View source for The Return of Dracula


{{distinguish|The Return of the Vampire}}

{{Infobox film
| name           = The Return of Dracula
| image          = Poster for "The Return of Dracula" (1958).png
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Paul Landres]]
| screenplay     = [[Pat Fielder]]
| producer       = {{ubl|[[Jules Levy (producer)|Jules V. Levy]]|[[Arthur Gardner (producer)|Arthur Gardner]]}}
| narrator       =
| starring       = <!--Per poster billing block-->{{plainlist|
* [[Francis Lederer]]
* [[Norma Eberhardt]]
* [[Ray Stricklyn]]
* [[John Wengraf]]
* [[Virginia Vincent]]
}}
| music          = [[Gerald Fried]]
| cinematography = Jack McKenzie
| editing        = Sherman Rose
| studio         = Gramercy Pictures
| distributor    = [[United Artists]]
| released       = {{film date|1958|05|21|[[Los Angeles]]}}
| runtime        = 77 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         =
}}
'''''The Return of Dracula''''' is a 1958 American [[horror film]] directed by [[Paul Landres]], and starring [[Francis Lederer]], [[Norma Eberhardt]], and [[Ray Stricklyn]]. It follows [[Count Dracula|Dracula]], who murders an artist aboard a train in [[Central Europe]], and proceeds to impersonate the man, traveling to meet with his extended family in a small California town. The film is primarily in black and white, aside from one brief color sequence.

It was released on May 21, 1958, in [[Los Angeles]] by [[United Artists]] as the top half of a [[double feature]] with ''[[The Flame Barrier]]''.

== Plot ==
In the [[Balkan Mountains|Balkans]], Investigator John Meierman and several assistants attempt to trap [[Count Dracula]] inside his tomb in a cemetery, but upon opening his casket, they find it empty. Nearby, Dracula, who has fled, boards a train. He murders Bellac Gordal, a [[Czechs|Czech]] artist en route to the United States to visit his extended family in the small community of Carleton, [[California]]. Dracula proceeds to impersonate Bellac, [[identity theft|assuming his identity]]. After arriving in California, Dracula, posing as Bellac, is met by Bellac's widowed cousin, Cora, and her children, the young Mickey and teenage Rachel. Rachel is especially eager to meet her cousin, as she has a shared passion for art, specifically clothing design. The family quickly finds Bellac's behavior eccentric, as he maintains a social detachment from them. The day after Bellac's arrival, Mickey's beloved cat goes missing and is subsequently found mutilated in an abandoned mineshaft.

Unbeknownst to the others, Bellac has established a secret resting place in the abandoned mine, replete with a coffin where he goes to sleep. Rachel is disappointed by his absence one day, as she hoped to show him the town, but she eventually meets him at dusk— he explains he spent the day painting. Rachel departs to her night shift at the local parish house, where she tends to elderly and infirm residents, including a blind woman, Jennie. After Rachel finishes her shift, Bellac awakens Jennie, and offers to give her the ability of sight before biting her neck.

In the morning, Rachel is summoned to the parish house and is driven there by her boyfriend, Tim. Rachel finds Jennie feverish and hysterical upon arriving, claiming a man entered her room through the window. When she attempts to get out of bed, Jennie collapses and dies. After Jennie's funeral, Cora and Rachel are approached by Mack Bryant, a detective appointed by Meierman. He asks about cousin Bellac and mentions that an unidentified man was thrown from a train to his death in Germany. Bellac appears at the home, and Bryant examines his immigration records and passport before meeting with Meierman outside to divulge his findings.

Bellac visits Jennie's tomb in the mausoleum and [[Undeath|awakens her from the dead]]. Later, Bryant hears Jennie's voice beckoning him in the woods near the train station. When he goes to investigate, he is fatally mauled by a white wolf (portrayed by a white [[German Shepherd|German Shepherd Dog]]). That night, Rachel invites Bellac to attend a [[Halloween]] [[costume party]] at the parish house the following day, but Bellac declines. Rachel confronts Bellac about his isolation from the family, but he remains evasive. Rachel later falls asleep while reading and has what seems to be a nightmare in which Bellac asks her to remove Jennie's crucifix pendant from her neck and offers her eternal life. In the morning, Rachel finds the crucifix lying on the floor, suspecting it was not a dream.

Meierman visits the parish house and confronts Reverend Whitfield with his findings. Meanwhile, before departing for the Halloween party, Rachel finds a portrait of herself in Bellac's room depicting her inside a coffin. When Bellac appears downstairs, Rachel grows terrified when she realizes his reflection does not appear in a mirror. Tim arrives moments later, and Rachel leaves with him to the party in a [[trance]]-like state. Whitfield and Meierman confront Rachel at the party, asking her to help them entrap Bellac. After finding Jennie's crypt empty, Meierman, Whitfield, and other police stake out the cemetery, where they soon witness Jennie returning to her crypt. Simultaneously, Rachel leaves the party and flees to the abandoned mineshaft to visit Bellac. As Meierman drives a stake through Jennie's heart, killing her, it causes Bellac to collapse before Rachel, who snaps out of her hypnosis and runs away from him in fear. Tim arrives at the mineshaft, having followed Rachel there, and finds her hysterical. Tim attempts to escort Rachel out of the mine, but Bellac blocks their exit and entreats Tim to join forces with him in "helping" Rachel, claiming the three of them will be the only ones to "survive this dying world" together. Rachel was wearing Jennie's crucifix and gives it to Tim to ward Bellac off. Bellac momentarily [[hypnosis|hypnotizes]] Tim and nearly gets him to drop the cross; Tim starts lowering it but Rachel snaps him out of the trance. Tim then approaches the vampire with the crucifix, forcing Bellac to fall into a shaft below. He is impaled through the back and chest on a large wooden post and disintegrates into a clothed skeleton.

