The Return of Dracula
**½
During Halloween season I am obviously always looking for a
Dracula movie I haven’t seen. There are plenty out there, and I always seem to
turn up something, thankfully. We have this vast universe of film, and plenty
of low budget moons scattered within it. One such moon is The Return of Dracula
(1958), a slight little B&W B-movie set in a small California town. In 1958
it had some rather stiff competition in Hammer’s Horror of Dracula. Sufficed to say, one film went on to achieve
cult status and remains an October staple while another is a footnote in 50s
American horror. But I put on the miner’s hat and tunnel for the footnotes and
so it is cool Turner Classics offered The
Return of Dracula tonight, an alternative to the many Dracula films you
will encounter from the likes of Universal and Hammer. I have watched plenty
already in September and October. So, yeah, might take a break from the Count
for a bit!
All that said, I thoroughly enjoyed Francis Lederer in this minor outing involving his Count Dracula, hitching a ride out of Eastern Europe before a stake from a vampire-hunting team could find its way hammered into his dark heart. He kills a painter immigrating to a California town, assuming his identity and gets a cozy room at the home of widow Mayberry and her kids, a son and teenage daughter. The daughter becomes of great interest to Dracula, Rachel (Norma Eberhardt). The painter was a cousin to Rachel’s mom so Dracula tries to ride this character until he can go elsewhere. But Dracula often is a victim of his own desires and wanting Rachel to be his new bride once again invites trouble his way. Ray Stricklyn is Tim, Rachel’s handsy boyfriend she always gripes is too crude and lacks sophistication but he winds up coming to her rescue by film’s end.
As the painter, Dracula remains somewhat reclusive, retreating to his coffin, hidden in a cavern outside of their suburb. He plans (and succeeds almost) to lure Rachel to the cavern on Halloween [natch] and make her a member of the undead, but Timmy comes a following. Badly placed pit inside the cavern has some appropriately placed spikes and ole Drac takes one step back too many. But before then, Lederer eyes a sickly blind teenager named Jennie (Virginia Vincent) as fresh meat, even using her to draw a detective to her position so he could attack the poor guy before he boards a train home (he happens to be the immigration inspector looking into passengers on the train where a victim was tossed).
Assuming the form of a white wolf, we never get to see Dracula as a bat. He doesn’t even bare fangs…BOO!!! And there is but one spiking with specially colored red blood during this sequence. In a slim 79 minutes, there isn’t enough content in the film to be a very substantive experience, but Lederer, to me anyway, has that presence about him to keep his Dracula interesting. The rest of the cast is serviceable with no real standouts. I just thought Eberhardt was a pretty face, to tell you the truth. She is that face of innocence Dracula wants to corrupt. Her mom is completely clueless to what is going on, bummed that her cousin, Ballic, isn’t particularly inclusive to the family he had never met and seems comfortable just avoiding almost altogether. Sure, Dracula flashes a smile and lays on the charm when he must slide into the façade but he’s got better things to do with his nights.
With all the fuss included about John Merriman (John Wengraf) on the pursuit of Dracula, appealing to the town reverend (character actor Gage Clarke; I know him from the Twilight Zone episode, One More Pallbearer) to help, he doesn’t even face off with his quarry, relegated to finishing off Jennie as she saunters back to the local mausoleum through the cemetery. When the stake drives in, I liked the little addition of Dracula reacting as if he felt it also. It drives him to his knees allowing Rachel to awaken from a trance right as he planned to take a bite in the cavern. As far as where this stands within the vast landscape of horror involving Dracula, this is but a blip, but I guess I would suggest seeing it for Lederer if for any other reason. Maybe also for completists who just want to cross all the Dracula films off their list…
All that said, I thoroughly enjoyed Francis Lederer in this minor outing involving his Count Dracula, hitching a ride out of Eastern Europe before a stake from a vampire-hunting team could find its way hammered into his dark heart. He kills a painter immigrating to a California town, assuming his identity and gets a cozy room at the home of widow Mayberry and her kids, a son and teenage daughter. The daughter becomes of great interest to Dracula, Rachel (Norma Eberhardt). The painter was a cousin to Rachel’s mom so Dracula tries to ride this character until he can go elsewhere. But Dracula often is a victim of his own desires and wanting Rachel to be his new bride once again invites trouble his way. Ray Stricklyn is Tim, Rachel’s handsy boyfriend she always gripes is too crude and lacks sophistication but he winds up coming to her rescue by film’s end.
As the painter, Dracula remains somewhat reclusive, retreating to his coffin, hidden in a cavern outside of their suburb. He plans (and succeeds almost) to lure Rachel to the cavern on Halloween [natch] and make her a member of the undead, but Timmy comes a following. Badly placed pit inside the cavern has some appropriately placed spikes and ole Drac takes one step back too many. But before then, Lederer eyes a sickly blind teenager named Jennie (Virginia Vincent) as fresh meat, even using her to draw a detective to her position so he could attack the poor guy before he boards a train home (he happens to be the immigration inspector looking into passengers on the train where a victim was tossed).
Assuming the form of a white wolf, we never get to see Dracula as a bat. He doesn’t even bare fangs…BOO!!! And there is but one spiking with specially colored red blood during this sequence. In a slim 79 minutes, there isn’t enough content in the film to be a very substantive experience, but Lederer, to me anyway, has that presence about him to keep his Dracula interesting. The rest of the cast is serviceable with no real standouts. I just thought Eberhardt was a pretty face, to tell you the truth. She is that face of innocence Dracula wants to corrupt. Her mom is completely clueless to what is going on, bummed that her cousin, Ballic, isn’t particularly inclusive to the family he had never met and seems comfortable just avoiding almost altogether. Sure, Dracula flashes a smile and lays on the charm when he must slide into the façade but he’s got better things to do with his nights.
With all the fuss included about John Merriman (John Wengraf) on the pursuit of Dracula, appealing to the town reverend (character actor Gage Clarke; I know him from the Twilight Zone episode, One More Pallbearer) to help, he doesn’t even face off with his quarry, relegated to finishing off Jennie as she saunters back to the local mausoleum through the cemetery. When the stake drives in, I liked the little addition of Dracula reacting as if he felt it also. It drives him to his knees allowing Rachel to awaken from a trance right as he planned to take a bite in the cavern. As far as where this stands within the vast landscape of horror involving Dracula, this is but a blip, but I guess I would suggest seeing it for Lederer if for any other reason. Maybe also for completists who just want to cross all the Dracula films off their list…
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