Return of the Vampire - Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Return of the Vampire

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie

It seems that the Sony/Columbia Tri Stars collaboration with Scream/Shout Factory is paying off in new ways. Instead of just pulling out films from the 60s and 70s from their back catalog, Scream Factory has made it public that they are going to be delving much much deeper into the past with these classic Bela Lugosi/Boris Karloff era horror films. Return of the Vampire was one of those sequels to 1931’s Dracula that is almost considered an elseworlds type film, or an alternate reality, being that it is a sequel in everything but name only due to the fact that Sony didn’t have the rights to the Dracula name (that was still held by Universal). They had managed to get Bela Lugosi for the project, but the name of the vampire had to be changed to Armond Tesla, and the word Dracula couldn’t be in the title. However, for those of you who have kept up with the Lugosi Dracula titles from Universal, there is no mistaking the winking and nodding done to the camera. This IS a Dracula sequel, just with different names.

A 200 year old Romanian vampire named Armond Tesla (Bela Lugosi) is terrorizing a country village in jolly old England a good 23 years before World War II with his infamous reign of terror. A young woman is found nearly drained of blood and hallucinating, but the resident doctor can’t find anything wrong with her. She calls in a specialist, one Walter Saunders (Gilbert Emery), to inspect the woman, but his findings are more disturbing than she could have imagined. Dr. Saunders figured out that it was a vampire who has been the cause of all this trouble, and the two go out to find and eliminate the monster once and for all. After finding Armond in his lair, the two run a stake through his heart and believe that all is over.

Fast forward 23 years and Lady Jane (Frieda Inescort) is all grown up and her son John (Roland Varno) is going to be marrying Dr. Saunders’ grand daughter Nicki (Nina Foch). However, being that Dr. Saunders has passed away, some scrutiny about their decision to stake a man based upon the ludicrous idea of him “vampire” has made it imperative to open up the grave and see the body of Armond Tesla. However, someone has mistakenly pulled the stake from Tesla’s heart, and by the time that they get to the graveyard the vampire is gone. As much as Lady Jane wants to believe it’s all over, Tesla is more than vengeful after having slumbered for 23 unintentional years. Drawing forth his old werewolf minions and donning a disguise, the 200 year old vampire sets out on a methodical plan to destroy Lady Jane’s life and all those she loves.

As I mentioned above, Return of the Vampire is a Dracula sequel in everything but name. We have Legosi glowering at the camera with his traditional cape and high collar, the classic vampire tropes, AND the inclusion of a Werewolf at about the same time period that Universal was about to kick off their sequels. It doesn’t take much to put two and two together and just play along with the legalities of Armond Tesla being Count Dracula himself if you don’t think about it. This was just 5 short years before Legosi returned to Universal to play the infamous role of Dracula in the Abbott and Costello flick (and one of the last times that Legosi would play the infamous count as well).

The film is a solid bit of B-level horror that is right up there with many of the Universal sequels in terms of quality. Return is fun, campy, takes itself seriously too many times (more of an era thing than cheesiness), but it does run a bit dry in the second act. The middle portion seems to want to reintroduce vampire tropes to the already initiated, so it feels a bit rehashed until we get to the final act where we get the “twist” on killing the beast once and for all.




Rating:

Not Rated by the MPAA




Video:

Scream/Shout Factory likes to tout the fact of new master whenever they get one, so by their silence on the issue I’m assuming this is a ready made HD master given to them from Sony. For a 1943 film, it’s actually quite good, and while it probably hasn’t undergone a full restoration, the resulting 1080p Blu-ray is quite pleasing. The black and white photography is crisp and well defined. Shadows show proper delineation, and the detail levels range from good to great. There are some old age problems though, with vertical lines coming and going, a few speckles on the print, as well as some dirt and debris showing up now and again. Overall this is a good transfer, and about as good as the movie is going to get unless Sony/Scream goes back to the original negatives and polishes it up even more.







Audio:

The DTS-HD MA Mono track is exactly what you would expect for an old film like this. It’s simple, effective, and generally very clean (although there is some mild analog hiss under the surface, but that is only recognizable if you’re really listening for it). Dialog is crisp and effective, and the organ based score for the monstrous vampire fills out the two mains very nicely. There’s not a whole lot to say about the mix based upon how simplistic and basic a design it is. Dialog and the score are the largest portions of the film, and it replicates those aspects quite well. There’s no harshness on the music, and dialog is never muffled. There’s even a few action sequences (such as the Luftwaffe dropping bombs on England) that makes it a bit more exciting at times.





Extras:

• NEW Audio Commentary with film historian Troy Howarth
• NEW Audio Commentary with author/film historian Gary Don Rhodes
• NEW Audio Commentary with film historian Lee Gambin
• Silent 8mm presentation
• Theatrical Trailer
• Still Gallery

Final Score:
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Return of the Vampire is a fun B-level “everything but name” sequel to the 1931 Dracula that is every bit as fun as the Universal Studios sequels out there. There’s a few slow bits during the center half, but Bela Lugosi is perfect as Tesla (Dracula, let’s not kid ourselves here), and the hammy nature of the classic horror film is perfect for the time period. I’m ecstatic that Scream Factory is digging deeper into other studios catalog titles, and their partnership with Sony has brought forth some awesomely pulpy films over the next few weeks (be prepared for more of these old B-level reviews in said next few weeks). The audio and video scores are very nice considering the age of the film, but sadly the extras are pretty slim (although the commentary with Troy Howarth is really good to listen to). Recommended as a fun watch.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Bela Lugosi, Frieda Inescort, Nina Foch, Miles Mander, Matt Willis, Roland Vamo, Ottola Nesmith
Directed by: Lew Landers
Written by: Griffin Jay
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1, AVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA Mono
Subtitles: English SDH
Studio: Scream Factory
Rated: NR
Runtime: 70 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: February 19th, 2019

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Fun Watch

 

[tripplej]

Thanks for the review. I will have to see this one.

 

[Todd Anderson]

I'd like to give this one a spin... there's something really charming about these old school horror flicks (even more so than recent ones!).

 

[Michael Scott]

Agreed Todd. They're a blast to watch. It makes a good compliment to the old classic Universal horror movies collection I reviewed a while back