The Return of the Vampire
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Movie Reviews of The Return of the Vampire
Movie Review: "Yes, alive, with the blood of his victims."
Summary: 4 Stars
After appearing in a slew of poverty row features throughout the 1930s and into the 1940s there's slight sense of renewal in seeing Bela Lugosi donning the role of a vampire in the film Return of the Vampire (1944). Oh sure, his character here isn't the same as the one he most famously portrayed in Tod Browning's Dracula (1931), but it might as well be...directed by Lew Landers (The Raven, Condemned Women), based on an idea from Kurt Neumann (Kronos, The Fly), the film stars, as I've mentioned, Bela Lugosi (Dracula, White Zombie). Also appearing is Frieda Inescort (The Alligator People), Nina Foch (Cry of the Werewolf), Roland Varno (Women in Bondage), Matt Willis (The Mark of the Whistler), Gilbert Emery (The House of the Seven Gables), and Miles Mander (Tower of London, The House of the Seven Gables), probably best remembered as his role of Cardinal Richelieu from the classic film The Three Musketeers (1939).
As the film begins we learn the year is 1918, and we're in the outskirts of London. Seems a woman, now a patient of a sanitarium run by a woman named Lady Jane Ainsley (Inescort), is suffering from a strange case of anemia, enough so to warrant Lady Jane to call in a colleague named Dr. Walter Saunders (Emery). After reviewing the works of a Romanian scientist named Armand Tesla, an authority on vampires, who's been dead for the past two hundred years, Saunders believes the woman's condition is tied to the supernatural. After Saunder's granddaughter Nicki is attacked, he and Lady Jane seek out the creature and stake it up good. Flash forward about twenty five years and we learn Lady Jane's son John Varno is engaged to Nicki (Foch). As the Jerries (i.e. the Germans) are aerial blitz bombing England (WWII was in full swing by this point), the vampire's grave is unearthed, and later a couple of comic relief types charged with graveyard detail cleanup remove the spike, which, as you can guess, brings the vampire back to life. Oh, by the way, the vampire is actually Armand Tesla (Lugosi) himself. Anyway, with his wolf man minion Andreas (Willis) in tow, Armand poses as a scientist named Hugo Bruckner, a recent escapee of a German concentration camp, to get close to Lady Jane and her family in order to exact his revenge for what went down so long ago, his dastardly scheme involving turning Nicki into pawn to do his bidding (man, vampires sure are a vindictive lot). Lady Jane soon realizes what's going on and enlists the aid of a skeptical Scotland Yard commissioner named Sir Frederick Fleet (Manders) to help her free her family of the curse of Tesla and put an end to the menace once and for all...
I think this film has a number of things going for it, the main being the presence of Bela Lugosi in the role of the vampire. Lugosi, who was in his early sixties at the time (I believe), still possessed a good deal of what he displayed some thirteen years prior in his landmark role of Dracula (charm, allure, magnetism, call it what you will). That's not to say this film is on par with Dracula, because it's not, but it is still a lot of fun, especially if you enjoy old timey monster movies (you know I do). I think the thing that hurts this film the most is the writing. It's not that it's bad, but it just feels so derivative of what came before. A number of aspects to sort of make up for this, including the solid performances, the decent direction, the atmospheric settings, and the overall strong production values (the graveyard bits were especially ookie). The wolf man bit tended to draw a few chuckles from myself as the character spent an inordinate amount of time slinking about, carrying, for reasons not entirely clear, Tesla's laundry bundled up in a paper parcel. I guess when you've spent the last twenty odd years in the ground, your clothes tend to get a bit rank, so it's advisable to always keep a clean outfit on hand. It's unclear why Tesla maintained a lackey in the form of a wolf man, other than it allowed for the inclusion of two monster type creatures rather than one. The wolf man character didn't seem to follow the established structure presented in past films in that his transformation here seemed voluntary, an aspect he could almost control, and not something dependant on the lunar cycles. I was willing to go along with this, but I was slightly annoyed by the fact he was relegated strictly as a lackey, present only to do the bidding of his vampire master. In my mind frame, a wolf man is no one's subordinate, except maybe for his lunar mistress. In wolf form Andreas really didn't seem all that menacing, but more like an oversized yappy dog in search of a treat. Another element I found a little hard to swallow was how quickly the scientific types were willing to buy off on the supernatural as being the cause for a strange, unexplained ailment. I suppose given the fact the film only runs about an hour and ten minutes there wasn't time allowed for them to deal with putting aside their secular leanings in order to accept the mythical, but still they, being Dr. Saunders and Lady Jane, seemed awfully easy to convince, based on so little, at least initially (then again, it is just a movie, so perhaps I shouldn't read so much into it). Taken for what it is, a middling monster movie loaded with atmosphere, the film is a lot of fun, and worth seeing if only to show Lugosi still had it, it being the ability to bring forth, many years after the fact, from a role he literally defined.
