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IMDbPro

Mother Riley Meets the Vampire

  • 1952
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 14m
IMDb RATING
3.9/10
1K
YOUR RATING
Mother Riley Meets the Vampire (1952)
Home Video Trailer from Renown Pictures
Play trailer0:53
1 Video
31 Photos
ComedyHorror

Vampire seeks world domination via experiments. Mistakenly delivered radar-controlled Robot transports him and Mother Riley, leading to confrontation as she tries stopping Vampire's scheme.Vampire seeks world domination via experiments. Mistakenly delivered radar-controlled Robot transports him and Mother Riley, leading to confrontation as she tries stopping Vampire's scheme.Vampire seeks world domination via experiments. Mistakenly delivered radar-controlled Robot transports him and Mother Riley, leading to confrontation as she tries stopping Vampire's scheme.

  • Director
    • John Gilling
  • Writers
    • Val Valentine
    • Richard Gordon
  • Stars
    • Arthur Lucan
    • Bela Lugosi
    • Dora Bryan
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    3.9/10
    1K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • John Gilling
    • Writers
      • Val Valentine
      • Richard Gordon
    • Stars
      • Arthur Lucan
      • Bela Lugosi
      • Dora Bryan
    • 44User reviews
    • 18Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    My Son, the Vampire
    Trailer 0:53
    My Son, the Vampire

    Photos31

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    Top cast26

    Edit
    Arthur Lucan
    • Mother Riley
    Bela Lugosi
    Bela Lugosi
    • Prof. Von Housen - aka The Vampire
    Dora Bryan
    Dora Bryan
    • Tilly
    Philip Leaver
    Philip Leaver
    • Anton
    Richard Wattis
    Richard Wattis
    • PC Freddie
    Graham Moffatt
    • The Yokel
    • (as Graham Moffat)
    María Mercedes
    • Julia
    • (as Maria Mercedes)
    Roderick Lovell
    • Douglas
    David Hurst
    David Hurst
    • Mugsy
    Judith Furse
    Judith Furse
    • Freda
    Ian Wilson
    Ian Wilson
    • Hitchcock
    Hattie Jacques
    Hattie Jacques
    • Mrs. Jenks
    Dandy Nichols
    Dandy Nichols
    • Mrs. Mott
    George Benson
    • Police Sergeant
    Bill Shine
    Bill Shine
    • Mugsy's Assistant
    David Hannaford
    • Nasty Boy
    Charles Lloyd Pack
    • Sir Joshua Bing
    • (as Charles Lloyd-Pack)
    Cyril Smith
    Cyril Smith
    • Police Brass
    • Director
      • John Gilling
    • Writers
      • Val Valentine
      • Richard Gordon
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews44

    3.91K
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    10

    Featured reviews

    5Space_Mafune

    Fun in a Nonsensical Kind of Way

    While the Mother Riley series (with star Arthur Lucan in drag as an old woman) was rarely outrageously funny, some films in the series nevertheless do manage to amuse and keep an audience's interest. This is one such film. The best bits here involve Bela Lugosi as a vampire who actually behaves more like a mad scientist and the Robot under his command who chases after poor ole Mrs. Riley. More a spoof on old British Scotland Yard films than anything else really. Not bad of its type.
    6Tera-Jones

    A Fun Little Film

    My Son the Vampire AKA Vampire Over London (1952) or "Old Mother Riley Meets the Vampire" (original title).

    This is a cute comedy-horror film. We have Bela Lugosi as "the vampire" Von Housen, Arthur Lucan in drag as Mother Mrs. O'Riley and a robot controlled by "the vampire" Von Housen trying to take over the world. Mrs. O'Riley in her comical ways will try to help stop the vampire from world domination. What more do you want from a zany comedy?! Mrs. O'Riley has to give us a song and dance - which is kinda cute but certainly not the highlight of the film - I personally think the highlight is Lugosi and the robot - but that is my taste.

    A fun film overall.

    6/10
    5chrismartonuk-1

    May the saints shower you with sailors on shore leave!

    I couldn't believe it when I heard the above saying from Lucan's lips as he thanked a woman. Though the film hardly operates on the same level as Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein, it passes an hour or two quite amiably. Bela is clearly happy to be back in front of a film camera for the first time in years - even a low budget British one - and he effortlessly conveys his old authority and a sense of fun - he comes across as an enjoyably hammy British version of a Batman TV Series supervillain. Lucan is relatively restrained in this outing compared to past ones. The splendid book VAMPIRE OVER London; BELA LUGOSI IN Britain indicates his personal troubles over his estranged partner Kitty Mcshane, and one can only wonder if this is the reason why. The duo's stage act usually climaxed in plate throwing and this is compensated for by a madcap crockery-crashing slapstick sequence with Bela's henchmen. Dora Bryan is a more than adequate foil for Lucan.

