The slo-mo attack in the morgue
Hands down, one of the scariest scenes in the whole movie, if not *the* scariest.
shareYeah it is!!!!But I also like Scream Blacula Scream was worse...
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MovieChat Forums > Blacula (1972) Discussion > The slo-mo attack in the morgue
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They copied it from the 1970 flick "COUNT YORGA".
Didn't sleep for a week after that one (true I was only 10, but never been spooked that badly before or since).
If only you could see what I have seen through your eyes.
If you mean that scene at the end of Count Yorga, it might have definitely been an inspiration but I don't think they copied it. The girl in Yorga lunged from 2 feet or less away and the girl in Blacula ran across the room.
shareNo I didn't mean the FAST EDIT "Count Yorga" shock ending.
I meant the earlier SLOW MOTION (hence thread title) scene where Yorga chases the boyfriend down a corridoor. The sequence trademarked the movie to the extent that an almost identical Slo-mo attack scene on a Pier was included in the sequal "Return of Count Yorga".
Both movies predate Blacula and hence my claim that Blacula's slo-mo scene was inspired by them.
If only you could see what I have seen through your eyes.
I first saw the scene while watching the trailer for this movie, and I found it to be creepy. when I watched this film for the first time today, it was still a bit creepy.
Welcome to my Nightmare- Freddy Krueger
As one of the writers of Blacula I can say with certainty that the slow motion sequence in the morgue was not inspired by Count Yorga, as neither Raymond nor I had seen the Count Yorga films before we wrote Blacula. The idea came from thinking about the terror of someone coming at the camera like that. The other thing about that whole morgue bit was Ray and I really wanted Elisha Cook Jr. for the role (because we both loved him in The Maltese Falcon) and we wanted him to have a hook for a hand so the fight could be terrible and at the end we wanted the hook to scrape down the wall as he died. But this was AIP and they didn't want to spend any money on effects so they had a hook taped to the end of his hand and it looked ridiculous and I never thought it t worked. But Elisha made the most of what he was given. When we saw the film with a packed house at the premiere that morgue scene got the biggest scream. Very satisfying.
shareHey Linda! Hows it going? It's awesome to meet one of the brain-waves behind this great horror film! IMO Blacula is one of the best horror films from the 70s hands down. The sequel "Scream Blacula Scream" is only a notch under! I believe you when you say that Count Yorga was not a inspiration for that scene.
Thanks for the wonderful film!
Ooo!!!! Lookie Mommy! I have my own Signature! O'le!
That's awesome that the writer commented here! I love this scene also, was pretty freaky.
share(BTW lindsaysfnm is not one of the writers - Joan was borrowing my account to respond. Wish I had that talent!)
shareWasn't the corridor scene in "Return" and the pier scene (which I don't recall being slow-motion) in the original?
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No Dr_Strange trust me...
The Corridor scene is in "Yorga" and the Pier Scene is in "Return of Yorga".
Also good to see Blacula's writer on the thread and I obviously bow to her (?) version of events.
PS: Suprising that the decision to film slo-mo was the Writer's choice and not the Director's initiative (as would normally be the case).
If only you could see what I have seen through your eyes.
I looked it up just to be sure myself, and if this is the corridor scene you are talking about, it takes place in Return - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu42nM7gh4I&t=69m13s
Although I was wrong about the pier scene. It is in "Return" as well (about 49 minutes in)
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Well shut my mouth and hats off to dr_strange!
But now I'm bemused because I KNOW I saw "Yorga" as a kid before "Return" because it scared the living *beep* out me.
And one the reasons it left my "Hammer Horror" weened sensibilities so traumatised (apart from the modern setting, shark toothed vamps, disturbingly low impact crucifixes, cat carnage, and the freeze frame shock ending) was the fact that Yorga killed off the apparent male lead (Paul) half way through the movie.
And I could have sworn he did this with a slow-mo stranglehold (in a corridor of sorts) and then roped in his henchman to deliver a back-breaking coup de grace.
My recollection seems corroberated by an Amazon review of the ORIGINAL "Yorga" which states that...
"Kelljan does a pretty good job of keeping the plot ticking along, and Quarry does provide some solid scares....especially the shots of him bearing down on his victims in slow motion, arms outstretched and fangs bared."
http://www.amazon.com/Count-Yorga-Vampire-Robert-Quarry/dp/0792843908
So just to put a stake through the heart of this thing once and for all - can anyone please clarify the precise circumstances under which Yorga strangles Paul in the original movie? Was it slo-mo or not?
If only you could see what I have seen through your eyes.
Saw both Count Yorga films, and they're both actually pretty good---particularly the second one. The first one was more creepy, while the second one had those two funny as heck cops in it. The part where one of them is saying, "You have the right to remain silent..." while one of the female vampires is coming towards him was really funny, lol.
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I too thought it was scary as Hell (also the "From under the sheet" morgue scene) but I couldn't help thinking "How much notice does he need to get out of the way??" She ran screaming at him from about 30ft away and he hardly moved! (I don't buy "frozen with terror!")
Awight we're The Daamned we're a punk baand and this is called Carn't Be Appy T'day!
Hands down, one of the scariest scenes in the whole movie, if not *the* scariest.
Without a doubt. Time hasn't really diminished it's impact, either, IMO.
No blah, blah, blah!
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I was 7 in 1972 and remember to this day how much that scene scared me. The bit with the lady in her photo darkroom also terrified me. I didn’t see the movie again until I was almost 30, and both those scenes (particularly the morgue scene) were still powerful. The sequel scared me, too.
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