bloodthirsty trilogy

Hammer Films may have kickstarted the Euro-horror scene with 1958's Horror of Dracula, but its influence traveled far and wide, eventually circling the globe to inspire a series of Japanese vampire films produced under the Toho banner gathered here as The Bloodthirsty Trilogy. 1970's The Vampire Doll is the flat-out creepiest of the bunch, although the title is a bit of a misnomer. Lifting its major plot twist from Poe's The Fact in the Case of M. Valdemar (and Roger Corman's film adaptation in Tales of Terror), vampirism never comes into play, but director Michio Yamamoto creates a Gothic-funhouse atmosphere just the same. With reflective cat eyes, long black hair and a goosebump-inducing grin, his "ghost-girl" antagonist is a tragically terrifying figure. The subsequent sequels, Lake of Dracula (1971) and Evil of Dracula (1974) steal more liberally from the Hammer horror model, going so far as to cast a "head vampire" in full Christopher Lee regalia.

The films' attempt to adapt the Western-style vampire mythos into Japanese culture is often an awkward affair (even film historian Kim Newman, who contributes to the extras, admits the series is a creative dead end). And the absence of expected Christian symbols - no crosses or holy water here! - make the viewing experience entertainingly surreal at times. But fans of the genre will have fun ferreting out the Hammer connections and watching another culture co-opt a successful formula with marginally successful - but fiercely fascinating - results. Visually, Arrow Video's Blu-ray set is a stunner, with glorious hi-def colors and the aforementioned Kim Newman interview helping to set the stage for the must-have historical cul-de-sac. Not included for review is a collector's booklet with new writing by Japanese film expert Jasper Sharp.