(1970)
Dir - Michio Yamamoto
Overall: GOOD
The first of three Western styled vampire films from Toho Studios, The Vampire Doll, (Chi o suu ningyo), gets things off to a sufficiently chilling start. It has the standard set up that Roger Corman utilized in some of his notable Edgar Allan Poe adaptations, which is an out of town stranger arriving at a large, curiously spooky house, only to go missing and have more people venture out to look for him. Director Michio Yamamoto lets the pacing lull a bit during the second act while we wait for some inevitable answers to reveal themselves, but there are a few wonderfully creepy moments regularly sprinkled about. Yukiko Kobayashi makes for a most startling on screen vampire, with her blue skin, golden eyes, and unwholesome smile providing sufficient goosebumps. The eerie sound design and musical score go a long way as well, livening up the low-key presentation with the ideal atmosphere. It certainly has its familiar tropes in place, but there is a sincere approach to the material and enough memorable details to recommend it.
(1971)
Dir - Michio Yamamoto
Overall: GOOD
The second entry in Toho Studio's Bloodthirsty trilogy, (all of which were directed by Michio Yamatoto and two of which featured Dracula in the title), Lake of Dracula is a mostly sufficient if occasionally flawed entry. Getting past the gimmick of essentially watching a contemporary set Hammer horror movie except everything is Japanese, the film has some nice, harrowing moments at regular intervals to spice up the rather textbook plot that we have seen variations of, countless times. Even excellent visual flourishes such as a creepy house, vampires with golden eyes and light-blue make-up, eerie flashbacks, a ghastly staking, and the occasional gore are not anything new, but they are still appropriately and lovingly done here. For every moment of fun ghoulishness though, there is another that drags everything down a bit. The ending in particular succumbs to too much exposition with a twist that is barely if at all necessary. With so many cliches even fittingly there, it is easy to tune out due to the very standard structure. That said, this is both harmless and interesting to be sure, especially for the vampire aficionado who is curious as to another country's take on the undead.
(1974)
Dir - Michio Yamamoto
Overall: MEH
Adequately done though not the most memorable of 70s vampire films, Eye of Dracula, (Chi o Sū Bara), was the final entry in Michio Yamamoto's Bloodthirsty trilogy. Three years went by before production began on it, with director Yamamoto initially being reluctant to retread the same ground so soon after the one-two punch of Vampire Doll and Lake of Dracula. Like the latter, Shin Kishida plays the head vampire who is not only a different character but also still not Dracula. In fact the titular Count is not even mentioned here, though it does borrow a bit directly from Bram Stoker's novel in the opening scene where a stranger arrives from out of town and gets visited by a series of undead brides during his first evening in the main baddie's abode. Though the vampires here bite their victims in the chest as opposed to the neck, otherwise all of the plot details are interchangeable with countless other movies of the same ilk that were produced across the globe at the time. There are also a few chuckle-worthy moments involving either curious choices by some of the actors or just oddball script details. While such things do not make the film particularly bad, there is also nothing really present to elevate it above being an easily forgettable trek down bog standard terrain.
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