The Vampire *** (1957, John Beal, Kenneth Tobey, Dabbs Greer, Coleen Gray) – Classic Movie Review 3158

‘It Feeds on the Blood of Beautiful Women!’

John Beal stars as Dr Paul Bleecher, who accidentally swallows sinister white pills given to him by dying vampire-bat research scientist Dr Matthew Campbell (Wood Romoff) and turns into a blood-guzzling ghoul – a scaly-looking human vampire.

Director Paul Landres’s low-budget ($115,000) 1957 movie is an amusing 50s sci-fi horror that, even if it fails to frighten and sometimes raises unwanted laughs, still has many good scenes, well-written dialogue by Pat Fielder, a strong central performance from Beal, and jolly character acting from old reliables Kenneth Tobey (a cop, Sheriff Buck Donnelly), Dabbs Greer (a doctor, Dr Will Beaumont) and Coleen Gray (a nurse, Carol Butler).

Also in the cast are Raymond Greenleaf, Lydia Reed, Herb Vigran, Ann Staunton, James Griffith, Paul Brinegar and Natalie Masters.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 3158

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