The Vampire

Flagrant false advertising.

Despite what its title might blatantly suggest, The Vampire has no vampire. It’s a Jekyll and Hyde story about a small town doctor can’t stop taking the pills that turn him into a hairy monster.

Said monster happens to bite his victims, but the victims don’t turn into monsters after they’ve been bitten, nor does the monster have any aversion to sunlight, crosses, mirrors, garlic, etc.. or any other classic vampire traits. Further, the monster doesn’t feed on his victims, he just kills them.

Director Paul Landres, who would later direct the slightly better The Return of Dracula (which, at least had an actual vampire!), shows little in the way of visual flair. The whole film feels like an overlong, poorly written episode of The Twilight Zone, with production values to match. When lead John Beal makes his “transformation” into “the vampire”, you’ll be hard pressed not to burst out laughing.

The lone bright spot is James Griffith who gives a stylish turn as a sunglass wearing pathologist for about a minute, but that’s hardly enough to recommend this bait-and-switch.