The Return of the Vampire

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.

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.

Return of the Vampire is, despite its title not a sequel to Mark of the Vampire.

In this vampire movie, a vampire is staked during World War 1 but then in the Second World War, two gravediggers bury him again after an air raid. They don't realise this corpse is a vampire after pulling the stake out his chest. He regenerates and gets a job in a lab. He has the help of a werewolf that can talk and killings once again start...

One of the best things about this movie is that talking werewolf. I don't think I've seen another movie with one. Unusual.

The cast is lead by Bela Logosi as the Dracula-like vampire. I've never heard of anybody else in this.

Return of the Vampire is worth checking out, especially if you are a fan of Bela.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.

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.

Lew Landers directed a lot of crap during his long, prolific career, but when he was on his game, as in The Raven (1934), and this film, he could produce a horror movie as good as any. The Return of the Vampire may be nothing more than a little Columbia B picture, but it exhibits more craft, care, and professionalism than 90 percent of what comes out of Hollywood today. The foggy, expressionistic photography and sets are fantastic, with excellent use of shadow and camera movement, and the early scenes of Lugosi prowling through mist and darkness, shot mostly from behind, or in silhouette, are striking in their spectral intensity. Lugosi once again shows why he ranks among the immortals; he is more commanding and magnetic walking from point A to point B in his top hat and tails than most actors are emoting through pages of dialog. Screenwriter Griffin Jay and director Landers go out of their way to showcase Lugosi's unique talents; he is given a great part with many substantial scenes to play, and Landers shoots him to his fullest advantage. Frieda Inescort, as Lugosi's nemesis, is sublimely up to the challenge, and their scenes together, especially their climactic confrontation at the pipe organ, are the best in the film. Sure, Return of the Vampire has its weak elements, such as Matt Willis's unfortunate talking werewolf, but let them pass. There are few moments in cinema as inspiring as watching Lugosi at full throttle, and Return of the Vampire has that in spades.