The Vampire (1957)

A kind, small-town doctor mistakenly injests pills made from vampire bat blood and they turn him into a dangerous fanged creature

Director:

Paul Landres

Writers:

Pat Fielder (screenplay), Pat Fielder (story)

Stars:

John Beal, Coleen Gray, Kenneth Tobey

Cast

Complete credited cast:
John Beal	...	Dr. Paul Beecher
Coleen Gray	...	Carol Butler
Kenneth Tobey	...	Sheriff Buck Donnelly
Lydia Reed	...	Betsy Beecher
Dabbs Greer	...	Dr. Will Beaumont
Herb Vigran	...	George Ryan, Police Sergeant
Paul Brinegar	...	Willy Warner
Ann Staunton	...	Marion Wilkins
James Griffith	...	Henry Winston

Storyline

Dr. Matthew Campbell has been experimenting on methods to regress the mind to primitive instincts so that we can find methods to improve our brains and not get taken in by cheap horror movie hogwash. He's developed a drug made from vampire bat blood and has begun treating himself with it. But instead of improving his mind, he's become ill and addicted. He dies, but not before trying to warn fellow doctor Paul Beecher. Fortunately for us, he dies before he can say more than that pills are to blame. While still at Campbell's house, Paul finds a bottle of pills and pockets them. He's also got another bottle of pills in his other pocket that he takes for frequent migraine attacks. He goes home, puts his jacket on a rack, and then he's struck with a migraine. He asks his daughter to give him the pills in his jacket pocket, and of course she gives him the pills of evil. He is instantly addicted and he must take one pill every day. Each time he takes a pill he turns into a hairy and very ...

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Plot Keywords:

metamorphosis | death of protagonist | shot to death | death by gunshot | death by shooting | 

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Taglines:

It Feeds on the Blood of Beautiful Women!

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Genres:

Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

June 1957 (USA)

Also Known As:

It's Always Darkest Before the Dawn

Filming Locations:

10300 block of Woodbine Ave. Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$115,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gramercy Pictures (II)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Paul Landres apparently liked the character name "Dr. Paul Beecher" so he used it twice - as the main lead in this film and as a small supporting character in his follow up "The Return of Dracula" (1958) starring Francis Lederer.

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Goofs

At movie's end, when the detective departs; he doesn't retrieve his revolver.

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Quotes

Willy Warner: Buck, you can't go around diggin' up people's graves. To get a court order you got to have some good reason.
Sheriff Buck Donnelly: I got plenty of reasons, Willy. Three deaths in three days.

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Connections

Featured in Vincent Price's Dracula (1982)

User Reviews

Neat little horror flick from the '50s...

JOHN BEAL is the central character as a Dr. Beecher whose daughter inadvertently gives him pills extracted from a control serum for bats. COLEEN GRAY is his pretty nurse and KENNETH TOBEY a Sheriff who begins to suspect there's something wrong about a couple of deaths ruled as heart attacks.

The suspense builds slowly from the very beginning as the credits unfold over the scene of a newspaper boy discovering an ill doctor in an old mansion. As the story progresses, it's easy to see that the script is way above average in the horror department with dialog that's sensible, concise and always on track.

Beal's haggard appearance helps him to be more convincing than usual in the role of the tormented doctor victimized by the wrong pills. Although it's a variation on the vampire theme, there's a trace of Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde in the way the screenplay develops.

Summing up A rational vampire thriller that passes the time quickly and is fun to watch.