User Reviews

**SPOILERS***With the communist takeover of his home country Transylvania Dracula, Francis Leader, is both out of luck with him not being a member of the communist party and victims after almost sucking the blood out of the entire population ,for some three hundred years, that he checks out of the country making his way to the little town of Carleton Calif.

Getting his fellow train passenger artist and fleeing from communist tyranny landsman Bellac Gordal,Norbert Shiller,alone in his train compartment Dracula murders him as well as takes over his identity, after throwing Gordal overboard, as kindly and sensitive Uncle Bellec back in the states. Showing up in Carleton Bellac/Dracula is a immediate hit with everyone there except his niece's, Rachael Mayberry, jealous boyfriend Tim Hanson, Ray Stricklyn, who smelled a rat as soon as he laid on the dapper cultured and refined man from Transylvania. Tim was also very mad at Uncle Bellac for stealing his girl Rachael, Norma Eberhardt, who was just crazy about the guy.

Not wasting any time Dracula gets to work first finding a place to sleep during the day, a local abandoned mine shaft,and later setting his sights on Rachael whom he want to recruit into his army of walking dead. Dracula in fact gets sick and blind Jennie Blake, Virgina Vincent, to be his first victim. Virgina then goes out into the woods, after she died and was buried, to do her masters Dracula's dirty work. Virginia turns into a wild dog attacking and killing Immigration Agent Wade Bryant, Charles Tanner, who was investigating Dracula to see if he in fact is Uncle Bellack Gordal. It was reported that someone fitting Gordal description badly mangled body was recovered back in Transylvania by the local police authorities.

With a number of people dying under mysterious circumstances, with for the most part their blood being drained from their bodies, Prof.Meiermann, John Wergraf, a friend of the late Wade Bryant gets into the act convincing the local police and health authorities that this "Uncle Bellec" is really old "Drac" himself. Setting up a trap for Dracula the police get to his fellow vampire the now dead but really alive, yet still dead, Virgina Blake piling a stake through her heart putting the poor girl both out of her misery and at the same time saving her eternal soul.

Drac now knowing that the gig is up takes off to his hiding place, the abandoned mine shaft, with a hypnotized Rachael trying to get her to join his club, the walking dead, and start up his new movement of vampires that he's planning for not just for the little town of Carleton but the entire United States of America. It was Tim, together with a Christian Cross, that finally put an end to Ol' Drac's dreams by having him back up in fear, with the cross stuck in his face, and fall to his ultimate death down the shaft landing on top of a jagged wooden spike, that went right through him, leaving him dead forever.

P.S Unusul Dracula movie in that the actor portraying Dracula Francis Leader actually, like the fabled Vampire himself,lived through three centuries, 1899-2000, but only in parts not, like Dracula, all of them.

The death of Bela Lugosi in 1956 didn't instantly create a legend. That took time. But shortly after his death, an independent film honored him (sort of) by naming a character in this "Dracula" film "Bellac", obviously influenced by the forgotten old man of horror who had died in obscurity. Certainly, he had unreleased films ("Plan Nine From Outer Space"), but Bela Lugosi had slipped so far into obscurity that the only films he could get were so down the line of poverty row that they made his Monogram films look as if they had come from MGM. "Dracula" here is Francis Lederer, a grand old villain of the silver screen, once a romantic lead, but later cast in a variety of sinister roles, and now cast as the infamous Hungarian count. Somehow brought back from the dead after being killed in various ways under the acting chops of Lugosi, Lon Chaney Jr., and John Carradine, Dracula made a major comeback in the late 1950's. Not only was there Lederer in this enjoyable but predictable programmer, but Christopher Lee, who would create another legend in a series of Hammer films where he took over the role of the count, playing him more times on screen than any other actor.

Lederer's dashing older count has immigrated from Hungary to the United States, pretending to be "Bellac", a cousin of the Mayberry family (no relation to Andy Taylor's Mayberry). Strange occurrences begin to happen, including the sudden death of their cousin (Virginia Vincent), and when pretty Norma Eberhardt meets Lederer, she becomes disturbingly fascinated with him, even though she's involved with Ray Stricklyn. It's apparent that something involving Vincent's death is tied in with Lederer, and it is ironically on Halloween (during a stereotypical local party) that Eberhardt's obsession comes to its full power, following Lederer to an abandoned mine while a local priest and a European vampire hunter decide to check in on Vincent's casket.

Some amusing character performances includes a Margaret Hamilton like aunt who dresses as a witch, Eberhardt's younger brother (Jimmy Baird) who gets some really good lines (especially while in costume when asked where is costume is!), and John Wengraf as the visiting vampire hunter. This is a fine mixture of light comedy and gothic horror, with Lederer good in his one appearance as Mr. Toothy. Unfortunately, he is never seen exposing his fangs, so that does take away some of the horror element. I can see why this one has fallen into obscurity when compared to the Hammer series which took off right at the same time.

This was the last film in Universal's Dracula series, a franchise that began way back in 1931 with Bela Lugosi. Here, it's Francis Lederer, and though often maligned it's really not that bad. The California desert location had a suitably eerie atmosphere, and the black-and-white photography was good. It was an interesting plot device to have Dracula posing as a refugee from the Iron Curtain visiting his American relatives. Keep in mind this was two years after the abortive Hungarian revolution of 1956, and the idea of an Eastern European émigré artist popping up out of nowhere was by no means impossible. Certainly Cold War tensions made a good background for horror, as classics like "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" demonstrate. This one isn't nearly that good, but it has its moments.

