The Vampire

Poster tagline: A new kind of killer to stalk the screen! it claws... it drains blood! I'm glad that the Scream Factory publishing company has released these forgotten gems Blu-ray. This one in particular is classified by the foreign literature, for example by the great book “Keep Watching The Skies!”, of which I am a happy owner, among the science fiction films of the Golden Age, probably because medical research and pills made from the blood of vampire bats, which the protagonist accidentally ingests and triggers an unwanted transformation, play a significant role. It’s not really a vampire, though, he doesn't resemble a vampire, more like a strange guy with scabby skin, and he doesn't even mind the light, because the transformation always takes place at 11 o'clock in the evening. Until then, he's a perfectly respectable doctor in a mundane small town. So yes, the inspiration of Universal's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is very evident. But overall, it is a likeable film. Landres occasionally chooses an interesting camera angle, the murder of the grandmother on the street is viewed from the perspective of her dog and his increasingly frightened gaze, which I found interesting. The protagonist gives a good performance, with passion, even for a low-budget affair, with the charismatic Kenneth Tobey (the legendary The Thing) reliably playing his part. It's not the event of the season, but it's a nice film, which unfortunately paid for the fact that it remained in the shadow of the better known Mexican film of the same name released the same year. (07/25/2023)

The American movie The Vampire is such a nice, unpretentious B-movie and is a bit ridiculous at times. However, it is obvious that the movie's makers tried to make a vampire horror movie even if it does not really look like a vampire. This movie succeeds to a degree, and there is that classic attempt to deal with a danger that should be beyond the characters' comprehension. (10/01/2019)