THE NIGHT OF THE VAMPIRE (1970)
(a.k.a. BLOODTHIRSTY DOLL /
YUREIYASHIKI NO KYOFU: CHI O SUU NINGYOO)
Article #1445 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 2-27-2005
Posting Date: 7-27-2005
Directed by Michio Yamamoto
Featuring Jun Hamamura, Yukiko Kobayashi, Kayo Matsuo

When a boy vanishes after visiting the isolated country home where his girlfriend lived, the boy’s sister and her boyfriend try to track him down.

This was the first of Michio Yamamoto’s three vampire movies, the other two being LAKE OF DRACULA and EVIL OF DRACULA. Though there was a certain amount of curiosity value in seeing the Japanese take on Hammer-style horror, my overall reaction was only lukewarm for these other two movies. That’s not the case with this one; it not only made me jump a couple of times, but I found the backstory to be fascinating, powerful and sad. It’s the only one of the series that really caught my attention and held it. Unfortunately, it also seems to be the hardest one to find, but for those interested in an unusual twist to the vampire story, this one should fill the bill.