Watch The Return of the Vampire For Free

Strong and Moving!

Just what I expected

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

From about 1931 to 1945, Universal Studios produced a rightly-famous run of monster-based horror films which have contributed greatly to the whole genre within the public consciousness. Among them was "Dracula" (1931) with Bela Lugosi in the title role, which forever cemented the image of Bram Stoker's character as an elegant man in a flowing black cape.With the character in the public domain, Columbia Studios apparently wanted to do a sequel of sorts with Lugosi reprising the role but the threat of possible action from Universal led to Columbia shifting their plans somewhat and so the vampire that Lugosi plays in this film is named Armand Tesla. But make no mistake, he is Count Dracula in all but name.Made relatively cheaply, even for the time, it would be a bit of a stretch to label this film a classic, but nevertheless it stands as an effective, solid and occasionally innovative horror flick of its era.The story commences with a prologue sequence set in 1918 which depicts how the vampire, wreaking his accursed evil in London, is put to rest by scientist Dr Saunders and his assistant Lady Jane Ainsley. Fast forward about 25 years to the midst of World War II. Dr Saunders has recently died and Scotland Yard Commissioner Sir Frederick Fleet is discussing with Lady Jane his concerns about revelations in the late doctor's private notes concerning driving a stake through the vampire's heart all those years earlier. In spite of Lady Jane's assurances, Fleet is of the opinion a murder may have been committed and is of a mind to exhume the body.However, events move ahead of him. A German bombing raid disturbs the body of the vampire and Tesla wastes no time in picking up where he left off. Developing an unhealthy obsession with Saunders' beautiful daughter Nicki, he resolves to take her back to his homeland and keep her as his eternal bride. But can Lady Jane and a disbelieving Sir Frederick possibly stop him in time?If Bela Lugosi wearied of playing vampires, he doesn't show it here and produces the same type of commanding performance that originally endeared him to the movie-going public in Dracula. Sadly we don't see him bearing his fangs, nor is there any changing into a bat. Instead, Tesla exhibits the power of mind control and, curiously, has the power to not only bring a man under his influence but also to turn him into a werewolf!This means that instead of a deranged sycophant played by Dwight Frye, we have Matt Willis as the rather unwilling henchman to the vampire, Andreas. His werewolf make-up, although elaborate, unfortunately looks more comical than menacing. As might be expected, the transformations are achieved by a rapid series of cross-fades (as with the Lon Chaney Jr Wolf Man films of the same period) but these are generally executed rather better than those witnessed in the Universal films.Quite unusually, it is not the dashing young fiancé of the vampire's victim who is the hero here, nor is it the police commissioner, rather it is Lady Jane, a mature female scientist played by Frieda Inescort. Credit to Columbia for going with a strong, intelligent female lead character at a time when such things were practically unheard of! Being set in London, the majority of the characters speak in overly clipped tones or else exaggerated stone-the-crows-type cockney accents, which hasn't helped the film to age well. And sadly it retreads a lot of familiar ground - you know, teeth marks being found in the victim's neck and all that, but I suppose that's what audiences expected, even wanted. At least we do get to see Lugosi actually rising from his coffin in this film, something that was glaringly avoided back in Dracula. And the backdrop of the war is relevant to the plot rather than serving as mere window dressing.A little more depth wouldn't have gone amiss, and some of the humour tends to undermine the piece but overall the plot hangs together well, the dialogue and imagery are sufficiently strong and the film gives Nina Foch her first big screen role in a career which was to endure for sixty years. There are many worse films to be found, and sadly the great Bela Lugosi would end up starring in some of them.

