Mini-Reviews: COUNT YORGA, THE SIGNAL, THIRTEEN WOMEN, and WHITE NOISE

Count Yorga, Vampire (1970) This slick production is one of the more satisfying vampire films of the ’70s. Robert Quarry is first-rate as the Hungarian Count Yorga who, shortly after immigrating to Los Angeles, starts mingling and then preying on a group of college hippies. Fast-paced and surprisingly scary at times, this is worth seeing just for Quarry’s seductive performance. B+

Thirteen Women (1932) A pre-code supernatural slasher that predicted future films like Final Destination about a group of school friends whom all receive ominous horoscopes from a mysterious psychic that foresee their untimely demises. Based on a novel, this is a surprisingly gruesome movie for its time and doesn’t shy away from the violence, including an intense opening in which a circus trapeze act goes horrible wrong. Apparently several scenes were cut before the film was released, which would explain why we only meet a handful of women and not the thirteen as promised; this is still worth checking out and at just 60 minutes, it’s a quick little gem. B

The Signal (2008) A variation on the zombie movie about an unknown radio signal that turns most of the population of a city into maniacal/delusional murderers. Segmented into three parts directed by different filmmakers (David Bruckner, Jacob Gentry, Dan Bush), the film achieves a moderate level of suspense in the first story but is hindered by a dull middle half filled with uninteresting characters and annoying plot devices. C

White Noise (2005) After the accidental death of his wife, Anna (Chandra West), an architect (Michael Keaton) is confronted by a stranger (Ian McNiece) who claims Anna has been sending him messages via EVP. Desperate to communicate with her, Keaton starts experimenting with radio waves and unleashing malignant entities that start wrecking havoc in his life. Shades of J-horror can be seen in this supernatural tale that was most likely inspired by the then-recent popularity of Japanese films Ring and Ju-on. It might not be original but this is decent stuff with a likable character in Keaton and some creepy moments. B

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