Retro Chiller: The Return of Dracula

Francis Lederer

There have been a number of cinematic variations on the story of Dracula, but do you recall the vampire tale whose story echoed that of a classic film by Alfred Hitchcock? That film is The Return of Dracula, an entertaining low budget chiller released in 1958. In order to elude a group of vampire hunters in Europe, the legendary vampire kills an artist named Bellac Gordal, and assumes his identity. Dracula visits Bellac’s family, who live in California, posing as their distant relative. The family consists of Bellac’s cousin, Cora, a widow who hasn’t seen him since they were much younger, and her two children; Rachel, a teenager who has ambitions to become an artist, and her younger brother, Mickey. Rachel is particularly intrigued and dazzled by Bellac's tales of his exotic life in Europe, much to the consternation of her boyfriend, Tim, who's pretty sure there is something odd about him.

Bellac has some strange habits; he sleeps all day, keeps his room locked, and only comes out at night. Of course, he’s got a coffin stashed in an abandoned mine shaft outside of town, and that’s where he’s really spending the daylight hours. Any self-respecting vampire needs his sustenance, so Bellac/Dracula slakes his thirst with the family cat, then hunts for bigger game. He feeds on Jenny, a young blind girl who lives at a parish house, which is run by the kindly Reverend Whitfield. Rachel volunteers there, and is distressed to see her friend’s failing health. No one can explain her strange condition. She tells Rachel she’s having eerie dreams and dark visions of her death. Jenny is later transformed into a vampire by Bellac.

Rachel (Norma Eberhardt) and her family continue to be charmed by Bellac, despite his eccentric behavior. Bellac wants Rachel to become his bride, and spend eternity with him. Meanwhile, the vampire hunters, posing as immigration agents, track Dracula to California, and try to locate his hiding place. Bellac discovers their presence, and dispatches Jenny to take care of them. Will Bellac’s true nature be revealed? Can Tim keep Rachel from becoming Bellac’s next victim? The Return of Dracula is a well-crafted B-movie that offers a slightly different spin on the story of the world’s most famous vampire. While the film is most definitely a low budget affair, it does have some interesting moments. In fact, Rachel’s fascination with her cousin is a neat parallel to a similar situation in the Hitchcock classic Shadow of a Doubt, where another young woman's charming uncle is later revealed to be a notorious killer.

Francis Lederer does a nice job in the role of Bellac/Dracula, radiating old world charm, touched up with an undercurrent of quiet menace. It’s not as florid as the performances by actors like Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee or Frank Langella, but it suits the film’s understated style. Lederer actually reprised the role in an episode of Night Gallery in 1971. The rest of the cast is solid; you may recognize character actor Gage Clark, who plays Reverend Whitfield. Clark also appeared in films such as The Bad Seed and The Absent Minded Professor, as well as TV series like Maverick and The Twilight Zone. The excellent black and white cinematography by Jack McKenzie includes a brief (and surprising) splash of color during a key sequence. The Return of Dracula is an effective chiller, and worth a look for B-movie fans, and those with a particular taste for vampire tales. Here’s a link to the film’s trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ULuL07ptuY.

Retro Thriller: Pakula's "The Parallax View"

Warren Beatty in The Parallax View

The 1970s were the decade in which the conspiracy thriller film came into its own. In the wake of the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., the optimism of the 1960s gave way to feelings of distrust and paranoid thoughts. Theses negative thoughts escalated further when the United States was propelled into the aftermath of events such as the Manson murders and the Watergate scandal. Films like Executive Action, The Conversation, Night Moves, Three Days of the Condor, Winter Kills and Capricorn One focused on conspiracies, real or imagined, which exposed the dark underside of the American dream. No movie illustrates these ideas and concepts in a more chilling, effective and believable manner than The Parallax View, director Alan J. Pakula's terrific 1974 thriller.