    Editing necessary for MY SON THE VAMPIRE means we lose Lucan's one musical number early on in the film. Also, the romance between the kidnapped Loretti and her Naval officer is underplayed to say the least - he keeps getting bonked on the head by various characters. Graham Moffat is also missing from the print. The ending is curious in that we contrast Riley's madcap race to stop the Vampire enduring various crashes and appropriated forms of transport on the way while Von Houson is actually seen gunning down two constables - a bit strong for a juvenile comedy.

    The immediate postwar period was a time of apprenticeship for celebrated British comedy stars like the Goons and Tony Hancock who were learning and honing their trade upon being demobbed from the army. By 1951, they were ready to take on the entertainment establishment and sweep aside the old stars like Lucan - in much the same way the Beatles and their ilk were ready in 1963 to change the face of the British music industry. The brief resurgence of popularity Lucan and Mcshane enjoyed prior to this film proved to be a last fling at glory. A whole new wave of innovative British comedy was ready to sweep them aside. Lucan was more truthful than he knew when - at the climax of this film - he sputters "This is the end!" Both Lucan and Lugosi were enjoying a last stab at greatness in an age where they were already anachronisms.
    boris-26

    Odd little horror comedy

    The "Mother Riley" series was a British made series of low budget comedies starring Arthur Lucan, who played, in drag, a dotty old working class woman. These films often satired British government, and how it handles it's working class. When you watch MOTHER RILEY MEETS THE VAMPIRE, much of the gags about Brit leadership will fly past modern day American audiences.

    It was the last chance to see the great Bela Lugosi in his full talent, as, of course, a vampire. Later that year, 1952, addiction and poverty sank in deeper, and he would turn to working with a certain Edward Wood.
    Sycotron

    On par with some other genre comedies of it's time

    Similar to some of Abbott & Costello or The Bowery Boys movies featuring various monsters. This is not too funny but Lugosi is always nice to see. He seems to be enjoying himself and has a surprising amount of dialogue. As for Mother Riley this is the only film I have seen with him/her in it. An acquired taste.

    The one scene to watch for occurs early on when Mother Riley is trying to read a telegram. The man collecting rent from her tries to grab the telegram and says "Give that to me you old faggot!" Now before you get all bent out of shape consider that this was 1952. I assume he was saying "...you old pile of sticks" or "...you old woman" which are a couple possible definitions for the word.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      According to producer Richard Gordon, Bela Lugosi had been on a tour of England in "Dracula", when the production abruptly ended because the producers declared bankruptcy and absconded without paying anyone. Lugosi found himself stranded in London, with no money and no way to get back to the US. Gordon, a friend of Lugosi's who was based in England, heard about his plight and arranged for him to appear in this, the latest--and, as it turned out, the last--in the "Old Mother Riley" series of comedies, for which he was paid $5,000.
    • Goofs
      Head of film crewman clearly visible at left bottom of screen as robot enters Mother Riley's bedroom.
    • Quotes

      Mrs. Riley: [singing] I lift up my finger and I say tweet tweet, now now, shush shush, come come.

    • Crazy credits
      For the U.S. release in the 1960's through Columbia Pictures, the main title was replaced with a title card giving the new title as "My Son the Vampire." The change also resulted in the top billed stars, Arthur Lucan and Bela Lugosi, not appearing in the credits of this U.S. version.
    • Alternate versions
      Some time after the film's UK release, American distributor Jack Harris and importer Richard Gordon contemplated a US release with new footage featuring Bela Lugosi; but this could not be accomplished because of Lugosi's deteriorated physical condition. The film did not make it to US screens until 1964, where it was given about 2 minutes of added footage ahead of the main title, featuring comic songster Allan Sherman and an unidentified sexy model. In the credits that followed, the names of Lugosi and Lucan were both omitted, though they were retained in the publicity materials.
    • Connections
      Featured in TJ and the All Night Theatre: My Son, the Vampire + When the Devil Commands (1979)
    • Soundtracks
      My Son, the Vampire
      (uncredited)

      (title song: US release only)

      Written and Performed by Allan Sherman

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    FAQ13

    • How long is Vampire Over London?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 1952 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Carry On Vampire
    • Filming locations
      • Southwood Lane, Highgate, London, England, UK(Mother Riley chases Von Housen's car.)
    • Production company
      • Fernwood Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 14m(74 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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