John Lasell--DEATHMASTER (1972)

[Gothick]

Fans, A friend loaned me the DVD of this film and I just finished watching it.  I was very surprised to see John Lasell (who played Dr. Guthrie, nemesis of Laura Collins) show up in a minor role as a copy.  I did a short review of the film for a friend's site:

DEATHMASTER (1972). How do you sum up an early Seventies B-movie horror hash that includes vampires, hippies, biker boys, Satanism, communes, surfer boys, nubile chicks out for a good time and a worldly-wise cougar who knows how to swing, incense, peppermints, "organic" food... oh and LEECHES? Sublime in its awfulness, this one really has it all. It's really, truly, insanely bad, but just try to look away. Bobby "Boris" Pickett sings a hippie ballad about finding yourself, TV regular John Fiedler appears as a sort of gay hippie granny named Pop (Fiedler actually goes through the film wearing a macrame vest--hey, it was the Seventies!) and Dark Shadows alumnus John Lasell plays a cop. As if that weren't enough, infamous soap diva Brenda Dickson debuts as a confused hippie chick who becomes prime vampire bait. Directed by cult actor Ray Danton. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-rcsNNmlXY

The movie was a fun watch.

G.

[Gothick]

Lasell played a cop, not a "copy."  I just now noticed the typo, but it's too late to edit the post.

I looked at his IMDB credits... he showed up in quite a few things, and no death date is given.  He was born in 1928 so he would be in his mid 80s now.

G.

[Uncle Roger]

I haven't seen this in years but it was a lot of fun. With none other than Robert Quarry, Count Yorga himself, as the Deathmaster.

[David]

Brenda Dickson needs help, and I mean that quite seriously!

I watched the trailer, it reminds me of the hippies in Depp Shadows. I wonder if Burton cribbed Deathmaster deliberately?

[Gothick]

It could well have been, David-Elijah.  Hippies stumbling into/over vampires and Satanism feature in a number of early 1970s films... DRACULA A. D. 1972 and TOWER OF EVIL both come to mind (no hippies or Satanists in the latter, but a bizarre phenomenon somehow related to an ancient Pagan cult). 

I thought Burton was attempting an homage to a number of his favorite Sixties and Seventies genre obsessions in DEPP SHADOWS.  I will leave it to you whether the "homage" wound up being a delightful salute, or a ghastly train-wreck...

I can't believe I omitted to mention Quarry in my original post!  His scenes are definitely the most memorable elements of DEATHMASTER.  I really want to see RETURN OF COUNT YORGA.  The original Yorga film had at least one scene that seemed clearly to be inspired by the original Barnabas storyline of 1967.

G.

[Patti Feinberg]

How do you sum up an early Seventies B-movie horror hash that includes vampires, hippies, biker boys, Satanism, communes, surfer boys, nubile chicks out for a good time and a worldly-wise cougar who knows how to swing, incense, peppermints,

Aren't ALL early 70s vamp movies like this? As previously mentioned, Dracula '72, plus ones which I can't remember names of....they all sort of meld together....
Fun especially if I call one of my daughters in...I try to explain THIS was the type of TV in MY day (with, of course, very limited channels). They just roll their eyes & walk away.
It's very sad I CANNOT get them to watch original (well, Bela Lugosi) Dracula or Frankenstein.

Patti