Uriah43 This movie essentially begins with a man named "Dr. Matt Campbell" (Wood Romoff) being discovered in his laboratory by a delivery boy and in need of serious medical attention. Upon being notified "Dr. Paul Beecher" (John Beal) immediately rushes to the house but Matt dies only a couple of minutes later. However, before he dies Matt mumbles something totally incoherent and gives Paul a small bottle of pills in the process. Not long afterward, Dr. Beecher develops a migraine and accidentally takes the pills Matt gave him by mistake. The next day Dr. Beecher gets a call that a woman named "Marion Wilkins" (Ann Staunton) is extremely sick and this prompts him to go to her house right away. However, upon attempting to examine her she becomes extremely agitated by his presence before suddenly dying of an apparent heart attack. It's at this time that Paul discovers two bite marks on her neck--and it isn't long before more people begin to die of the same thing. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a different type of vampire film which bore a definite affinity to the "Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde" scenario. That being said, it didn't quite have the same character one might expect of a traditional vampire film but even so it was still entertaining to a degree and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.

avidid My #1 vampire movie of all time! Seen this at the movies in 1957. Some great scary moments, soundtrack is good, fast pace, makeup was fine. This is not a "Dracula type movie". Actually more SF then horror. Doctor takes wrong pills, becomes addicted and changes him! The hero of the movie (Kenneth Tobey) also was the star of "The Thing From another World, 1951" Some of the suspense moments are, The nurse running to her home with the vampire chasing her, The vampire's daughter knocking on his bedroom door at night, The lab assistant attacked in the lab on a rainy night, The opening of a casket at the graveyard. The soundtrack of this movie was created by the same person as the soundtrack for the movie "The Return of Dracula" - Movie is in Glorious B/W!! I have this movie at home and watch it 2 or 3 times a year! Watch it someday, you may just like it! DN

AaronCapenBanner Paul Landres directed this horror tale that stars John Beal as small town Doctor Paul Beecher, who is called to the home of a dying scientist who had been experimenting with the blood of vampire bats to make a new serum for his research, that he distilled in pill form. Paul takes a bottle of the pills from his pocket, and after he makes his report, forgets about them. Later, when he has a headache, he asks his young daughter to retrieve his aspirin from his pocket, but sadly takes the bat pills instead, which have the unfortunate effect of turning him into a vampire who must kill. Paul tries desperately to understand what happened, as the police close in... Good performance by Beal, some originality, and a most tragic portrayal of a reluctant vampire, though marred by a much-too abrupt ending that is most unsatisfying.

Mikel3 I continued my winter horror film viewings today with 'The Vampire'. A more descriptive name for it might have been 'Dr. Jeykll and The Vampire' or 'The Vampire Virus'. I'm kidding of course, yet it does borrow heavily from the Jeykll and Hyde story. Here a kindly small town Dr. accidentally takes an experimental drug. He becomes addicted to it. Each night at about 11PM it causes him to change into a hideous creature with a taste for blood. I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It's right down my alley. The kind of movie that must have been shown on double features at 50s drive-ins. I can imagine it playing with 'Frankenstein's Daughter' on the marquee. Teenage boys probably loved it cause their girl would want to be hugged tight during the show. These horror films have a special place with me, they bring back childhood memories. I was too young to have seen it at theaters during its first run. It was the sort of movie I'd watch on the late night horror shows in the 60s and early 70s. Yet, I some how missed ever catching this gem. It's the type of late night movie my mom would complain "You're going to have nightmares if you watch that !". Of course I would watch it anyway if I could. The feature monster had silly yet scary makeup that looks like the boogeyman kids imagine in the bedroom closet. Kenneth Tobey gets a chance to once again hunt down the monster like he did in 'The Thing'. He makes a good no nonsense type tough-guy any self respecting monster should hide from on site. My only regret was we didn't wait till after dark to watch it. That would have been more fun than an afternoon viewing. If you are a fan of 50s drive-in horror films, and I sure am, you should love this. I give it a 6 out of 10 rating.