The Return of Count Yorga

The Return of Count Yorga, originally titled Yorga Returns, is a 1971 American vampire horror film directed by Bob Kelljan and starring Robert Quarry. It is the sequel to the 1970 film Count Yorga, Vampire.

The story features Robert Quarry returning as the infamous vampire Count Yorga, along with his servant Brudah, both of whom have been revived by the supernatural Santa Ana winds. Actor Roger Perry, who had a lead role in the first film, appears again but as a different character.

Plot

Cynthia Nelson (Mariette Hartley), a teacher at the local orphanage, talks with a pastor while watching the sun set before getting ready for a fundraising costume party. Cynthia mentions the "Santa Ana winds" which the pastor states are an evil omen. One of the orphans, Tommy, wanders into the nearby cemetery where he faintly hears a voice ordering "Rise, rise; it is time." Vampire women rise from their graves and chase Tommy into the clutches of Count Yorga, who is waiting for them.

Yorga, has been creating his undead harem and hiding them in the cemetery and has purchased a manor next to the orphanage. His intent is to prey on the children and staff there to satisfy his and his vampire-brides' thirst for blood and presumably to create an undead-army from the community's women. In his human guise, he goes to the orphanage during their costume party and fund raiser, biting one of the pretty guests, Mitzi, outside the event room before introducing himself to those present. There he meets and becomes smitten with Cynthia. Upon returning to his manor and a throne room of sorts, he's greeted by Brudda, Yorga's hulking facially disfigured valet, and his female vampire servants. Yorga sends his undead brides to her house, using mind-control to get Cynthia's family into one room before the brides break in and attack them. Cynthia's father and mother are killed after being drained of their blood, while Cynthia's sister, Ellen, is fed upon and transformed into a new vampire bride to serve Yorga. Tommy, who was sleeping over, is untouched. Under Yorga's power, he blankly looks on as the carnage unfolds. Cynthia is subdued (though not bitten) and carried by the brides to Yorga's residence where she awakens. Due to Yorga's hypnotic suggestions, she has no memory of the attack. Yorga tells Cynthia that there was a car accident and she was left in his care by her family. He tries to charm the young woman into willingly becoming his bride though he is warned by his live-in witch that Cynthia will bring his end if he doesn't kill her or turn her into a vampire soon.

The next morning, Jennifer, the Nelsons' mute maid, finds the massacre scene and calls the police. By the time the police arrive though, all of the evidence has been mysteriously cleared away, and Tommy claims that nothing has happened. Later that same morning, Brudda (like Yorga, also returned from an on-screen death in the first film) drags the corpses of Cynthia's mother and father to a quicksand pit on the property, disposing of the physical evidence while likewise bringing Ellen's body to Yorga to complete her transformation.

Despite the confusion, David Baldwin, Cynthia's fiancé, is suspicious about the Nelsons' disappearance. Meanwhile, memories of the attack on her family slowly start to resurface in Cynthia's mind as she stays within Yorga's manor. Jennifer, suspicious about Tommy's involvement with the Nelson's disappearance and his visits to Yorga's mansion, loses her patience and slaps Tommy who stares at her in a vengeful manner. Meanwhile, Yorga goes to claim Mitzi, killing her boyfriend near their boat house then biting her, draining her blood and making her a new bride.

Hours later, Ellen's fiancé Jason is lured to Yorga's mansion by Tommy, on the promise that he would find Ellen. Once at the mansion, Tommy disappears, while Jason is reunited with Ellen. However, in her vampirized state, she is now evil and laughs at him for "not loving her anymore", distracting him before her fellow brides attack him from behind. Jason breaks free, only to run into Count Yorga, who chases Jason down a hall and strangles him. Bruddah tosses Jason's body into the throne/coffin room for the brides, including Ellen and newly vampiric Mitzi, to feed upon.

That evening, Reverend Thomas phones Jennifer, but it is revealed she lies dead on her bed with a large knife sticking out of her chest. From her window, Tommy can be seen walking away from the house. After Thomas learns (off camera) of Jennifer's death, David is sure he is correct about the Count's true nature and manages to convince Reverend Thomas and investigating police detectives Lt. Madden and Sgt. O'Connor (Craig T. Nelson) to join him in a rescue-mission at Yorga's mansion. Reverend Thomas is sent to distract Yorga while Baldwin, Madden and O'Connor sneak in to search the manor, armed with sticks they can cross and hold up to ward off the vampires. Meanwhile the pastor falls for Yorga's charms and reveals the others' suspicions that he's a vampire, alerting Yorga of danger. Thomas is tricked into walking into the quicksand pit and promptly sinks to his death. Yorga returns to the manor, awakens his brides and unleashes them through the household as he psychically calls Cynthia to him.

