Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural

"Run, little girl! Innocence is in peril tonight!"

1974 1h 25m EN

😐

6.1

MID

🍅

88%

FRESH

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.1

IMDB

★6.1TMDB · 71🍅88%Rotten Tomatoes●49Metacritic★6.1IMDB · 2,857

Horror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A notorious bank robber kills his wife and flees the police, only to be captured by a mysterious group of figures in an abandoned town. His beautiful daughter, Lila Lee, receives a letter stating that her father is near death and that he needs to see her. Sneaking away at night from her minister guardian, Lila embarks on a terrifying journey...

“Run, little girl! Innocence is in peril tonight!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Lesley Gilb Taplin
Lemora
Cheryl Smith
Lila Lee
William Whitton
Alvin Lee
Hy Pyke
The Bus Driver
Maxine Ballantyne
The Old Woman
Steve Johnson
The Ticker Seller
Parker West
The Young Man
Richard Blackburn
The Reverend

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Richard Blackburn
Writers: Richard Blackburn, Robert Fern
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

85 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

52 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Richard Blackburn, shot by Robert Caramico. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Dan Neufeld. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Pieter Hubbard shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Lesley Gilb Taplin and Cheryl Smith and William Whitton carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Run, little girl! Innocence is in peril tonight!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Richard Blackburn directs. Robert Caramico behind the camera. Dan Neufeld scores. Pieter Hubbard cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

185 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
252 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
4Directed by Richard Blackburn, shot by Robert Caramico. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Dan Neufeld. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Pieter Hubbard shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Lesley Gilb Taplin and Cheryl Smith and William Whitton carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Run, little girl! Innocence is in peril tonight!".
9IMDB entry: tt0070300 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Only 71 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Robert Caramico
Original score: Dan Neufeld
Editing: Pieter Hubbard
Costume design: Rosanna Norton
Runtime: 85 min · 1h 25m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural (1974)
Rotten Tomatoes: 88% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 49/100
IMDB rating: 6.1/10 · 2,857 votes
MPAA: PG

Also by

Richard Blackburn

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2022-05-20
★ 6/10
Cult flick of dreamy gothic horror with Cheryl Smith In early 30’s America, a girl (Smith) who lives with a minister is summoned by letter to the town of Ashtaroth to visit her dying father, a gangster. There she encounters horrific beings in the woods and the curiously calm and collected Lemora (Lesley Taplin), who welcomes her into her Victorian mansion. Horror ensues. “Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural” (1973) is colorful dreamlike horror by one-shot director, Richard Blackburn, a college student who concocted the story with a pal inspired by “Count Yorga, Vampire” (1970). Blackburn, by the way, plays the minister. An alternative title is “Lady Dracula,” which is fitting since the story is reminiscent of the first part of Dracula, just exchanging a teenage blonde for Jonathan Harker and Lemora for the Count, not to mention switching the setting to Prohibition Era America. It’s similar in ways to the haunting “Messiah of Evil” (1973) except with a younger protagonist and the milieu of the early 30s. Francis Ford Coppola presumably borrowed bits for his horror fantasy “Twixt” (2011). The lovely Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith was only 17 during shooting and has a genuine innocent quality. She appeared in many ‘B’ flicks throughout the 70s/early 80s, but fell prey to hard drugs and contracted hepatitis, which ultimately killed her by the too-young age of 47 in 2002. The film runs about 1 hour, 25 minutes, and was shot in Pomona, California, e.g. the Phillips Mansion, and nearby San Dimas (to the north), both a 20-minute drive east of Los Angeles. GRADE: B-/C+

Production companies