==Cast==
{{Cast list|
*[[Francis Lederer]] as Bellac Gordal / [[Count Dracula]]
*[[Norma Eberhardt]] as Rachel Mayberry
*[[Ray Stricklyn]] as Tim Hansen
*[[John Wengraf]] as John Meierman
*[[Virginia Vincent]] as Jennie Blake
*[[Gage Clarke]] as Reverend Whitfield
*[[Jimmy Baird]] as Mickey Mayberry
*[[Greta Granstedt]] as Cora Mayberry
*[[Charles Tannen]] as Mack Bryant
*Enid Yousen as Frieda
}}

== Production ==
Filming of ''The Return of Dracula'' took place in October 1957.<ref name=afi>{{Cite web|work=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]]|publisher=[[American Film Institute]]|title=The Return of Dracula|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52705-THE-RETURN-OF-DRACULA?cxt=filmography|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026175718/https://catalog.afi.com/Film/52705-THE-RETURN-OF-DRACULA?cxt=filmography|archive-date=October 26, 2019}}</ref>

=== Soundtrack ===
It is one of a handful of horror films that use the melody of "[[Dies Irae]]" as its opening theme tune. Others include ''[[The Shining (film)|The Shining]]'', ''[[The Car (1977 film)|The Car]]'' and ''[[The Mephisto Waltz]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Horror movies that use 'Dies Irae' as theme music {{!}} MovieChat |url=https://moviechat.org/tt0052131/The-Return-of-Dracula/58c706904e1cf308b937a052/Horror-movies-that-use-Dies-Irae-as-theme-music |access-date=2023-03-29 |website=moviechat.org |language=en}}</ref>

==Release==
[[File:Majestic Theatre Ad - 18 June 1958, Abilene, TX.png|thumb|Advertisement from 1958 for ''The Return of Dracula'' and co-feature, ''[[The Flame Barrier]]'']]
''The Return of Dracula'' premiered theatrically in [[Los Angeles]] on May 21, 1958, as the top half of a [[double feature]] with ''[[The Flame Barrier]]''.<ref name=2hits>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85066193/valley-times/|work=Valley Times|title=2 Horror Films Set|date=May 22, 1958|page=23|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> To promote the film, [[United Artists]] advertised that 12 [[insurance company|insurance companies]] had refused to assume any liability risk for those admitted to see the feature.<ref name=gimmick>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/85066193/valley-times/|work=Valley Times|title=Gimmick Use Hit|date=May 22, 1958|page=23|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

When shown on U.S. television, it was retitled '''''Curse of Dracula'''''. In the UK, it was released theatrically as '''''The Fantastic Disappearing Man'''''.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120710133523/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/88365/The-Return-of-Dracula/overview The Return of Dracula], ''New York Times'' website, accessed October 12, 2011</ref> Later in 1958, the [[Hammer Film Productions|Hammer]] film ''[[Dracula (1958 film)|Horror of Dracula]]'' appeared in theaters in both the UK and the U.S. and ''The Return of Dracula'' was eclipsed as a result, due to [[Christopher Lee]]'s new stardom as the Count.

===Critical response===
Geoffrey M. Warren of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' dismissed the film, writing that it "could have been put off indefinitely and no one would have ever known."<ref>{{cite news|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|last=Warren|first=Geoffrey M.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/52003983/return-of-dracula/|title=Dracula Goes Local in Latest 'Return'|via=Newspapers.com|page=50|date=May 22, 1958}}</ref>

==Home media==
''The Return of Dracula'' was released on DVD by [[Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer|MGM]] in 2007 as a ''[[Midnite Movies#Double Feature releases|Midnite Movies Double Feature]]'' with Landres' previous film, ''[[The Vampire (1957 film)|The Vampire]]'' (1957). It was re-released on DVD as an exclusive release from [[Best Buy]].

==Legacy==
On October 27, 1971, Lederer reprised his role of Count Dracula on an episode of ''[[Night Gallery]]'' titled "The Devil Is Not Mocked". In this story, Dracula tells his grandson how he fought the [[Nazism|Nazis]] during [[World War II]].

==See also==
* [[List of American films of 1958]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0052131|The Return of Dracula}}
*{{TCMDb title|17289|The Return of Dracula}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|the_return_of_dracula|The Return of Dracula}}

{{Dracula}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Return Of Dracula, The}}
[[Category:1958 films]]
[[Category:1958 horror films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American supernatural horror films]]
[[Category:American vampire films]]
[[Category:Dracula films]]
[[Category:American films about Halloween]]
[[Category:Films scored by Gerald Fried]]
[[Category:Films directed by Paul Landres]]
[[Category:Films set in California]]
[[Category:United Artists films]]
[[Category:1958 English-language films]]
[[Category:1958 American films]]
[[Category:English-language horror films]]

{{Wikipedia attribution|original_title=The Return of Dracula|access_date=2026-03-07}}