The picture on this Columbia/Tri-Star DVD release presented in fullscreen (1.33:1), looks relatively clean and clear, but does display some occasional white specking. The latter didn't bother me much as it didn't seem present throughout, and picture comes off as well as most any have probably ever seen it, bar those who may have been present for the original theatrical release. One noteworthy aspect is the inclusion of a bit of text prior to the opening credits, something apparently missing on previous VHS and Laserdisc releases. As far as the mono audio, it comes across well. There's not much in the way of extras except for subtitles in English, French, Spanish, and Japanese, along with a couple of trailers for the films Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) and The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958). The release seems a bit pricey for so seemingly little, but if you're a fan of Lugosi or old timey monsters, then you probably won't mind coughing up the dough to add this to your collection.
Cookieman108
Movie Review: Béla Is Back!
Summary: 4 Stars
During the 1930s and 1940s, Universal Studios had a string of hits with horror films. Most of these films went on to become classics, mainly because of the presence of three actors: Béla Lugosi, Boris Karloff, and Lon Chaney, Jr.. Universal was then imitated by many other studios that tried to capitalize on the success of these iconic horror films, but typically the results were disastrous. There were, however, a few noteworthy exceptions. In the Columbia Pictures film, The Return of the Vampire, Béla Lugosi once again played a bloodsucker, though this time in World War II England. His role as Armand Tesla is almost identical to the role he played in Dracula, which was the classic film from Universal that spawned the horror movie craze. Along with Béla Lugosi playing the archetypal vampire, there is also a reluctant werewolf, and a chase seen through a fog-enshrouded cemetery; all of these things, which could be attributed to the Universal Monster cycle of films. Unlike most attempts at recreating the atmosphere of the Universal films, The Return of the Vampire succeeds on most levels. The acting is of the same style and quality of the Universal films and look of the sets and costumes is very close to those films. The film so closely resembles the horror films of Universal that I'm surprised that the Universal Studios didn't sue for plagiarism. Luckily they did not.
During the air raids in London a vampire named Armand Tesla is accidentally resurrected after a bomb blast disturbs his coffin. He sets out to destroy those responsible for his temporary demise twenty-three years earlier. Tesla targets the offspring of his assailants, Lady Jane and Professor Saunders. He once again calls upon his slave, the reluctant werewolf Andréas to help him carry out his insidious plans. But little does Tesla realize that in his absence, Lady Jane has been teaching Andréas to resist his master's hypnotic powers. As Tesla takes his revenge, Lady Jane is forced to consider the possibility that only through sacrificing her son, John and Professor Saunders' granddaughter, Nikki will they be able to stop Tesla from spreading his plague of death and vampirism. But can Armand Tesla be thwarted?
While Béla Lugosi's performance is by no stretch of the imagination groundbreaking, viewers will delight in seeing him once again playing a Count Dracula-like vampire. The cast also includes Nina Foch, who later would famously declare that she hated horror films.
While the plot is not that dissimilar from other horror films of the time, it is interesting to see a B-movie address the war, even if they merely exploit it as a plot device. Most films intentionally avoided the subject for fear of depressing audiences further.
It's also fascinating to take note that Lugosi's costume is almost exactly the same as the one he wore in Dracula, and some film historians have even suggested that the costume he wore was that from the 1927 stage play of Dracula.
Despite it's predictable plot and hammy acting, The Return of the Vampire is a must-have for horror fans, if not for its story then for its star, Béla Lugosi. Another reason for adding this often-overlooked film to your collection is its novel ending. After seeing the disintegrated corpse of the vampire, a skeptical police investigator turns toward the camera and actually asks viewers if they believe in the existence of vampires. Priceless!
Also recommended:
Dracula: The Legacy Collection
Frankenstein: The Legacy Collection
The Wolf Man: The Legacy Collection
Hollywood's Legends of Horror Collection
The Val Lewton Horror Collection
Movie Review: Bela Still Got Bite in this Columbia Classic!
Summary: 4 Stars
Bela is back in a Columbia picture directed by Lew Landers, as a vampire who, with his well-spoken, Oxford educated (apparently) werewolf, stalk a cemetery in England.
The werewolf walked up to the coffin where Tesla hangs out (Armand Tesla, who also happens to be a published author of the supernatural) and gives Tesla a weather report of the night and fog. Being questioned, the werewolf admits to looking in a young lady's room (peeping Tom, man!) who was recently bitten by the vamp.
The doctors and scientists are puzzled. "This goes deeper than science", intones one professor.
And you know it's a Columbia picture by the introduction of two English children who are begging their parents if they could play the piano before going to bed. So cultured! In a Universal picture, they'd be screaming their guts out by now. But I digress.
I spoke too soon! Next scene, the children's room. They're sleeping soundly, except for the little girl who tosses and turns. A pane of glass pops from the French doors and in glides Tesla. Uh oh!
I must say the acting of the professor and the woman scientist is very stilted. "Did imagination cause those marks?" and "We must try them (cemeteries) both, are you coming with me?" "Yes." As if he's asking her to go to the supermarket or something. The acting lacks depth.
