After Universal Studios stopped making their classic horror films and just before Hammer Studios starting filming theirs, vampire movies went through an odd phase. Many films during this period shunned the traditional vampire aspects(death by sunlight or stake, inability to roam during the day,etc.)."The Vampire" was one of them. It took on a modern, scientific approach. A good analogy is that the film is closer to a Jekyll and Hyde persona. In this movie, a benevolent Physician(John Beal)accidentally takes some pills a scientist was working on and becomes a creature that drinks human blood. He is killed in a less than traditional way from a standard vampire film. The action in the middle of the film slows a bit but picks back up at the end. This film has decent direction and acting but suffers from a low budget. It's still enjoyable to watch. It features some good "B" movie vets in Kenneth Tobey as the police investigator and Dabbs Greer as a fellow scientist. A decent Sci-Fi/Horror film from the 1950s.
Review of The Vampire
