The Bloodthirsty Trilogy — The Bloodthirsty Trilogy(Blu Ray)
As the trilogy’s title suggests all three films here are Vampire related, & were released by TOHO studios, most known for their Godzilla released. Also, all three films were directed by Michio Yamamoto- who is seemingly not known for much else, as he only directed ten films in total between 1969 & 1976. The three films in the Trilogy are 1970’s The Vampire Doll, 1971’s Lake Of Dracula, and 1974’s Evil Of Dracula. All three films are very much influenced by Hammer, euro- gothic horror, and Corman's Poe films- and considering the 70’s date of the films, all three are fairly void of much violence/ gore- focusing more on creating a feeling of eerier-ness & dread.
The first disc takes in The Vampire Doll, a fifteen-minute featurette about the trilogy/ Japanese horror movies from Kim Newman, and three trailers. So first up we have The Vampire Doll, this is the shortest of the three films at just over an hour & ten minutes, and it’s also the least Vampire focused of the three films. The plot tells of Keiko and her male friend who are trying to find her missing brother after he disappeared going to visiting his girlfriend Yuko, at a euro styled gothic mansion. The film feels very euro- gothic horror with a Japanese 70’s setting- you get a creepy hunchback butler, an overgrown graveyard, lots of lighting, rain & a few cobwebs. The whole thing comes off more as a gothic horror mystery, with some very slight vampirism moments- so really the film's title is misleading. On the whole, the film was a little slow in places, but the house setting is quite creepy, & there are a few eerier moments along the way- though the ending seemed a little confused.
Moving onto the second disc, and we have the other two films- first of these is 1971’s Lake Of Dracula. This second film builds on the atmosphere of The Vampire Doll but adds more focused vampire elements, a nice blend of suspense & more substantial storyline, plus a few fairly effective action scenes. The film opens at dusk on a beach- we see a little girl chasing after her dog through a cave & out again- she comes across an old cobwebbed mansion- which features a lifeless white-gowned figure at a piano, and a yellow-eyed blood dripping male vampire. Flash-forward ten or so years, and we see the little girl now all grown up, living near a lake- the few small properties there are maintained by a caretaker, and fairly soon he gets a strange delivery of a coffin…and what follows is a game of creepy cat & mouse game between the darkly dashing male vampire, the young women, and her Doctor friend. On the whole is a more satisfying & intriguing film than The Vampire Doll, though once again the endings a little underwhelming/ muddled.
Last up we, of course, have 1974’s Evil Of Dracula, and really this feels the most satisfying of the three films- both in its story, the horror elements, and it’s mood- which goes from creepy, pacey, to oddly funny. The set-up of this one sees a new teacher going to work at an isolated girls school in the country- the school, and it’s surrounding buildings have a very gothic feel, and we have also a basement, coffins, thunder, etc. The basic plot is that the school principal wife is seemingly dead in a coffin in the basement, but fairly soon the girls start going missing, and when they reappear they are either dead or very pale- having two bite marks just above their breasts. As the film unfolds we get a swish male vampire( with a white scarf), a host of female vampires, and some quite effective & memorable set pieces- like a surreal blood sprayed hand, skeleton interlocking hands, and a great & action-packed finale. There is a bit more blood in this one and some subtle sleazy undertones with the whole vampire bite just above the nipple. All in all, it’s a real pity this was the last film in the series, as with this one they really seemed to have got into their groove- mixing nicely the euro gothic elements with more Japanese creepiness.
All three films are presented with original Japanese language tracks, and feature nice & clear subtitles- which I believe you can switch on & off. The soundtrack to all three films are enjoyable in their own right- going from chilling harpsichord bound, onto discordant & creepy, through to slightly funk-focused, and simmering & swirling keyboard bound.
The extras on the disc are a bit thin on the ground- we basically get the fifteen-minute featurette from Kim Newman- this is ok, though really more of a general overview of early Japanese horror, with mention of the trilogy tagged in. Newman is not that positive about the films themselves either, saying that they tend to blend into one another. The other extra is trailers for each of the film, and these are in original Japanese language- with subtitles, the trailers are enjoyable enough affairs & give a good idea of what to expect without giving everything away. The finished release apparently comes with a booklet, and revisable sleeve- but as I’m reviewing pre-production disc I can’t comment on these.
On the whole, it’s great to have these 1970’s Asian gothic horror films in the Blu Ray format, and hopefully, it will increase the interest in Asian horror outside the frankly overplay & tired J Horror format.