howard thompson of "the new york times" panned the film as "a dull, amateurish vampire brew." "variety" called it "a solid follow-up" to the original and "a handsome-looking film which rings the bell on both the shocker and satirical level." gene siskel of the "chicago tribune" gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four, calling it "extremely frightening" and adding, "persons familiar with the original will find the sequel better photographed, better acted and containing more mayhem a minute." kevin thomas of the "los angeles times" wrote, "those who saw 'count yorga' will be disappointed. those who only see 'the return' will wonder what all the fuss was about in regard to the original. in the first film comedy gave way to terror; in this self-conscious sequel the two elements tend to cancel each other out. the result is a pretty silly show." david pirie of "the monthly film bulletin" wrote that count yorga had been resurrected "with considerably more enterprise and panache than before." he praised the acting as being "of a generally high standard" and the castle set as "skilfully utilised to give the impression of a labyrinth of borgesian proportions," though he criticized "a totally unnecessary and feeble attempt to make the count into a sympathetic figure through such lines as, 'the most fragile emotion ever known has entered my breast.'"