THE RETURN OF DRACULA (1958) / THE VAMPIRE (1957)

[The Burgomaster]

This is another Midnite Movies double feature DVD I bought recently.

THE RETURN OF DRACULA (1958) is basically a vampire version of Alfred Hitchcock's SHADOW OF A DOUBT.  Count Dracula (Francis Lederer) kills an artist named Bellac who is on his way to visit relatives in the United States.  Since none of Bellac's U.S. relatives had seen him since he was a child, it is easy for Dracula to impersonate the man and live with his family members.  One of his relatives, a teenager named Rachel, begins to suspect that Bellac is not who he claims to be.  This is a harmless, routine 1950s vampire movie.  It's in black & white and has a very brief color sequence showing blood spurting out of a stake wound.

THE VAMPIRE (1957) is also known as MARK OF THE VAMPIRE (and was frequently shown on television when I was a kid using the longer title).  This is a vampire movie with an unusual twist: the "vampire" is created when a small-town doctor takes the wrong pills!  (Damn, I hate it when I take "turn into a vampire pills" instead of migraine pills!)  The pills cause him to transform into a ghoulish monster who lurks around and kills townfolk.  Kenneth Tobey, who appeared in numerous sci-fi and horror flicks, and went on to play a deputy in BILLY JACK, is a cop who suspects something is amiss.  The whole concept of this movie is ridiculous, but at least they TRIED to break away from making a formulaic vampire movie.

Overall, not a bad "B" movie time-wasting double-feature for about $10.00.

[Evan]

Ive wanted to see thse ever since they were mentioned on Bleedingskull.com. The Return of Dracula looks bettger than the Vampire, but they both look great.

[Scott]

THE RETURN OF DRACULA looks interesting. Never heard of it.

[Shadow]

These are examples of that rare and elusive film for me: genre movies from the 1950's that I have never seen. I really want to get this disc, but unfortunately bills come first.