most film adaptations of Bram Stoker's Dracula. A dashingly handsome, polite, Eastern-European foreigner with hypnotism powers, a cape, and some undead "brides" at his disposal is inevitably confronted by a doctor and some other people, though not during the day when he is napping in his coffin but instead after the sun goes down. There is also a deformed, brutish man-servant and the police fill the skeptic quota as they will not even entertain the idea that vampires exist. Horror mainstay Robert Quarry makes for a solid, bloodsucking Count, but just as the movie itself, he is no better or worse than any of the other generic aspects at play. The title character only appeared in two films, (this and the following year's The Return of Count Yorga), after an idea to have him square off against Dr. Phibes was abandoned. Quarry still ended up playing an immortal in Dr. Phibes Rises Again anyway, so one does not have to use too much of their imagination to fathom how that would have played out.
(1973)
Dir - Dan Curtis
Overall: GOOD
The one/two punch of the successful The Night Stalker and its follow-up The Night Strangler, (broadcast in 1972 and 1973, respectfully), garnished the launching of the Kolchak: The Night Stalker TV series, one of the best horror-tinged program that 7's television ever produced. Returning screenwriter Richard Matheson is joined by Dark Shadows creator Dan Curtis, (in the same year that the duo collaborated on the Jack Palance-starred Dracula adaptation), and if The Night Stalker laid the blueprint of Carl Kolchak endlessly annoying newspaper editors and police officials as he is assuredly convinced that supernatural shenanigans are afoot, then its sequel here solidified that blueprint. The same stuff/different story approach would be for naught if said story was not compelling and the strangler of the title is a formidable, otherworldly foible indeed. The comedic sparing between Darren McGavin and Simon Oakland as Tony Vicenzo was always the highlight to this unwavering formula and such is still the case here. Minor roles from John Carradine, Margaret Hamilton, and Al Lewis are also appreciated.
(1979)
Dir - Stuart Rosenberg
Overall: GOOD
Calling the first of to date about four-hundred and twelve in the Amityville Horror franchise "good" may be a bit misleading. Though wildly over the top, messy, and centered around a fraudulent, sensationalized "true story", it is at the same time largely a hoot and makes for one of the most interestingly flawed films in the entire genre. An adaptation of Jay Anson's novel of the same name, (itself a fictionalized account of the "hoax" haunting experiences by the Lutz family which was also visited by con-artist paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren of The Conjuring fame), it comes tailor made with haunted house cliches up the wazoo, many of which were further borrowed to death by countless horror films of varying quality since. For almost all of the cast, it seems to have been written into their contract to overact, with an aging Rod Steiger in particular going for the jugular, at least when he is not staring off into space emotionless or just sweating profusely. The supernatural occurrences are of course completely arbitrary, yet they are also so frequent in number and delivered so oddly dead-pan that they are anything but lame. It is precisely this bizarre, tonal balancing act that's consistently maintained which makes it such a fascinating work. Like it or not, it is too historically important alone to leave out of any "family moves into an underpriced house that people died in and evil stuff starts happening" film conversation.
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