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As a kid, Akiko (Midori Fujita) had a dream about her dog running away and her tracking him down - to the lair of a vampire. Now she's grown up though, but the memory doesn't only refuse to let go of her, it becomes more vivid then ever, especially when she finds her dog killed, and the caretaker (Kaku Takashina) of her house, a normally peaceful man, tries to rape her. At first, her sister Natsuko (Sanae Emi) and her boyfriend Saeki (Choei Takahashi) try to convince her everything is nothing but illusions - but then of course, Natsuko is already under the native vampire's (Shin Kishida) spell while Saeki is flooded with work at the hospital he's a doctor at. It's only when a girl is brought to the hospital who shows signs of vampirism that Saeki believes Akiko's side of things might be accurate. But the girl dies and is cremated before being properly examined. Now, Akiko and Saeki start to investigate, but while they're at it, the vampire sucks Natsuko dry, and Akiko and Saeki's attempts to bring her to hospital in time only lead to her dying on the way and reawakening as a vampire later on ...

With nothing else to do, Saeki tries hypnosis on Akiko and finds out that her dream from when she was five wasn't a dream at all but an actual event her mind just wouldn't accept - and now the two of them head for the vampire's lair to find out what has actually been happening all these years back and to find a way to deal with the vampire in the now. Thing is, the vampire's prepared ...

Probably more related to vampire movies from the West, especially the vampire flicks Hammer put out at the time, than anything of Asian descent, Lake of Dracula, despite its relative popularity in the West, will probably never be considered as a milestone of Japanese horror cinema - but that said, it's a very robust, deliberately slow-moving vampire flick that's sure to creep one out, thanks to a solid if not overly original script and a directorial emphasis on atmospher and mystery.

In all, first and foremost a really likeable piece of vintage genre cinema. No masterpiece perhaps, but a must-see for nostalgic horror afficionados (like me).

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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