The Vampire

The Vampire is an entertaining thriller with a strong cast. It stars John Beal as Dr. Beecher and Kenneth Tobey as Sheriff Donnelly,who investigate a series of mysterious deaths involving their acquaintances beginning with a scientist who was researching "primitive instincts".A much better movie than I thought it would be.

This black & white thriller from United Artists is a different type vampire movie. Doctor Beecher (John Beal) is given a bottle of pills by his friend Dr. Campbell, who has been experimenting with vampire bat blood. Campbell dies mysteriously and Beecher's chronic headaches begin getting worse. After he accidentally takes one Campbell's pills thinking it was one of his migraine tablets, blackouts are suffered nightly. Several days in succession heart attack victims are discovered to have small marks on their necks. Friendly Dr. Beecher, out of character, has bouts of moodiness; and and he realizes he may be responsible for the series of heart attacks that have become murders. Watching the doc transform into a vampire is of course the movie's highlight. This flick is well acted and written by Pat Fielder and directed by Paul Landres. Some scary moments and that wonderful B&W atmosphere. Rounding out the cast: Colleen Gray, Dabbs Greer, Kenneth Tobey, Lydia Reed and James Griffith.

Straightforward, no-nonsense vampire film that is played with skill by a cast of good actors. John Beal (who many viewers probably have never heard of) was a highly respected, experienced actor who plays this strong lead role just fine. He even gives his character some sympathetic edges. Colleen Gray is excellent eye candy, and the immortal sci-fi actor Kenneth Tobey is on hand (as he should be) in a believable performance as the Sheriff. This is a wide-screen presentation and there is a good DVD available with first-rate picture quality. Limited production budget does not detract here. This is a well-paced tightly done monster film that features genuine, sudden menace as the monster prowls the night. This is not just cheap 1950's monster schlock. It is a legit effort- it's the real deal.

This is a movie that I hunted down for quite some time. A small-town doctor accidentally takes some pills developed by one of his patients that turns him into a vampire. He begins picking off the local town folk. While the editing is clumsy, the premise is a novel change from the usual vampire fare. The cast includes veteran actors John Beal, Coleen Gray (The Leech Woman), Dabbs Greer, Herb Vigran (Adventures of Superman), Paul Brinegar (How To Make A Monster) and an uncredited cameo by Louise Lewis (I Was A Teenage Werewolf; Blood Of Dracula). For those of you who don't think 50s films scare you, get ready for the scene following Carol and Paul's date at the restaurant. Believe me, it packs a punch!

Vampire, The (1957) *** (out of 4) Lightweight but entertaining horror film about a good natured doctor (John Beal) who turns into a vampire after mistakenly taking some mysterious pills. The title is a little misleading since this isn't your typical vampire film as it mixes in a lot of science fiction elements and towards the end the thing turns into another Jekyll/Hyde story, which it probably would have worked best as. Even the make up towards the end looks more like a Jekyll and Hyde thing rather than an actual vampire. This film is very minor and nothing special but Beal turns in a very good performance as the doctor and it's always nice seeing Keneth Tobey. The film runs smoothly at just around 75-minutes but I wish they would have shown the actual creature a tad bit more.

John Beal seems genuinely agonized in the title role. He is a well liked small-town doctor, who has got hold accidentally of pills that -- don't ask! -- turn him into a vampire. This is crisply filmed and Beal shows the pain of a decent man who knows something is wrong and suspects something is very wrong with himself. I wonder if this was strictly a drive-in movie or if anyone at the time recognized its merits.