Review of Deathmaster (1972) by Joseph P — 12 Feb 2014

A time-capsule of early '70s exploitation horror, I remember this flick from late-night showings on WOR TV out of New York. Cheap as it is, I remember that the gloomy ending - when it came at 2:00am - was disturbing and scary. Robert Quarry ("Count Yorga, Vampire") stars as Khorda, a juxtaposition of Count Dracula and Charles Manson, who descends upon a group of hippies and plies them with hippie philosophy. They take him in as their guru, blissfully unaware that his endless philosophizing that they purge their blood of drugs and impurities is just so that they provide him an impurity-free food source. The only one who doesn't fall for Khorda's guru-act is Pico (Bill Ewing), who tries (and fails) to save his friends and girlfriend (Brenda Dickson) from Khorda's feast. The script is inferior at best, deliberately tossing in as many exploitation elements as you can think of (bikers, kung fu, hippies, and so on). It's Quarry (who also produced) who saves the movie, rising way, way above the material to provide an almost Shakespearean performance. He plays his role absolutely straight, even when he has to spout out atrocious hippie-drivel. It's just fun to watch him work. The presence of veteran character actor John Fiedler helps legitimize the film to some extend.

As explained by Quarry in an excellent commentary track, this film was purchased by distributors as a tax write-off, and was given a very limited release. It spent some time on late-night television before disappearing for nearly thirty years. Watching it now, it's an amusing bit of nostalgia, and watching Quarry give his all makes it at least worth the viewing experience.