Too many fans seem to be blown away

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Arriving at a secluded orphanage, the bloodthirsty count appears to offer a form of assistance to those running it yet when they soon learn that both he and his assistants are actually vampires looking to use those around the area as parts of their family and must stop their deadly plans.This ended up being quite the enjoyable improvement over the original. One of the better elements featured here is the fact that there's quite a pronounced sense of action here through the inclusion of more vampire activity. As the beginning of the film features the resurrection of the female vampire horde from their graveyard in the woods which starts this off nicely with a stellar Gothic-influenced sequence, there are plenty of later scenes here having fun with the other vampire action involving the count or the brood under his control. With some more fine attacks in the later half here featuring the attack on the boat, the fine series of disorienting hallucinations she has while locked inside the castle as the vampires are shown to torment her mentally and finally the big finale where the swarms of vampires are involved in the action within the mansion tackling the swarming of the invading officers and the big final confrontation in the pit where the last battle occurs. Alongside this fine action, the film's Gothic semblances are still present here and become part of the film's charm. With the count still living in the large mansion that contains the usual stone artiface, rocky crypt and general feeling of opulence that had undertaken the previous effort in the series, this one still feels like a rather older film than it really is while providing some semblance of modern-day timeframe which gives this a fine connection to the previous film. The Count's old-school charm is quite fun to witness as well with the fine counterpoint to the last remaining remnants of the mod look featured in the first film as that works even more within the atmosphere of the film as it works nicely with the old-school tone and mythology setup to be employed here. Alongside the few fine gore pieces shown throughout here, these here hold it up over it's few minor issues. The biggest problem with this one is the fact that there's just not a whole lot of action overall in this one. The film starts off nicely with the Counts' appearance at the orphanage but then that completely disappears and settles into the series of debates and conversations from the group about the nature of the beast rather than anything else which just doesn't make this all that enjoyable. The slow, dull pacing is continued throughout here with this one keeping the motivations of just about everything in obscurity while not offering the kind of action required to really sell the threat of this one at all, giving a rather bland feel. A large part of this is due to the utterly forced need to sell the rest of the group on the existence of vampires in general which is a carryover from the original film and doesn't have any reason to be included once again since the resurrection has already occurred. That is the final issue with this one, as it makes no sense why they've both returned and not once is mention made of why, how or for what purpose. Despite being killed at the end of the first one, here they just show up and it's rather frustrating to have this plot point repeated yet again. Otherwise, this one is quite fun.Rated R: Violence and Language.

It's been like a decade or so since I watched the original "Count Yorga, Vampire", and in all honesty I don't remember too much about the plot. What I do recall, however, and quite vividly even, is that the film benefited from a particularly sinister and hypnotizing atmosphere that made it creepy even though not a whole lot was happening. The titular character is quite unique and intriguing as well. Even though he's a vampire count dressed in a typical black and red cloak and surrounded by a coven of white-faced vampire brides, Yorga isn't anything like the legendary Count Vlad Dracula. "The Return of Count Yorga" is a very entertaining and reasonably well-made horror sequel with a very straightforward but solid plot, engaging performances from the ensemble cast and – most of all – many moments of truly tense and unsettling horror! Seriously, I was pleasantly surprised to see that a handful of sequences were genuinely macabre and dark! Early in the beginning, for instance, a little boy drives his bike through the woods and suddenly the brides start emerging from the dirt, guided by the sound of eerie winds. This is quite a scary sight even for experienced genre fanatics. There are many more frightening parts, including the disposal of corpses in sandpits and the crude and relentless butchering of an entire happy family. Count Yorga takes an interest in a beautiful blond teacher who works as a volunteer in a remote orphanage. He does what every avid romanticist would do, namely murder her entire family and take her back to his castle. Yorga tells her that her loved ones died in a horrible car accident and assumes that she will gradually fall for his charms, but he didn't take into account that she also had a boyfriend and he's not planning to let her go that easily. There are few fascinating supportive characters, notably the residents of the orphanage like the deaf-mute girl and the strange boy who appears to be under Yorga's spell, and there's even room for comic relief as well. The count watches Hammer vampire movies on TV and reacts slightly offended when not he but another guy dressed as a vampire wins the price for most original costume at a dress-up party. In case you're a fan of cinematic bloodsuckers, but need a change from the average Dracula adaptation or the Twilight fairies (God forbid…), then I wholeheartedly recommend getting acquainted with Robert Quarry and his vile alter ego Count Yorga!

I saw this movie at my Junior High School in the '70's....halfway through it my buddy grabbed a teacher and she screamed her head off. This one caused a few sleepless nights for me as a kid. It is reminiscent of "Night Of The Living Dead" in the scene where all the female vamps break in and kill all inside, but it was somehow more scary in that this family was "at home", where we are supposed to feel safe. The opener with the kid running through the graveyard and the hands coming up out of the ground also creeped me out. Best line has to be when Count Yorga is at the costume party and the cheesy looking guy dressed as Dracula asks him "Where are your fangs?" Yorga replies "Where are your manners?" Classic.

It comes as no surprise that by the early 70's sequels were being made from movies in which the protagonist of the second film dies in the first. I do wonder, however, what sequel did this first - I'd hesitate to suggest the Dracula or Frankenstein series as those characters were more concepts than distinct personae. Yorga, however, was a clear case of capitalistic resurrection. Count Yorga, Vampire left him decidedly dead, yet he shows up here with little explanation. But, when push comes to shove, who really cares? I care more about the fact that despite the presence of many of the same names, including director Kelljan, from the first highly entertaining installment, Return fails on any number of accounts. Robert Quarry, back as Yorga, makes his reappearance at a masquerade at the local orphanage put together by kind-hearted if unimpressive Mariette Hartley. He likes what he sees, so he has his harem of decaying ladies abduct her and bite many members of her good-natured family. Mute coworker Yvonne Wilder finds the bodies; when the police arrive, however, they've mysteriously disappeared and frustrated Wilder can't locate a pen to inscribe what she witnessed. Roger Perry, back in his role as vampire investigator and apparently in the process of establishing himself as a modern Van Helsing, spearheads an investigation that apparently involves quite a bit of conversations shown in unexciting long shot. While Quarry's out on the town, Hartley has some pretty intense vampire hallucinations that provide some distraction from the mundane story. Three beers and two mojitos into the film, my notes and memory are illegible, but the conclusion involves a lot of vampire converts. Return is nowhere near as frightening as its predecessor, nor does it boast a clever story, suggestive acting and passable dialogue. With a story like this enacted by a cast like this, it's difficult to determine where the bad screenplay ends and where the bad acting begins. Regardless of where to place blame, Hartley has some horrible lines, many of which she lolls out like so much porridge. One of the only attributes similar to the first film is Kelljan's clever use of color. While Yorga featured a symphony of shades of brown contrasted with the occasional burst of red, Return's understated color scheme includes some extremely well placed shots, including a sequence with some striking purple. I found the video in the Horror Comedy section of the video store but did no laughing with, only at. The funniest part of the movie to me is that the co-writer Wilder didn't give herself any lines in the movie, preferring instead to hop around, point and gesture than to pronounce any of her clunky dialogue. Mel Brooks actor/writer Rudy De Luca has a role as a police investigator; Craig T. Nelson, the dad from Poltergeist, also plays a detective. George Macready returns from the previous film (which he narrated) for his last film role, as does ugly Edward Walsh in the same role as Quarry's gatekeeper.