The Return of the Vampire

Bela Lugosi stars as Armand Tesla vampire, but this is the only movie I've ever seen that had a talking werewolf who carries the vampire's laundry in a package tied up with string. This was the only bad part of an otherwise very good 40's vampire movie. I'll give it an A.

If you're looking for a movie that will give you some good, old fashioned, escapism and not try to preach to or lecture you, you will enjoy this movie. Lugosi, with the aid of Andreas (his werewolf assistant) is once again trying to capture the heart and soul of a young woman. But, the young womans' soon to be mother-in-law is on to Lugosis' plot and a real battle royale is soon underway. This is a down to earth, old time vampire movie which takes place during the WW II years. Enjoy it for what it is and don't take it too seriously. IMHO, the walking, talking, sharp dressing vampire assistant is one of the best parts of the story. Andreas has a real inner conflict while trying to decide whether to help his evil vampire master or to help the heroine rid the earth of this monster.

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.

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 ****