This weekend I had the distinct pleasure of watching The Bloodthirsty Trilogy, three Seventies movies dealing with the Undead.

First it was The Vampire Doll/Legacy of Dracula (you’ll note a theme here). A man heads out to see his fiancée and never returns, mainly because she’s become a yellow eyed undead fiend. This one has less to do with Bram Stoker and more to do with another Gothic writer whom, if I mention his name, might spoil some of the movie. I didn’t see where this one was going and as far as I was concerned at the time, it made getting the collection worth the money for it alone.

Next was Lake of Dracula, where a past close encounter leads to heartbreaking danger for a young woman in the present. This is Grade A Vampire action here, with more yellow eyed Undead and a decent grasp of Vampire lore. The main Vampire, played by Mori Kishida, is great and I really think Kishida should be listed up there with Lugosi and Lee. He has a great presence.

Oh, and Dracula is only mentioned twice, in passing. And the Lake really doesn’t have much to do with things.

Finally there’s Evil of Dracula, where a new teacher at an all girl’s school learns that his charges are in dire danger from the Undead (and he’s not in any safe place himself). In my opinion the best of the three, it has Mori Kishida returning as a different Vampire. He seems to be having a blast in the part. Again, no connection with Dracula.

I don’t want to oversell these movies. They have their problems here and there. But they are delightful films, and not a one with sparkles.

Yes, I’m still irritated about that. Can’t be helped at this point.