Evil Of Dracula

Evil of Dracula (Chi O Suu Bara) (1974)

Runtime: 83 minutes

Directed by: Michio Yamamoto

Starring: Toshio Kurosawa, Shin Kishida, Mariko Mochizuki, Kunie Tanaka, Katsuhiko Sasaki

From: Toho

Before discussing this film, I'll make a statement that is uttered each early September: while I do not participate in the official Hoop-tober festivities of watching horror movies throughout Halloween based on a set series of criteria, I still create a list of my own where I view whatever the heck I find or strikes my fancy. This encompasses a wide variety of different films and sometimes includes such things as cartoons and educational shorts about trick or treating. The list will be unveiled in early November.

Finally, I saw the final movie in The Bloodthirsty Trilogy, three horror movies from Toho which have nothing in common aside from director Michio Yamamoto and them being Nippon spins on Gothic Hammer horror. The first two-The Vampire Doll and a title I'll always love, Lake of Dracula-I enjoyed and my opinion has not changed for this. A professor accepts a new job at a small rural all-girls school... while some of the girls like the professor and there are boobs seen, this is not as “horny on main” as it sounds-it's not a Jesus Franco picture, after all. Anyway, someone is a vampire, although Dracula is nowhere to be seen... to be fair, the original title does not reference this character. The origin story is rather interesting-it will remind you of... Silence. Yes, the story brought to life by Masahiro Shinoda and Scorsese in separate pictures.

It is a creepy atmospheric movie which should delight vampire fans; the rustic setting is pretty cool and while there are some dopey moments, this was not too much a detriment when there's a sometimes psychedelic score, more than one possessed girl, a character that reminded me of Renfield-several different Dracula movies were mixed in here-and a few bloody moments. Arrow did a nice Blu set of The Bloodthirsty Trilogy I am glad I picked up in the past.