This really is a creepy Gothic horror film. Love the sets and the atmosphere that was created for this movie... especially the graveyard."Count" Bela is, as always, a great fearsome Vampire. Forget Dracula this is "Count" Armand Tesla / Dr. Hugo Bruckner with a Wolf Man (Andreas Obry) at his side.The Wolf Man Andreas Obry is not all that scary, in fact one may feel bad for this character because he is under a spell of the Vampire. The character, Andreas Obry, is an important supporting role for the story.Over all I will say this is a great late night movie that is worth watching.8.5/10

The general concensus seems to be that Return of the Vampire is an inferior "unofficial" sequel to Universal's classic version of Dracula, which of course stands as perhaps the foremost cinematic version of Bram Stoker's famous novel. And indeed, Return of the Vampire does borrow a great deal from the Universal film, not the least being Bela Lugosi himself in a virtual reprisal of his celebrated role. That being said, Return of the Vampire is a very effective film in its own right, one which is cleverly written and creatively directed, and which allows Lugosi to effectively enlarge upon his iconic performance as the Prince of Vampires.Director Lew Anders deserves a lot of the credit for the quality of Return of the Vampire. The plot moves quickly and everything is absolutely saturated in Gothic ambiance. The closed-in atmosphere, centered around a few central sets and principal characters (much like the Tod Browning-directed Dracula), is used to marvelous effect and creates a dream-like quality surpassed by few other films of its day. Produced in 1944, the film incorporates the London Blitz into its narrative, and this element serves to produce a couple of key plot points. There is some humor, mostly of the understated sort, but for the most part the story is straightforwardly told and is admirably sober.The cast does a fine job all-round. Frieda Insescourt takes on the role of a feminine version of Dr. Van Helsing and handles it very well, conveying just the right amount of matronly authority. The extremely lovely Nina Foch captures viewer empathy as the innocent and unsuspecting object of the villain's unholy desires, and the expressiveness of Foch's dramatic performance makes the key scenes where she is under the vampire's spell especially resonant. Also impressive is Matt Willis as the vampire's werewolf henchman, a cursed soul who loathes his master's power over him even as he revels in it. The werewolf's struggle for salvation is one of the story's vital subplots, and one which Willis imbues with all the necessary pathos.But of course the standout performance belongs to Bela Lugosi. Lugosi will be remembered forever for Dracula, but his portrayal of this film's vampire--Armand Tesla--arguably surpasses even that. Lugosi radiates evil almost palpably, yet when Tesla is required to put on the mask of a harmless gentleman the seamless transition is in and of itself rather unsettling. For all practical purposes, Lugosi is playing Dracula again--but this time around his performance is even more nuanced and believable. Lugosi's Tesla is a truly malevolent master vampire, and when Lugosi turns his hypnotic glare upon his victim the actor leaves no doubt in the viewer's mind that resistance is indeed hopeless.Classic horror, especially from the pre-Hammer days, is something of an acquired taste, and many of today's horror fans don't want to watch the old black-and-white gems. That's a pity. These older films are classics for a reason, and the best ones stand the test of time. Return of the Vampire is a fine addition to vampire cinema, and offered Lugosi the chance to basically play Dracula one more time. Thanks to solid direction, a strong plot line, and inspired performances from virtually the entire cast, it remains an entertaining movie that all fans of classic horror should see at least once.

This was Columbia Studios attempt at a horror film in the same vein as those Universal were making around this time ("Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man", "House of Frankenstein" etc.), as it features both a vampire and a wolf man.Bela Lugosi plays a vampire (this time Armand Tesla) and when he is not busy being evil at night and sleeping all day, he is treating patients as Dr Hugo Bruckner. It's up to the strong, determined Lady Jane Ainsley (Freda Inescort) to put all the clues together and rid the world of Tesla's evil ways.There are a few atmospheric scenes typical of this type of film and Lugosi is suitably menacing and hypnotic, but the script isn't very good and many of the performances are quite stilted. For me, it just wasn't much fun unlike most of the Universal monster films of this era which were more satisfying dramatically, and as spectacle.Lugosi would play a vampire once more a few years later in "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" alongside other horror icons Frankenstein's Monster and the Wolf Man, whose design looks much better in those superior films.