Prepare for Halloween with “Count Yorga- Vampire”-Tonight!

With Halloween just a couple days away, we thought we’d give you a warm-up for it- with some cold chills from the 1970s! It’s the network premiere of an American International fright film starring the man the studio hoped would replace Vincent Price in the hearts ( without stakes driven through them) of horror fans- Robert Quarry- in “Count Yorga- Vampire”!

The story begins with a coffin being delivered to America (didn’t another vampire flick start that way- except with the destination being England?)- and then shifts to a séance, attended by a group including some skeptics about the legitimacy of the paranormal. With the aid of Bulgarian mystic Count Yorga, one of the attendees, Donna, is hoping to contact her late mother, who passed away recently. At one point, it appears that her spirit has been contacted- but Donna freaks out, and the séance ends with Yorga using hypnosis to calm her- and also perhaps place some instructions in her subconscious.

Since it appears the evening is over, two members of the group- Paul and his gorgeous girlfriend Erica- volunteer to take the Count to the remote manor he has rented. After dropping him off, the couple’s van gets hopelessly stuck in the mud on the road (which had been perfectly dry previously)- and they decide to spend the night in the van. Not the best idea- because someone comes calling, leaving Paul unconscious and Erica attacked!

When morning comes, they finally return home, with no clue about who it was- in fact, Erica does not remember anything – including where she got those bite marks on her neck! She goes to one of the friends who was at the séance, who happens to be a doctor. Dr. Hayes finds that she has suffered a major loss of blood- but has no idea why.

Soon, Paul and another friend Michael notice that Erica has been behaving very strangely- and return to the apartment to find the poor woman having committed an unspeakable act! They call on Dr. Hayes to treat her.

The three men try to make sense of what is going on- with the idea of vampirism brought up, but barely accepted. Meanwhile, Erica has a late night visit from Count Yorga-resulting in her disappearance, and Paul’s heading for Yorga’s estate- with tragic consequences.

Still lacking explanations, and still suspecting that a vampire is involved, Dr. Hayes, Michael and Donna pay a visit to Yorga’s mansion- where his brutish servant Brudah is always lurking in the background. They attempt to keep Yorga up until sunrise to prove he is a vampire, but fail and are sent away- but not before Yorga manages to intensify his hypnotic control of Donna.

It becomes apparent that the only solution would be for Yorga to be killed- and the doctor and Michael set out to do just that- while Yorga uses his hypnotic control to draw Donna to his lair! Much more than just the Count await them-will they succeed or perish in the attempt?

Warning- this 1970 film has some very upsetting scenes of violence and adult content, which we have toned down somewhat- but it may still be too strong for some of our viewers so PLEASE- use discretion about who should watch. We’ll introduce you to the cast, give you some background on what this film was originally supposed to be, if not for the intervention of Robert Quarry, and deliver some other trivia about the movie. Plus, we’ll try to come up with a way to liven up some early scenes of the film, as well as bringing you a new song.

“Count Yorga- Vampire” starts at 8 pm eastern/pacific, 7 central time on MeTV. Twitter users can join in the live-Tweeting during the film- just make sure to use the hashtag #svengoolie -which results in our trending high among the most popular topics most Saturday nights. Chicago area viewers can enjoy one more look at the classic “Bride of Frankenstein” this morning at 11 am on our local station CW26.

Also, if you missed the showing of the special “Svengoolie: Uncrypted”- you get a second chance when MeTV runs an encore performance tomorrow at noon eastern/pacific, 11 am central time. You can then stay tuned for the final “Svengoolie’s Halloween BOO-nanza” Sunday block of scary TV- featuring the beloved “Kolchak: the Night Stalker” series!

We had a fantastic time last weekend at Elgin’s “Nightmare on Chicago Street” event-back and bigger than ever- and, today, we make our return to the Volo Museum in Volo, IL! I will be signing from noon to 2 pm- and there is so much to see and do there, it’s a place at which you can spend the whole day!

Again let us repeat- there will be scenes of a nature disturbing to some tonight in “Count Yorga- Vampire”- but most will find this more modern vampire film a perfect warm-up (as your blood runs cold) for Halloween!