1973 Lemora, A Child's Tale of the Supernatural

Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural 1973, aka Lemora, a Vampire Tale, Lemora, Lady Dracula, The Legendary Curse of Lemora. A young girl who returns to her hometown to see her dying father finds herself being drawn into a web of vampirism and witchcraft.
Director: Richard Blackburn; Writers: Richard Blackburn, Robert Fern
Stars: Lesley Taplin, Cheryl Rainbeaux Smith, William Whitton
Lemora is a 1973 American horror film written and directed by Richard Blackburn, and starring Cheryl Smith, Hy Pyke, and Lesley Gilb. It follows a young girl in Prohibition-era America who travels to a mysterious town to visit her father, and uncovers a coterie of vampires. It was also released under the alternate titles Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural, The Legendary Curse of Lemora, and Lemora, Lady Dracula.
Conceived by Blackburn, a former University of California, Los Angeles film student, Lemora was filmed on location in Pomona and surrounding areas. It had its premiere at Scripps College in April 1973, after which it was sold for distribution to Media Cinema Group, who cut the film by nearly forty minutes and released it theatrically in late 1974. The film was heavily criticized by the Catholic Legion of Decency, which deemed it "anti-Catholic."
Lemora was conceived by former University of California, Los Angeles film students Richard Blackburn and Robert Fern. Their main inspiration in making the film was Bob Kelljan's 1970 film Count Yorga, Vampire.
Casting : Smith, seventeen years old at the time of filming, played thirteen-year-old Lila Lee, her first major role. Writer-director Blackburn appears in the film as The Reverend.
Filming took place in and around locations in Pomona, California, including the Phillips Mansion, which was used for the exteriors of Lemora's house, and the Bradbury Chateau Estate, where the interiors were shot. Additional photography took place at the San Dimas Hotel. The Reverend's house was at Culver Studios, on what was once part of the exterior set for Mayberry on The Andy Griffith Show. Several of Blackburn's family and friends had roles in the production.
Release: Lemora had its premiere in Claremont, California, on April 30, 1973, at the Garrison Theater on the Scripps College campus. The audience response at this screening was allegedly so poor that Fern and Blackburn quickly sought to sell the film and recoup part of the money spent to produce it. Media Cinema Group purchased the movie, cut it from 85 minutes to 80, and distributed it to drive-in theaters and local cinemas in the United States, opening in December 1974