LAKE OF DRACULA (1971)
Dracula returns in the second instalment of the Bloodthirsty Trilogy. Well, in spirit anyway since he never shows up. Again. If anything Legacy of Dracula would have been the more appropriate title this time around. In terms of content its influences sit somewhere between the original story and the 1958 Christopher Lee version. It's another remix of old and new images. It's far more stylish and colourful than the previous entry in this brief series. Does that make it the superior film? Well it depends on what you're after, as both have their flaws. The presentation is more interesting, but it lacks any real characterisation. It's flashier but less theme driven, so your mileage may vary.
Still, the opening is pretty entrancing. Akiko (Midori Fujita) has a recurring dream, in which her child self visits the sea with a tiny dog called Leo. Unfortunately the dog hasn't been trained properly and runs off into a spooky forest. Inside is a vampire's where house she comes across several shocking scenes, but eighteen years later it's unclear what was imagined and what was real. It's also unclear if this is the same house interior from The Vampire Doll, given a coat of paint, some cobwebs, and several new stained glass windows. But it's much lass drab so I can forgive a few cost cutting measures. The whole sequence is dreamy and ethereal, so it's a shame this is probably the best part of the film.
Now an adult, Akiko and her dog (now an Alsation, still called Leo) live by Lake Fujimi. Isn't it supposed to be Lake Dracula? The answer is no, it's just a catchy title. She paints the dream of a vampire with gold eyes, trying to make sense of it. The canvas depicts the eerie red sky and the hypnotic stare, in a way looking like a backdrop from 1964's Kwaidan. But here the hazy quality of the story starts to evaporate. There is a great moment involving a memory triggered by a piano played in a restaurant, but a lot more stock elements start to arrive. Which is a shame, even if most of them are pretty entertaining.
Soon a suspicious oblong box shows up at the lake, which is taken in by boat rental manager Kyusaku (Kaku Takashina). It's a big cliché and there are no prizes for guessing what's inside. It is at least actually Dracula's coffin. Maybe that would also have been a better title? But the creature inside is merely one of his descendants or perhaps cousins, cursed long ago. The vampire (Shin Kishida) has no clear motivations, beyond apparently wanting to make Akiko into one of his thralls. Her exact importance is never really explored, it's all just part of her random encounter as a child. At least the glowing eyes and the white scarf make him an intriguing figure, which can't really be said of the other characters.
'I'm not a child,' protests Akiko, after her third of fourth bought of hysteria. Most of the film revolves around her running about from one scary encounter to the next. Her boyfriend Takashi, (Chôei Takahashi) is a doctor who believes this is all in her mind. Her sister Natsuko (Sanae Emi) isn't quite as sceptical, but then she doesn't take life seriously in general. The dynamic is similar to Dracula's Lucy and Dr. Seward. A feisty leading lady becoming a vampire, and a man of science having to face the supernatural. Kyusaku stands in for the main vampire henchman. There are even scenes of hypnosis and a diary being written by a blood drained victim.
But beyond these influences there's not really much else going on under the surface, and Akiko's one note performances gets tiring pretty fast. Like Stoker's book it really needs more of the villain to keep things interesting. The other elements, those taken from Hammer, are much more compelling at least. Characters being struck by lightning and impaled on pieces of wood are fun horror beats. One falling stunt recalls The Curse of Frankenstein, while another stands out for just being funny and unexpected. All these brief moments and special effects, combined with a lot of jazzy music, make it an entertaining if never a complex tale of the macabre.
Perhaps this is all a story about religions migrating from the West to influence Japan. But that's a real stretch of the imagination, and this is far from Silence. A blink and you'll miss it reference to the vampire's origin doesn't really amount to anything truly intriguing. Which means that this is another fun but incredibly brief story, with another rushed conclusion. If the chirpy sister and the undead monster were given more screen time it would help. Or if the dream versus reality element was focused on more. It's a weird mixture, half formed pieces of Stoker and Fisher floating in a misty lakeside ether. As a result the movie is like a dream you can't quite remember on waking; lot's of weird moments, but never anything truly memorable.
3/5