I found it interesting that the vampire gets staked early on in the film and that the werewolf (who was apparently carrying his laundry or something) is released from the vampyric spell and becomes "normal" again ,and works with Lady Jane and the professor, two of the most calm, normal people who have ever graced a horror movie! Ghastly! Love the werewolf in a suit!
There are great moments of suspense and intrigue as Tesla pretends he is a visiting scientist recently escaped from the Nazi's, as he tries to pick up where he left off (biting Nicky and now trying to get her). Cool stuff.
The film is very "talkie" and we have to go through tediously long conversations of how it's so impossible, what the legends say, etc., etc., yak yak yak. A Universal picture would have suspense and buckets of blood and horror by this time. Sigh.
Many years later the little girl grows up. The werewolf is now an assistant to Lady Jane, and Scotland Yard wants to lock her up for driving the stake through a dead body. Huh? First off, the guy was already dead. And secondly if they pull that stake out, per Hollywood horror legend mythology, Tesla may return! Yay!
The comedy relief with the Civil Defense boys is cute but typical. "Ain't even safe to be dead" is an ironic line. The "Jerrys" bombed the cemetery and the boys are cleaning up.
The story overall has suspense, is a bit too talkie and the acting tends to be stilted and dramatic, as if I'm watching a Bogart picture than a horror film.
Bela Lugosi as usual is intense and hasn't lost his bite!
Recommended.
Movie Review: Bela and a Talking Werewolf Get My Vote!
Summary: 4 Stars
This surprisingly good tale has Bela Lugosi donning a Dracula-like cape, this time playing a Romanian vampire named Armand Tesla. Tesla was a scientist seeking eternal life who eventually became a vampire. Tesla lives in a cemetary mauseleum protected by his talking werewolf servant Andreas. Throughout the film Andreas seems to always be carrying a package that looks like his laundry.
The story begins during WW I where Tessla is visiting a rich scientist's mansion, first praying on a woman then his young daughter (I wonder how that one got past the censors back then). The scientist and his wife seek out the vampire during the day and locate his hiding place at the cemetary (they follow barefoot footprints in the cemetary to the mauseleum. They are about to spike him when Andreas returns. He tells them to basically go ahead and after the dead is performed, Andreas is transformed into a man.
Tesla's body is buried in a secret grave and Andreas goes to work for the scientists. Things stay quiet until the beginning of WW II. The Germans (they are called Jerrys in the film) start bombing raids and for some reason they decide to bomb the cemetary (they want to make sure those dead people stay dead). The force of one of the explosions exposes the hidden grave of Tesla. Some comical grave diggers come by and see Tesla and figure that the spike should be removed before they rebury him (you wonder why his body isn't destroyed because he is in sunlight when they find him). Off course Tesla comes to life again after sundown and seeks out Andreas again.
Tesla assumes the identity of a visiting doctor that Andreas has disposed of. He arrives at the mansion and of course is the charming visiting guest (looks like a scene from any Dracula movie). Of course Tesla is after the little girl who is now grown into a beautiful woman. The female scientist starts to realize what is happening and must figure a way to defeat Tesla again before everyone ends up a victim.
The movie is fun and a good period piece. Though it was made by Columbia, it has the look and feel of any of the classic Universal monster films. The DVD extras include a hysterical trailer for Hammer's Revenge of Frankenstein as well as the trailer for Brahm Stoker's Dracula.
Movie Review: "It ain't even safe to be dead, anymore!"
Summary: 4 Stars
The definitive movie vampire, Bela Lugosi, stars in this entertaining Columbia production. Although mired in a downward career spiral of poverty row clunkers, Bela, ahem, rises to the occasion. Among the familiar vampire cliches, we find a unique character in Andreas (Matt Willis), the wolf man familiar that serves the vampire. This guy looks like Lon Chaney, Jr. in full makeup, but he does not go around howling at the full moon. Instead, he shows great restraint and is quite articulate as he speaks rather than growls. His fiendish appearance tells of the soul's evil and the vampire's spell. After a prologue, that shows the vampire's 1918 horror and dispatch, Andreas escapes the dark side with help from a kindly lady scientist (Frieda Inescort). He falls back into dreadful habits after a WWII bombing raid unearths Bela. The scenes in the London cemetery inflicted with bomb damage are surreal images of foggy darkness and the children of the night. The script suffers from some B picture limitations, but not enough to matter. Lugosi's character, Armand Tesla, is merely Dracula, winking at legal copyright infringements. He catches Nina Foch in his alluring web of unholy desire. The climax in the bombed-out church is done well, and covers a multitude of unlikely plot developments. Character actor and former Mack Sennett star, Billy Bevan, plays Horace, the comic civil defense worker who utters the above immortal dialogue. Some viewers may recognize Bevan as the hapless Whitby policeman, Albert, in Universal's "Dracula's Daughter." Atmospheric sets and a veteran cast add to the enjoyment. Great fun for genre fans and collectors. ;-)