is a 1970

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by Michio Yamamoto.

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

Yukiko Kobayashi is a Japanese actress. She appeared in more than ten films since 1965. , Filmography References External links * 1946 births Living people People from Tokyo Japanese film actresses {{Japan-film-actor-stub ...

as Yuko Nonomura * Yoko Minazake as Shidu Nonomura, Yuko's mother *

Atsuo Nakamura is a Japanese actor and politician. He has appeared in more than 50 films since 1964. His younger brother Katsuyuki Nakamura is a writer. Career Nakamura first joined the Haiyuza theatre troupe in 1962, and became famous for his starring role i ...

as Kazuhiko Sagawa, Yuko's fiancé * Kayo Matsuo as Keiko Sagawa *

Akira Nakao is a Japanese actor, TV personality, and artist from Kisarazu, Chiba. Nakao is represented by the Furutachi Project agency. Biography Nakao attended Chiba Prefectural Kisarazu High School from 1958, and entered Musashino Art University from 1961 ...

as Hiroshi Takagi, Keiko's fiancé * Jun Usami as Dr. Yamaguchi *

Sachio Sakai , born , was a Japanese actor. In 1947, he made his film debut with Akira Kurosawa's ''One Wonderful Sunday''. He often worked with Akira Kurosawa and Kihachi Okamoto. Filmography Films * ''One Wonderful Sunday'' (1947) as Ticket seller * ''Drun ...

as Taxi driver *

Kaku Takashina was a Japanese actor. He won the award for best supporting actor at the 9th Hochi Film Award and at the 6th Yokohama Film Festival for ''Mahjong hōrōki''. Selected filmography *''Tekken no machi'' (1947) *''Arabiya monogatari'' (1951) *''Koi ...

as Genzo

Production

''The Vampire Doll'' was the first of three vampire films made by

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer an ...

studios in the 1970s. ''The Vampire Doll'' was followed by ''

Lake of Dracula A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...

'' (1971) and ''Evil of Dracula'' (1974).

Release

''The Vampire Doll'' was released in Japan on July 4, 1970. 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. The release was limited only to Japanese theatres in New York and Los Angeles. The film has also gone under the title ''Legacy of Dracula''.

Reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' 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". 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".

Home media

In 2018,

Arrow Films Arrow Films is a British independent film distributor and restorer specialising in world cinema, arthouse, horror and classic films. It sells Ultra HD Blu-rays, Blu-rays and DVDs online, and also operates its own subscription video on-dema ...

released ''The Vampire Doll'', along with ''

'' and ''Evil of Dracula'', in a single Blu-ray set titled '' The Bloodthirsty Trilogy''. 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. ''The Vampire Doll'' is in Japanese language / subtitled only.

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vampire Doll, The 1970s Japanese-language films 1970 horror films 1970 films Toho films Japanese vampire films Films produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka Japanese supernatural horror films 1970s exploitation films 1970s Japanese films