The Return of the Vampire

In the 18th-century, Dr. Armand Tesla, a "depraved" Romanian scientist, developed an unhealthy obsession with the supernatural--vampires in particular--and became a foul creature of the night shortly after his death. Flash forward to 1918 and Tesla, with the help of his rather pathetic werewolf slave, has relocated to a desolate cemetery in London. After preying on the young niece of the intrepid scientist Walter Saunders, who immediately deduces a vampire is on the loose, Saunders and his colleague Lady Jane Ainsley find the vampire in his lair & drive a spike through his heart.

Twenty-five years later, German bombers disturb the cemetery where Tesla lays at rest & two cockney civil-defense workers remove the stake from the vampire's unearthed body. That night, Tesla sets out to reclaim his now reformed flunky, Andreas, whose "iron-will" shows through as it takes no more than a few minutes in Tesla's presence before he's furring out again. The vampire sets out to take revenge on those responsible for his quarter-century dirtnap, but like all malevolent beings in these types of horror films, his cruel mistreatment of his servant will eventually come back to bite him...

"The Return of the Vampire", while no masterpiece, is chock full of some wonderful atmosphere & images: the fog-bound cemeteries, Lugosi's outstretched cape, the entranced young beauty (Nina Foch) hypnotically walking through the graveyard. Speaking of those graveyards, have you ever stopped to wonder how this vampire can be so repulsed when a cross is shoved in his face, yet has no trouble stalking around cemeteries littered with giant stone-crosses.

Lugosi, of course, still has his vampire-mojo working, his line readings being as priceless as ever. As for his servant, was there any point in subjecting Matt Willis to a werewolf makeup, aside from Columbia feeling the need to jump on the bandwagon in light of that "Wolf Man" character that was making money for Universal Pictures. Matt's role could've just as easily been played as a totally human lapdog (ala Renfield). Being in a lycanthropic state doesn't enhance the character in anyway--the only thing the fur does is give Willis the dubious distinction of being one of the sorriest specimens of werewolf to prowl through a Hollywood movie.

This beautifully shot B&W 1940s vampire film is loaded with the kind of old fashioned, spooky atmosphere that fans of classic Gothic horror will love. The fogbound sets are deliciously creepy, the graveyard & crypt sets nothing short of fabulous! The spooky music adds a lot as well. Bela Lugosi, about 60 here and well into the undeserved waning days of his career, is damn good. Tall, imposing, and as strong a screen prescence as ever, he raises questions as to why the often heartless and stupid film industry did not make better use of his talents. He shows here that he could certainly still carry a film and command the screen. But the script needed work. Matt Willis as the talking werewolf is laughable. When he's seen entering the graveyard carrying what looks like a package of Chinese laundry, I howled! I just couldn't see him running shopping errands in his werewolf garb! And no explanation is offered as to why the vampire's slave turns into a werewolf, a state he retains regardless of whether or not the moon is full. He's a wolf even in broad daylight. Still, this is a fun, somewhat creepy film, and Lugosi is always worthy of your time.

It's interesting that even though Bela Lugosi enjoys an eternal reputation of playing the most imitated vampire of all (the legendary Count Dracula), the actor really didn't star as a true bloodsucker in that many motion pictures. But he's nothing less than the real deal here, in an enjoyably misty and moody horror offering which was produced by Columbia Pictures, yet could be easily mistaken for any one of the 1940s classics that Universal Studios was churning out at this time.

Though Bela looks and sounds much like Dracula with his trademark flowing cape and piercing eyes, this time he plays a different character called Armand Tesla, a vampire who rises from his grave in ravaged WW II times to seek revenge many years after being destroyed with a metal spike. Frieda Inescort is a welcome change of pace as a female "Van Helsing" type of protector, and the Lon Chaney-ish Matt Willis is cast as a pitiable servant named Andreas, who becomes corrupted by Tesla and is transformed into a werewolf that TALKS! Adding this hirsute Renfield character in fangs and fur was possibly an effort by Columbia to compete with Universal's current monster rally, FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN. Nina Foch is the pretty young damsel in distress whom the vampire plots to possess. Fans of Bela Lugosi and the classic old Universal monster movies will not want to skip this one. *** out of ****

Pop quiz: How many times did Bela Lugosi portray Dracula on film? If you answered "twice," in the 1931 "Dracula" and in 1948's "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein," give yourself a silver crucifix. If you answered "three times," well, you're kind of right, too. In "The Return of the Vampire," Lugosi plays a hickeymeister identical to old Dracky, but because this is a Columbia picture and not a Universal, he is here saddled with the name Armand Tesla. By any other name, and all that. Less creaky than the original "Dracula" but at the same time far less amusing than "A&C Meet Franky," this film is a modest little outing that nevertheless succeeds in the entertainment department. The picture's setting--1941 London during the Blitz--and the bloodsucker's assistant--another sympathetic werewolf--add some novel touches to the usual vampire fare, and Frieda Inescort makes for a very pretty and no-nonsense adversary for the nocturnal neck nosher. Indeed, she is probably the single best aspect of the picture. Bela is fine, of course, but his screen time is limited to a few memorable scenes. With an uncluttered screenplay and a running time of only 69 minutes, the picture does move along quite briskly; you won't be bored, that's for sure. I'm still unclear as to just why Frieda's Lady Jane character doesn't recognize Tesla, after having helped "slay" him 23 years before the main action in the film, but I suppose that this is a minor matter. My suggestion: Rent this one out along with the 1959 film "The Alligator People" and have a Frieda Inescort horror double feature one rainy night. You could do a lot worse.

I really enjoyed this movie. It was unique in that the Vampire had a werewolf as his assistant. This werewolf wears a suit, talks, smiles and, in general, acts like a normal human being. The movie was basically a sequel to Dracula but the vampire played by Bela Lugosi could not use the name Dracula because this was a Columbia picture and Universal Studios had the legal rights to the Dracula character. But, it was still Lugosi at his scary, pompous best.