ToHo does Godzilla. Everybody knows that. They do kaiju. It’s like certain studios, and certain cultures, have their own unique territory staked out. (Pun intended, and unavoidable.) ToHo does giant monsters, Hammer did (and now does again) gothic Horror, Universal did the classics. This appearance is illusory, though. There were plenty of giant monster movies put out by the US during the 50s, a whole smorgasbord of ’em, and it was an American movie–the original KING KONG–that inspired the creation of the most famous of all kaiju, Godzilla himself. Also, the Frankenstein Monster has appeared, in a much larger form, battling other kaiju in Japanese movies. And, after noticing the success of Hammer and its vampires, ToHo decided to get in on the bloodsucker business by releasing THE BLOODTHIRSTY TRILOGY in the 1970s.
The trilogy consisted of THE VAMPIRE DOLL, released in 1970, followed quickly by LAKE OF DRACULA in 1971 and then EVIL OF DRACULA four years later. Then ToHo went back to making kaiju movies.
A JAPANESE Dracula? Why not! THE BLOODTHIRSTY TRILOGY is getting a BluRay release, so the three films will look and sound better than ever before. They’re worth checking out, as a curiosity if nothing else.