Baldwin splits from the detectives to expand the room-by-room search, and upon opening one door discovers Jason's corpse, covered in bloody bite marks with an IV draining remaining blood from his neck into a glass-bottle on the floor beneath him. Later, Baldwin finally finds the half-mind-controlled Cynthia and attempts to escape; however, he is nearly beaten by Brudda. Falling into a suit of armor, Baldwin grabs a metal mace and knocks Brudda out with a violent blow to the face.

The detectives, Madden and O'Connor, up to this point unsure of Baldwin's vampire claims, are now believers on the run from Count Yorga's brides - discharging numerous point blank pistol shots which prove totally ineffective against the undead. They encounter a revived, vengeful and bloodied Brudda, whom the detectives promptly shoot to death. The officers, desperately trying to find a means of escape, run up and down stairs and through maze-like corridors, finding mostly locked doors, as Yorga's mental power shuts off all possible escape routes. Eventually O'Connor is separated in the brides' throne/coffin room and immediately bitten by the witch (also a vampire) as Madden helplessly listens to O'Connor's death-screams. Moments later, Madden hears a whispering voice call his name from a corridor. Thinking it is Tommy, he runs toward the source, and then yells out as he is stabbed in the chest and collapses to his death. Tommy's sneakered feet walk calmly by the body, indicating he was responsible for murdering Madden (in the same way he killed Jennifer).

Baldwin and Cynthia are the only ones left. They try to escape, but Yorga seals most of their route and his brides block their every exit. They duck into a hallway, but when Baldwin turns on the lights, he finds himself confronted by all the brides (including Ellen and Mitzi) with Yorga behind them, Grabbing Cynthia's compliant hand, Yorga takes her away preparing to transform her into a new bride, while leaving his army of brides to finish off Baldwin. Baldwin somehow escapes the brides and gives pursuit (along the way, grabbing an iron battle-axe from a wall), chasing the two up to the balcony. The two men fight, with Yorga gaining the advantage. The action sparks Cynthia's memories of the brides killing her family. She strikes Yorga in the chest with Baldwin's battle-axe, and Baldwin then throws Yorga off the balcony. Yorga lies crumpled on the ground, apparently dead.

Cynthia hugs Baldwin, believing the ordeal over. However, she notices something wrong and pulls away. Gasping in horror, she sees that Baldwin has pale skin and bite marks on his face; he is now a vampire (presumably bitten by the brides). Cynthia tries to run from him, but Baldwin pulls her back. Cynthia can only gasp out a "No!" as Baldwin bites her, dooming her to life as a vampire which he ironically was trying to prevent just moments ago.

The last shot of the movie is Tommy playing with his ball in front of the orphanage accompanied by a haunting rendition of the song the children sang at the beginning of the film. Though Yorga is dead, his evil lives on as those who know of him are either dead or turned into vampires and will carry out his curse. No one is left to stop his undead army from spreading vampirism to the orphanage and, very soon, the rest of the isolated town.

Cast

• Robert Quarry as Count Yorga
• Mariette Hartley as Cynthia Nelson
• Roger Perry as Dr. David Baldwin
• Yvonne Wilder as Jennifer Nelson
• George Macready as Prof. Rightstat
• Rudy De Luca as Lt. Madden
• Edward Walsh as Brudda
• Craig T. Nelson as Sgt. O'Connor
• Tom Toner as Rev. Thomas Westwood Orphanage
• Walter Brooke as Bill Nelson
• David Lampson as Jason
• Helen Baron as Mrs. Liza Nelson
• Karen Ericson as Ellen Nelson
• Jesse Welles as Mitzi Carthay

Production

In one scene, Yorga is seen watching a Spanish-language version of The Vampire Lovers on his television.

Planned sequel

A third Yorga film, which would have featured a broken Count living in Los Angeles's sewers and creating an army of undead street people, never materialised.

Though Count Yorga is referred to as "the Deathmaster" in publicity for this film, a later film called The Deathmaster, also starring Robert Quarry as a vampire, has no relation to the Count Yorga series.

Release

The film was released theatrically in the US by American International Pictures in 1971.

The film was released on VHS home video (full screen format) in 1993 by Orion Home Video, which once held home video distribution rights to many titles in the American International Pictures catalogue.

The film was given a second VHS release by MGM Home Entertainment in September 2000. It was later released on DVD by MGM in 2005 as part of their Midnite Movies series.^[1] The disc was a double feature release, pairing the film alongside Count Yorga, Vampire.

When CBS ran the movie in the 1970s, on their "Friday Night Late Movie", the on-screen title was "Yorga Returns".

See also

• List of American films of 1971

References

External links

• The Return of Count Yorga at the Internet Movie Database