By the early seventies, the vampire genre was in dire need of some new blood. Hammer Studios' popular Dracula franchise with Christopher Lee had become increasingly formulaic and horror fans were becoming bored by their predictability. But change was in the air and the vampire film would soon enjoy a resurgence led by the arrival of the low-budget sleeper Count Yorga, Vampire in 1970. The movie's unexpected box office success not only spawned a sequel, The Return of Count Yorga (1971), but paved the way for Deathmaster (1972), Blacula (1972) and a number of more sexually explicit vampire thrillers such as Vampyres (1974).