The Vampire Doll

The Vampire Doll (幽霊屋敷の恐怖 血を吸う人形, Chi o suu ningyo) is a 1970 Japanese horror film directed by Michio Yamamoto.[3]

The Vampire Doll
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMichio Yamamoto
Produced by
Screenplay by
  • Ei Ogawa
  • Hiroshi Nagano[2]
Starring
Music byRiichiro Manabe[3]
CinematographyKazutomi Hara[3]
Production
company
Distributed byToho
Release date
  • June 4, 1970 (1970-06-04) (Japan)
Running time
71 minutes[4]
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Plot

Returning to Tokyo from a six month business trip overseas, Kazuhiko leaves to visit his girlfriend Yuko at her isolated country home. After a week when nothing is heard from him, his sister Keiko and her fiancé Hiroshi go to find him. Yuko's mother Shidu tells them that he left after being told that Yuko had died when a landslide struck her car two weeks before he arrived. Keiko suspects there is more to the story. She and Hiroshi stay and try to trace her brother's last steps and end up uncovering tragic and horrifying secrets about Shidu and Yuko.

Cast

Production

The Vampire Doll was the first of three vampire films made by Toho studios in the 1970s.[6] The Vampire Doll was followed by Lake of Dracula (1971) and Evil of Dracula (1974).[2][7][8]

Release

The Vampire Doll was released in Japan on July 4, 1970.[1] The film was released in an English-subtitled format in the United States under the title The Night of the Vampire on August 6, 1971.[9] The release was limited only to Japanese theatres in New York and Los Angeles.[10] The film has also gone under the title Legacy of Dracula.[11]

Reception

The New York Times gave the film a positive review, stating that the director "tells his grisly story with a cool taciturn detachment. Don't be fooled by what seems a conventional staging. There is plently lurking around the bend, some of it is hair-raising."[12] The review also noted that the film was "exceptionally well-written, with a denouement that is fascinating and—well, almost credible. The acting is on a par with the rest."[12]

Home media

In 2018, Arrow Films released The Vampire Doll, along with Lake of Dracula and Evil of Dracula, in a single Blu-ray set titled The Bloodthirsty Trilogy.[13] This release included uncompressed mono audio, Toho's export English dubs for Lake of Dracula and Evil of Dracula, a video appraisal by Kim Newman, original trailers, and a collector's booklet in the first pressing. (Vampire Doll is in Japanese language/ subtitled only.)[14]

See also

References
  1. Galbraith IV 1996, p. 107.
  2. Galbraith IV 2008, p. 321.
  3. Galbraith IV 1994, p. 373.
  4. 幽霊屋敷の恐怖 血を吸う人形
  5. Sharp 2018, p. 5.
  6. Galbraith IV 1994, p. 204.
  7. Galbraith IV 1994, p. 225.
  8. Galbraith IV 1994, p. 194.
  9. Galbraith IV 1996, p. 424.
  10. Galbraith IV 1994, p. 195.
  11. Sharp 2018, p. 23.
  12. Thompson, Howard (January 10, 1971). "Japanese 'Vampire Doll' Opens at Bijou". The New York Times. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  13. Squires, John (23 February 2018). "Toho's Trilogy of '70s Vampire Films US & UK Arrow Video Blu-ray Set". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
  14. Weiler, Clint (April 11, 2018). "Toho's The Bloodthirsty Trilogy Blu-ray Collection from Arrow Video US in May". SciFi Japan. Retrieved May 27, 2018.

Bibliography
  • Galbraith IV, Stuart (1994). Japanese Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. McFarland. ISBN 0-89950-853-7.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Galbraith IV, Stuart (1996). The Japanese Filmography: 1900 through 1994. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0032-3.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-1461673743.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Sharp, Jasper (2018). Blood Lines: The Genealogy of Michio Yamamoto's Bloodthirsty Trilogy - Collector's Booklet. Arrow Video. ASIN B07B12HN97.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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