Dracula (Francis Lederer) kills a passenger on a train and takes over his identity. He becomes the cousin of an all-American family and stays with them. He's becomes very attracted to his young (17) female cousin and wants her to become his bride...

An atmospheric, beautifully directed vampire movie. I saw it many times of TV growing up...it scared me silly! I had nightmares over this one. It still works on me now as an adult.

Francis Lederer does a fangtastic job as Dracula. Lederer hated this movie--he claimed it was rushed into production and he was forced to do it. Nonetheless he turns out a great performance. There's no fangs and (except for a brief color insert) no blood, but it still scares. Well worth seeing.

SPOILER ALERT!!! Be warned--in original prints there is a brief color insert at the end when a vampire is staked. On TV it was in black & white but restored in the VHS that came out in the 1980s and on the DVD released in 2016. It's not a big deal, but that splash of blood in color really jolts you. Try to see it that way.

Dracula comes to small town America. This movie has a lot going for it. There is skilful black and white cinematography by Jack MacKenzie, an appropriate music score by Gerald Fried and atmospheric direction by Paul Landres that makes plausible a vampire in a contemporary milieu. It is surprisingly creepy on a low budget. It is also helped by smooth and sinister Francis Lederer as Dracula and sweet and sassy Norma Eberhardt as Rachel. Their scenes together are the best in the movie.

It was originally called 'The Return of Dracula. but was re-titled poorly as 'The Fantastic Disappearing Man' which makes it sound more like a science fiction story. Whatever it's called it is a fine film and well worth watching.

Very well done vampire film with a strong performance by Francis Lederer as the undead nobleman and Norma Eberhardt as the object of his carnal desire.The Count has become not just a blood thirsty monster but a political enemy of the state in his native Romania and has to flee for his...er ..ah .. "life" so to speak. He kills and assume he identity of an artist traveling to America to connect with a cousin. The Count finds the small northern California town she lives in much to his liking. The woman's daughter is both attracted and suspicious of her new"cousin". and he is very attracted to her. His usual living habits and almost hypnotic charm raise some red flags, however, particularly with the young lady's jealous boyfriend. A vampire hunter arrives in the town to investigate the strange circumstances of the artists immigration to the United States. It becomes a taunt and tense race against time. As other review's have pointed out, this basically a remake of Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt" and there is nothing wrong with that. Giving the story a supernatural element gives a different slant and makes it very watchable. Lederer has said was not happy playing Dracula but he was certainly effective .His characterization is spot on. It came out about the same time as Horror of Dracula and somehow got lost in the shuffle. Perhaps because it was shot in black and white. Return of Dracula is and entertaining and effective vampire thriller.

"The Return of Dracula" is a good film that updates the story from the late 1890s to present day(for the release of the film)1958. Dracula poses as an artist who comes to America to be free from Communism(a real blow to freedom for Eastern Europe after WW2). He seems distant and reclusive toward his American relatives. He starts by killing a blind girl and then sets his sights on his younger cousin. She slowly falls under his influence but at the end he is destroyed by falling into a pit filled with jagged wood pieces. He has been hiding in a cave where he can be safe. The acting, music score and direction are very good for this type of low budget movie. A nice variation on the vampire films from the 1930s and 40s. If you're a fan of vampire movies, check out this little gem.

This is a real gem of a vampire movie - an intense, tight, brilliant, and satisfying movie set 1950s small town America. As other reviewers have noted, the story is essentially identical to Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt, but with the added twist of vampirism.

The Gothic angle is absent, which might turn off some traditionalists. In its place is a setting featuring two cultural icons of late 1950s movies - idyllic small town/suburbia threatened by outside forces; and teenagers taking control in times of crisis and mastering challenges. (It is fun to see the youth movement and rebellion of the 1960s foreshadowed in the late 1950s).

The vampire, played expertly by Frances Lederer, is charming and sophisticated, but in each sentence he utters, there are suspicious undertones. There is a creepy feeling every moment this guy is on the screen. Lederer gives a brilliant vampire performance, one might even argue he is one of the best vampires ever. The young woman threatened by this vampire also gives an excellent performance. Her character has to move from schoolgirlish, to suspicious and finally to terror. She is quite convincing. The other actors do a fine job in support.

The movie is well filmed, and there are several fun little moments of surprise and terror. The dialog is good, and there are some fun bits of vampire cosmology tossed in here and there, with lines like, "If my behavior seems different, perhaps it is because it serves a higher purpose than to find acceptance in this dull and useless world." For some reason, crosses are extremely important and powerful in this movie. A cross is an instant vampire-stopper. In contrast, a vampire's most powerful weapon in this movie is his hypnotic power. Therefore, a constant battle of hypnotism verses cross is present from start to finish, with the climactic confrontation scene featuring a final duel.

This ending scene was a bit unsatisfying to me, it must be a tough one to film - how do you capture hypnotism verses willpower and make it visually dramatic? However, in spite of a slightly weak ending, this is a heck of a vampire movie. If you like vampires, this movie belongs in your collection.