Lake of Dracula 1971

[LSD Jellyfish]

I just watched this, for those not in the know Toho produced a bunch of horror films around the time the Kaiju genre was booming as well; and a lot of them are actually pretty good! Thought I’d make a new thread to raise more awarensss, and if I recall correctly I think that actually Lake of Dracula is easily available on Hulu or something.

Lake of Dracula is pretty good! It’s definitely a slow burn horror film, and admittedly the plot is pretty simple for a vampire film. However, the film does a great job with atmosphere and camerawork. There’s a legitimately uncomfortable vibe to the film, I can’t describe it exactly but it sort of reminds me of the less cartoony parts of Godzilla vs Hedorah. For a horror film the film is very colorful as well, there’s some eerie shots of a sunset and Dracula and the other vampires have this really nice bluish white face to them which makes them look really creepy. Music wasn’t a big part, but it was certainly creepy.

While spoilers ahead, I also appreciated the sexual undertones of the film. If this wasn’t a vampire film it would be about rape and trumaitization. Akiko undergoes a childhood trauma (Dracula) and sort of blanks it out. As an adult, she deals through her trauma by painting, and is nearly raped by a creepy vampire thrall. Dracula’s origin story ties into this as well, as implying that when Dracula turned into Dracula he raped and killed the woman he loved. Its not exactly subtle, but appreciated the way this film took this very seriously, and it ties it into its origin story as well.

While Akiko and cast are a little on the generic side I did appreciate some of the minor details, like her being a painter, and her playful relationship with her sister. Saeki, her boyfriend, is a little bit of a generic white night, but he also clearly cares for Akiko and a good guy.

While the way Dracula died was a little anticlimactic, it was also pretty gruesome so that’s a plus.

Overall, it’s not something I’d repeatedly watch, but it’s a good horror film and it’s interesting seeing a “showa era style” vampire film. When is Toho going to bring back Dracula? Films like this, Matango, and House, really make me wish Toho would get back into making horror films.

[cloverfan98]

This was my favorite of the Vampire trilogy Toho did.

[King of the Monsters]

I picked up the whole trilogy in Arrow Video's Blu-ray set recently, and I'm glad I did. The Vampire Doll is my personal favorite, but all three are great and Lake is probably my second favorite. The movie does an excellent job building a sense of dread over its runtime and has a really creepy atmosphere strengthened by the cinematography, lighting, music, and set design. The vampire's house is a great creepy location, while the primary lake house setting perfectly drives home the feeling of isolation and hopelessness Akiko is clearly experiencing.

The highlight for me is easily Shin Kishida as the vampire. He was always one of my favorite actors from the Showa series, simply because of his awesome role as Nanbara in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, and here he takes advantage of his imposing screen presence to portray a character who is pure evil. I can see why some people have called him the "Japanese Christopher Lee," because he really captures the spirit of Lee's more monstrous and violent version of Dracula from the Hammer films. He doesn't have a lot of screentime here, but he steals the spotlight every time he appears and is a really intimidating villain. And unlike Christopher Lee in most of the Hammer films, Kishida actually gets to speak for more than a few lines which I think helps to make him a more memorable villain than he would otherwise be if he was simply a monster who only hisses and growls. He's also great in Evil of Dracula and gets more screentime, but I still think Lake is the overall better film. All three entries in the Bloodthirsty Trilogy are worth checking out in my opinion though, for horror fans, fans of Toho's sci-fi and horror offerings, or just fans of Japanese cinema.

[MechaGoji Bro7503]

This and the rest of the trilogy sound very interesting, I'll have to check them out. Good thing there's a recent release.

[H-Man]

For people living in São Paulo, Brazil (and I know you are many here), there will be a showing of Lake of Dracula at the Centro Cultural de São Paulo at 4 p.m.

Any opportunity to watch an old Toho movie on the big screen is a special one.

It's being shown on a double-bill with The Legend of Hell House.

[Terasawa]

Dope, projected from 16mm, so there's no telling what version will be shown (although my money is on the export version).

[H-Man]

Dope, projected from 16mm, so there's no telling what version will be shown (although my money is on the export version).

Cine Phenomena has done all sorts of double-features--until the pandemic hit; I'm sure this is their first post-pandemic showing. I usually turn out for the Japanese ones. I got to see Gojira and Shin Godzilla on the big screen, plus Onibaba and Hausu. Onibaba looked magnificent and the audience had a great time with Hausu. I did miss the Audition and Ichi: The Killer double feature, though.

[H-Man]

The film does have some pacing issues, especially when entering the third act. The set design is great and the finale is well mounted. It could have been shorn of some five minutes and it would've flowed better.

I'm curious as to what sort of advances were being made in the fields of hypnotism during the early 1970s, because it pops up again here. However, this one was arguably sillier because the male lead, a doctor, arrives at the conclusion that a vampire is responsible for the strange murders at the lake house, but then accuses the vampire of not being one, but of using hypnotism to convince himself that he is one.

And these Bloodythirsty movies love their spring-loaded animals.