The Films (3/5 - The Vampire Doll, 3.5/5 - Lake of Dracula, 4/5 - Evil of Dracula)

    At times I am beginning to feel like there is some temporal conspiracy going on. Time travelers are coming back from the future with the budgets to make horror and exploitation films in the 60's, 70's, and 80's, and are suddenly rediscovered on home video by fans now. That could be the only explanation, how after 30+ years of horror fandom, I can still find amazing gems like the Bloodthirsty Trilogy, which would be described as 3 Hammer Dracula films done with distinctly Japanese sensibilities (I don't actually believe this, by the way).

    The Bloodthirsty Trilogy was directed by Michio Yamamoto, a director who made only 6 feature films. These films which are largely unrelated at least story wise were made over a period of 5 years by Yamamoto. He is most known in his native Japan for his television work.   He began his career as an assistant director for Akira Kurosawa, on what is quite possibly my favorite Kurosawa work Throne of Blood

    The set begins with The Vampire Doll. A short but potent film about a young man who returns after 6 months from a business trip to America to collect his fiancee, unfortunately when he arrives he finds out through his Mother that she has passed just weeks before in a car accident. He spends the night, and finds things aren't quite what they seem, and things do not end well for him. His sister, and her boyfriend then go to investigate his disappearance and find more than they bargained for in the process.

     The Vampire Doll  is an interesting take on the vampire mythos. It doesn't so much show vampire action than imply it. Further, the vampires in this story are not created through traditional means, and thus it gives the story a different atmosphere than a typical take on the vampire.   There is also a melancholy vibe over the entire piece from very early on, from the atmosphere to certain performances. This really helps separate the Vampire Doll from other vampire films. I didn't quite connect with it entirely on the first viewing, but like the others in the series I feel like each film will grow in my estimation on subsequent viewings.

    Lake of Dracula is both a better film, and also not quite as good as The Vampire Doll. It is certainly a more traditional take on the vampire then the prior film. It opens with a little girl following her dog into a house, where she finds a dead body, and a vampire.  The film then jumps to a period 18 years later, where she is convinced that event is a dream.   Her sister begins to disappear at random, and she begins to investigate the situation with a local doctor who is dealing with patients who are suffering from blood loss. As it turns out her memory is far from a dream, and there a a vampire descended from Dracula living in their rural Japanese lakeside community.   This film is an interesting one. It opens with an abrupt and shocking moment, and has some tense and interesting scenes throughout, but in between it just has a tendency to lag. The film does come up with a solid, satisfactory, and creepy conclusion that is definitely worthy of Hammer.

    Speaking of Hammer, the third, final , and definitely the best film in the series Evil of Dracula really ramps up the Hammer homage to 11. This film really reminded me of Hammer's Lust for a Vampire in the "girls boarding school with a vampire" storyline that was used here.  Evil of Dracula involves a new school teacher who arrives at an all girls boarding school, and is promptly told that he is in line to be the new principal of the school, after being brought up to speed. This doesn't exactly excite him, as some of his soon to be pupils are starting to drop dead, and some of them are coming back paler, and more bite-y then before.  

    Evil of Dracula feels a lot more in depth then the prior 2 entries as far as establishing a mythology for the characters. Each of the prior 2 films ends up giving some exposition for the vampires and their behavior, however, this particular film has a back story that goes back into the school's history with prior principals and teachers. It is also the most well directed and paced of the 3 films. All 3 films have creepy imagery throughout, but Evil of Dracula has the most standout imagery, not just on the horror side, but moments like the white rose that turns red with blood that show a more surrealist quality.   Of all the 3 films in the Bloodthirsty Trilogy, I do imagine that this would be the one I come back to the most.

Audio/Video (3.5/5)

    All 3 films of the Bloodthirsty Trilogy are presented in a 2:35:1 aspect ratio in 1080p AVC encoded transfer. The transfers were done in house by Toho with additional restoration done by Arrow Video in London. For the most part everything here looks natural and pleasing to the eye, detail is solid, for the most part, and colors are stable and well reproduced, grain is natural and almost never overwhelming. There are parts where there is some softness, and detail is less sharp then in other places. There are other sections where things seem less focused, but that is less the transfer, and more the nature of the productions themselves.

    Audio is handled by 3 very solid LPCM mono tracks in Japanese. Clarity is fine on all 3 with dialogue and score coming through nicely.

Extras (2/5)

    Extras included the original trailers, an analysis of the series by Kim Newman, and a booklet of liner notes by Jasper Sharp.

Overall

    The Bloodthirsty Trilogy is an interesting take on the vampire from Toho studios and director Michio Yamamato. The Blu-ray from Arrow Video looks quite excellent, and has very minor, but quite decent extras. RECOMMENDED.