Tonight on MeTV, it’s a notable vampire film-that ostensibly returned the great Bela Lugosi in the familiar role of an undead caped menace that the grave could not imprison, who seeks revenge against the family that tried to end his practice of making unauthorized transfusions a generation ago in the 1943 chiller “Return of the Vampire” ( but not one certain vampire – we’ll explain later)!
Sir Fredrick Fleet of Scotland Yard is going over notes written almost a quarter century ago by an Oxford professor- one Walter Saunders-describing an unbelievable incident. It involves a vampire, aided by a werewolf lackey, having sought out the whereabouts of one of his victims. She had been taken to the clinic of doctor Lady Jane Ainsley, who was baffled by the cause of the female victim’s anemia ( but I think WE know the cause). Living on the premises of the clinic, unfortunately, were the Lady’s son and Saunders’ grand-daughter. When the vampire arrived, finding that he could not get to his original victim since she was not alone- he attacked the vulnerable young girl! Meanwhile, the original victim had passed away- and Prof. Saunders spent the night reading a treatise about vampires, written some two hundred years ago by one Armand Tesla.
The next morning, he saw the telltale signs on the deceased woman’s neck-marks on it that made him believe she was a victim of -a vampire! He met with difficulty in getting Lady Jane to believe such a fantastic claim- until they discovered the young grand-daughter Nikki now bore the same marks! Miraculously, they managed to save her and, knowing that some action must be taken against this supernatural enemy- the Prof. and Lady Jane searched the cemetery- ready to drive a spike through the vampire’s heart! They succeeded in their mission (at least for the time being)- and, with the vampire’s demise, his werewolf assistant returned to his human form, released from the curse by the vampire’s death.
We return to the present- 24 years later- and some grim news; Sir Fredrick of the Yard demands that the body of this alleged vampire must be found- because, if things match the descriptions in the notes, he has no alternative but to accuse Lady Jane of murder- since there is no actual proof that the victim in question was a genuine vampire- and she would have killed a living person! Lady Jane insists that her victim was a two hundred year old vampire- in fact, Armand Tesla himself- whose morbid fascination with vampires was what caused him to become one (not quite the usual vampire lore we’ve learned in previous movies, but…)!
Back at her clinic, Lady Jane informs her son John, now an adult, about the possible charge against her. They know they can validate her claim if they just find the body, and it see that it hasn’t decomposed! They make a point of refraining from telling any of this to Nikki- the grand-daughter who was attacked by Tesla, and is also now an adult, as well as John’s fiancée. The reason for the secrecy is obvious-they feel it would be psychologically harmful to remind her of her childhood brush with the vampire!
Overhearing their plans is Andreas- the former lycanthrope assistant to Tesla , restored to humanity by his “master’s” demise, and now working at the clinic. When he hears about the plans to find Tesla’s body, he is truly upset, recalling the horrors of his werewolf past.
In a tragic coincidence, since World War II is being waged at this time, a bombing raid on the area causes some damage at the very cemetery where Tesla is interred-and bizarre circumstances lead to Tesla being revived! Andreas, sent by Lady Jane to pick up a visiting scientist who escaped from the Nazis to work for the Allies’ cause, encounters his old master- and reverts to his werewolf form! Once again doing the vampire’s bidding, he arranges for Tesla to assume the identity of the scientist - and begin his scheme to take revenge on Lady Jane and her loved ones!
We’ll explain on our program that this film was actually planned as a sort of sequel to Lugosi’s original “Dracula”-and you’ll learn why that had to be changed. We’ll present information about the cast, which, besides Bela, includes the lovely Nina Foch, plus a song, a commercial for a must-have product for vampire hunters, and lots of bonus Sven-tertainment- including a look at our visit this summer to the Windy City Thunderbolts; interviews with cast members of a certain more contemporary vampire movie, as well as an encore of our visit with our pal WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler; and two of our talented friends whose voices are very familiar to fans- Rob Paulsen and Maurice La Marche- and a new addition to our show!
"Return of the Vampire" awaits you on Me-TV tonight at 8pm eastern/pacific, 7 pm central, or, if unsure of station and time in your area, please check your local listings or at www.metv.com . MeTV encourages you to live-Tweet ( or X) along with the scores of Sven fans on Twitter/X during the show, using the hashtag #svengoolie at the end of all your posts! Chicago viewers can enjoy a second look-if they can stand it- at the frightening face of “Mr. Sardonicus” at 11 am on our main local channel, CW26.
Get ready for a full month of scares- including double features of our show-all October with “Svengoolie’s Halloween BOO-nanza”! See lots of our favorite MeTV shows that deal with the scary and bizarre! Look for the schedule soon!
Please join us tonight on MeTV for Bela being back- and back to his plasma-filching old habits!
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(hee hee hee I'll post photos of my cat Turbo and while everyone is going "awwww pretty kitty" I'll sneak over the new movie blog. Mwah-ha-ha-ha)
Why? You ask: that was the name of the elementary school I went to i Michigan as a weee lad. 😁
And all of us on this blog are just a little “gifted”
Hopefully I won't get abducted before tomorrow's movie.
1) "MCT's" (Thereman's anagram) musical score. Some critics have knocked it as redundant, and not as effective as Hans J. Salter's and Charles Previn's more spirited music
for such Universal horror films as SON OF FRANKENSTEIN and THE WOLF MAN, but I've always found it
It appropriately mysterious and grim.
2) The movie's abundant fog, including scenes of the vampire or his shadow disappearing in swirling mist, sometimes accompanied by clasps of thunder.
3) Such memorable touches as the wind blowing through Nikki's open bedroom window, causing breeze-blown leaves to litter the floor as Tesla calls to her, and the copious room-level fog during his first attack on Nikki.
4) Tesla's plan to gain revenge on Lady Jane "through those she loves the most." This was a plot twist that, as one reviewer commented, was new to vampire movies at the time, and that was used in some of Hammer's later Dracula films.
Like MANY, if not MOST movies 🎥 we can easily find faults with ROTV, but at the end of the discussion, it’s one of my faves. Admittedly, I’m always partial to older black & white movies/ television shows in general, but this is a good one!
Also, for me the Nazi war element added modernity to a classic gothic story. Ancient horror meets modern horror. History repeats itself. What are our worst fears?
May come in handy for Happy Hour before Svengoolie ? !
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Why do I find this more disturbing than Sir Frederick Fleet being in charge of Scotland Yard?
10: 1958 Varan The Unbelievable
9: 1964 Dogora
8: 1967 King Kong Escapes
7: 1970 Space Amoeba
6: 1965 Frankenstein VS Baragon
5: 1963 Atragon
4: 1957 The Mysterians
3: 1966 War Of The Gargantuans
2: 1961 Mothra
1: 1956 Rodan
