RETURN OF DRACULA

Hello and welcome to another Dark Starr excursion into Wormwood Chronicles’ venerable Philm Phreaks section. This time I’m looking at a DVD of a movie called “The Return of Dracula.”   It’s a movie from 1958. A big part of the plot is focused on a Halloween party happening in the community, making this perfect for Halloween season viewing. 

First, let’s say that this movie was not done by Universal, therefore it’s not part of Universal monster canon, assuming that’s really a thing given how often they broke continuity throughout. It’s actually a very strong Dracula movie, though. 

The movie brings Transylvania’s favorite blood drinker from Europe to the US and into the 1950s. A family is expecting the arrival of a cousin none of them has seen since he was a small child. At first it appears he missed his train, but then he comes out of the shadows to go home with them. 

The whole cast on this puts in solid performances, but Francis Lederer as the count himself really does a great job. This is no Lugosi Dracula, but he really captures the charm and menace of the character, while also managing to convey a sense of not fitting in and not really trying to conform. I really like that aspect of this movie. 

The plot is somewhat predictable, but if you are familiar with Dracula movies, that applies to most of them. I think that they did a really good job of creating a sense of creepy and a real feeling a danger. While this movie is in black and white, there is one scene that has a little color for dramatic effect. I love that. 

If you like classic vampire movies, but also a bit of a freshness via an updated setting, this movie is probably for you. I really enjoyed it, even though it’s one that largely goes unnoticed. Universal dominates the world of Dracula movies. Then Hammer takes another huge slice of the pie. It doesn’t leave a lot of room for gems like this. That’s a shame because this one is up there with a lot of the rest.