Doc Rotten's 666 Revelations: Horror Icons of 1970

In 1970, the horror icons of the sixties were firmly in place and getting prime roles, Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing and Vincent Price. Horror studios, however, were hungry to find eager young stars to take their place. Some would be successful (Robert Quarry) and most would make little (but not unimportant) impact on horror history (Ralph Bates). Even TV horror stars (Jonathan Frid) would get an opportunity to shine. Below are six of the horror icon male performances of 1970.

ROBERT QUARRY as COUNT YORGA in COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE

Count Yorga is Robert Quarry's breakout role, the drive-in hit would establish him as a horror icon and AIP would begin to steer him to replace Vincent Price in their string of horror hits. An overnight success after working in the business for over twenty years. Quarry's performance as Yorga would lay the foundation for the modern vampire. No longer trapped in Victorian England, his vampire could walk the walk and talk the talk of 1970's Los Angeles. He was perfect for the role. He would follow the role up with The Return of Count Yorga (1971), Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972), Deathmaster (1972), Madhouse (1974) and Sugar Hill (1974). AIP's plans for his rise to stardom would fall apart in the late 70's and Quarry would never get his chance to shine. He would quietly disappear from acting in the early 80's, but would return by 1990. He would star in low budget horror fare such as Evil Spirits (1990), Teenage Exorcist (1991) and Evil Toons (voice 1992), mostly for director Fred Olen Ray.

RALPH BATES as VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN in HORROR OF FRANKENSTEIN

Throughout the Sixties Hammer had been capitalizing on the horror icon status of it principal stars, Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. During the Seventies, they would try to forge new stars with younger casts. Ralph Bates found himself as one of those stars-to-be. In 1970, they cast him as Lord Countley in Taste the Blood of Dracula (opposite Christopher Lee) and as Victor Frankenstein in Horror of Frankenstein, an attempt to reboot their successful Frankenstein series. With Horror of Frankenstein, he was obviously positioned to be the replacement for Peter Cushing and was even photographed with the legend on the film's Elstree set with Cushing 'handing over' the title role. The film did not perform as well as Hammer had hoped and Bates star never quite reached icon status. However, he would continue to star in Hammer films such as Lust for a Vampire (1971), Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde (1971) and Fear in the Night (1972).

DAVID PROWSE as THE MONSTER in HORROR OF FRANKENSTEIN

As much as Ralph Bates was designed to replace Peter Cushing as Baron Frankenstein in Horror of Frankenstein, David Prowse was set to step into the shoes of Christopher Lee as the monster. Cast primarily on his muscular build and physical presence, he certainly looks the part. The special effects artists and designers for Horror of Frankenstein would not create an indelible creature design as Christopher Lee received for The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and would find himself struggling to leave a mark on the role. Threatening only in size and strength, Prowse's monster lacks the repulsion and terror necessary to frighten audiences. David Prowse would continue to make films for Hammer studios in movies like Vampire Circus and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, neither of which would give him any lines of dialog. In 1977, he would rise to international fame portraying the greatest villain in film history, Darth Vader in Star Wars, even if the character was not voiced by Prowse himself (instead voiced by James Earl Jones).

JONATHAN FRID as BARNABAS COLLINS in HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS

Jonathan Frid would rise to fame portraying Barnabas Collins on the gothic cult television soap opera Dark Shadows beginning in the mid-sixties. In 1970, he would bring the role to the screen with House of Dark Shadows directed by the show's creator, Dan Curtis. The feature's story focuses on Barnabas' story alone and his persuit of a cure with the help of Doctor Juila Hoffman. A cure is found, but it only works for a short while. In one scene, Barnabas is aged to 175 and Frid wears the same makeup created by Dick Smith and worn by Dustin Hoffman in Little Big Man earlier that same year. By 1971, times would change and the TV series would get canceled. When a sequel to House of Dark Shadows is filmed, Barnabas is nowhere to be found, replaced by Quentin Collins (David Shelby). Following House of Dark Shadows, Jonathan Frid would act primarily in theater but would get the opportunity to star opposite Shelly Winters in the TV movie of the week The Devil's Daughter (1973) directed by Jeannot (Bug and Jaws 2) Szwarc and to star in Oliver Stone's first feature film, Seizure (1974).

CHRISTOPHER LEE as COUNT DRACULA in TASTE THE BLOOD OF DRACULA

1970 was a busy year for Christopher Lee, who would star in no less than 10 motion pictures, most of which would be horror films. Remarkably, the man many still consider the Count Dracula would star as the vampire king in three different releases: Taste the Blood of Dracula and Scars of Dracula for Hammer studios and Count Dracula for Jesus Franco. Frustrated with Hammer's take on Dracula he stars in Franco's attempt at a "faithful" interpretation of the Bram Stoker classic. In Scars of Dracula, Dracula was presented in a more heinous light, more cruel and sadistic that previous Hammer films. Taste the Blood of Dracula would be the last "classic" Hammer Dracula portrayal to the screen. After Scars of Dracula, Hammer would bring the vampire to the present to compete with Count Yorga and other modern vampires with Dracula A.D. 1972. Hammer quickly follows it up with The Satanic Rites of Dracula, with the Count still set firmly in the present and still facing his enemy Van Helsing (or at least Van Helsing's decedents). Lee would refuse to play Dracula after that and for Hammer's final Dracula picture, the Count would be played by John Forbes-Robertson in The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires. But, in 1970, Christopher Lee WAS Count Dracula; he owned the role, so much so that even today he is still closely associated to the role and anyone who plays the Count is compared to Lee.

PETER CUSHING as GENERAL VON SPEILSDORF in VAMPIRE LOVERS

Beginning in 1970, Hammer would transition the focus of their scripts more toward the titillating features of their horror films, making stars of their female leads (such as Igrid Pitt and Caroline Munroe). This would not keep their primary horror icon out of work however; someone had to chase the monsters down, stake them and behead them. And no one could do it better than Peter Cushing. Vampire Lovers is the first of the Karnstein Trilogy and would focus more on the female vampires than previous hammer blood sucking classics. As General von Spielsdorf, Peter Cushing uncovers Carmilla's plans and confronts her, stakes her and then cuts off her head in glorious Hammer gory fashion. He would return in Twins of Evil (1971), the third in the trilogy, in a similar role as Gustav Weil. Mostly known as Professor Van Helsing or Baron Frankenstein (and as Grand Moff Tarken to many), Peter Cushing would only continue to cement his role as one of the greatest horror stars with roles such as General von Speilsdorf.