A Volta do Vampiro

Bela Lugosi stars as Armand Tesla vampire, but this is the only movie I've ever seen that had a talking werewolf who carries the vampire's laundry in a package tied up with string. This was the only bad part of an otherwise very good 40's vampire movie. I'll give it an A.

This has got to be one of Bela's most underrated performances, a bright spot among the dreariness of Monogram potboilers. Columbia allows him to both reference Dracula while at the same time expanding the definition of vampirism by having him play Dr. Armand Tessla, the "depraved Roumanian scientist" who is so obsessed with evil that he actually becomes a bloodsucker. (there is also a nifty sketch of Lugosi drawn in a book about his character) Lugosi is alternately sinister, avuncular, lovestruck, arrogant, and commanding. His voice, usually cause for laughter at its ripe indelibility, is used extremely effectively as a whisper when he is calling Nina Foch into the graveyard. ("Just a little bit further--further--further!") This is actually quite eerie. His exchanges with Matt Willis are atmospheric and believable, in that someone undead would naturally have supernatural acolytes surrounding him. (so what if they sprout facial hair; that just gives the acolyte more "texture") I have to disagree with viewers who think Willis is ridiculous as a talking wolf; I happen to think he's the best thing in the film. Willis' natural speaking voice is kind of strange, half Southern, half something..and when he's the werewolf with those teeth his line readings are really creepy. My favorite is when he's saying "as if they could tell what happened!" and then he chuckles. He is really effective. The whole production is sort of tongue in cheek and the Britishness at its height. (Frieda Inescort: "The Gerries have rather taken things out of your hands") The WWII element adds more interest, and Lugosi has a droll line that he is going out of his hotel but, "whether I can be reached is another matter." A jarring note is Foch's boyfriend, who has "Lady Jane" as his mother and yet speaks with a German or Dutch accent. All in all, a must for Lugosi fans and all other horror film fans interested in how Columbia does this kind of movie as opposed to Universal.

I watched this Lugosi outing he made at Columbia a second time as well, and I guess I can say that I liked it better now too. The atmosphere really is everything in this one as the film is enveloped in fog and the prowling camera-work is top-notch throughout; despite being clearly a B-movie, the film's production values are more polished than in most of Universal's stuff of this period! Lugosi isn't offered anything new to do here but he is suitably authoritative in his role of Armand Tesla; until he reprised the role of Dracula one last time in ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN (1948), this was arguably his best work of the 40s (which I admit isn't saying much). The contributions of the rest of the cast - Frieda Inescort (for once the vampire expert/hunter is a woman!), Miles Mander, Nina Foch and Gilbert Emery - are quite professional as well. Matt Willis is not bad as a man enslaved by Lugosi and turned by him into a werewolf(!) and, even though the character's psychological torment is as palpable as that of Lon Chaney Jr.'s Larry Talbot in the Universal "Wolf Man" saga, the actor is defeated by the shaggy-dog make-up, the fact that he is allowed to speak when transformed(!!) and, well, the very pointlessness of his presence since he never does much at all except serve Lugosi (a task which could easily have been handled by a mere human, who would certainly have aroused a great deal less suspicion than a werewolf)! The climax, while somewhat abrupt, is nicely handled.

This beautifully shot B&W 1940s vampire film is loaded with the kind of old fashioned, spooky atmosphere that fans of classic Gothic horror will love. The fogbound sets are deliciously creepy, the graveyard & crypt sets nothing short of fabulous! The spooky music adds a lot as well. Bela Lugosi, about 60 here and well into the undeserved waning days of his career, is damn good. Tall, imposing, and as strong a screen prescence as ever, he raises questions as to why the often heartless and stupid film industry did not make better use of his talents. He shows here that he could certainly still carry a film and command the screen. But the script needed work. Matt Willis as the talking werewolf is laughable. When he's seen entering the graveyard carrying what looks like a package of Chinese laundry, I howled! I just couldn't see him running shopping errands in his werewolf garb! And no explanation is offered as to why the vampire's slave turns into a werewolf, a state he retains regardless of whether or not the moon is full. He's a wolf even in broad daylight. Still, this is a fun, somewhat creepy film, and Lugosi is always worthy of your time.

I really enjoyed this movie. It was unique in that the Vampire had a werewolf as his assistant. This werewolf wears a suit, talks, smiles and, in general, acts like a normal human being. The movie was basically a sequel to Dracula but the vampire played by Bela Lugosi could not use the name Dracula because this was a Columbia picture and Universal Studios had the legal rights to the Dracula character. But, it was still Lugosi at his scary, pompous best.