Warren Beatty plays Joe Frady, a down on his luck (though talented and resourceful) reporter who, as the film opens, is nearby when a popular presidential candidate is assassinated. An investigative committee formed by the government finds that the murder was the act of a disturbed individual who acted alone. Lee Carter, a newswoman who witnessed the murder firsthand, visits Frady several years after the killing. She tells him that that something odd is going on, as a number of witnesses to the shooting have died, seemingly under accidental circumstances. Carter, a former flame of Frady's, is herself found dead of a drug overdose shortly after her visit to him. A shaken Frady decides to look into her claims.

What he discovers is that a mysterious organization called The Parallax Corporation is recruiting people who are on the fringe of society, that don't fit the accepted behavioral norm. These antisocial outsiders are given training, and new jobs, and are ultimately used as assassins, taking out politicians that don't fit the shadowy group's world view. The oddball loners are then framed for the crimes, taking the fall for the killings as a "lone gunman." Frady convinces his editor that he wants to go undercover in the organization, allowing them to recruit him. He hopes to ultimately expose their activities to the world. It's a choice that will prove to be Frady's undoing. 

In The Parallax View, nothing is quite what it seems. There are multiple layers of secrets, lies and misdirection at the center of this shadowy organization. As Frady digs deeper, he becomes caught in the middle of a deadly conspiracy. Just how far do the tendrils of Parallax reach? The sense of unease and impending doom is palpable in this cynical thriller. The moody cinematography by Gordon Willis is superb, as is Pakula's tense direction, especially in the chilling sequence where Frady watches the Parallax training film. There's always something happening just outside the frame in this movie, and you're often unsure of exactly what's going on right before your eyes. The X-Files may have popularized the term "Trust No One" but in The Parallax View, there's a true feeling of dread throughout the story. You really can't trust anyone.

The cast is superb. Beatty delivers a solid, low key performance as Frady. The fine supporting cast includes Paula Prentiss, Hume Cronyn, William Daniels, Kenneth Mars, Walter McGinn and Anthony Zerbe. The intelligent, layered script is by David Giler and Lorenzo Semple, Jr. (with an uncredited assist by Robert Towne) and is based on the book by Loren Singer. Michael Small provides an offbeat score, which adds to the sense of unease throughout the film. Along with Klute and All The President's Men, which were also directed by Alan J. Pakula, this film is often referred to as part of his unofficial "paranoia" trilogy. The Parallax View seems even more relevant in our current environment, and is definitely worth a look. Here's a link to the trailer for the film, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzQRp0Fjpjg, and for an insightful look at the life and career of Alan J. Pakula, check out the 2019 documentary, Alan Pakula: Going For Truth.

 

Retro TV Episode: The Phantom Family

Lemnoc keeps an eye on Dr. Smith & The Robot

I've been doing a re-watch of selected episodes of all of Irwin Allen's classic TV series, and recently posted about "Visitors From Beyond The Stars," an episode of The Time Tunnel. It's been having a lot of fun seeing these shows again, and this time out it's a brief look at a selection from another one of Allen's iconic shows. "The Phantom Family" is of the better episodes in the second season of Lost In Space, the show which featured the Robinson family, whose ship, the Jupiter 2, is sent off course by a saboteur, Dr. Smith, causing them to become....Lost In Space! In its second year, the series switched from black and white to color, and the tone of the show veered wildly from outer space adventure to fairy tale themed outings, and other campy, comical stories which often focused on Will Robinson, Dr. Smith and the Robot. 

"The Phantom Family" concerns an alien named Lemnoc (played by Alan Hewitt) whose race has lost the will to live. He creates android duplicates of Dr. Smith, Don West, and Judy and Penny Robinson. Lemnoc wants Will to teach the androids about being human, and all about our strengths and emotions, especially our survival instinct. Lemnoc gives Will a 24 hour deadline, explaining that Will's family and friends will be destroyed, unless the alien transports the duplicates to his world within that time frame.

This enjoyable outing features much of the main cast having fun playing the stoic, emotionless androids. Jonathan Harris, who could often be theatrical and over the top as Dr. Smith, does a great job in a couple of low key scenes with Bill Mumy's Will, as the Smith android does indeed learn about being human from the youngest Robinson. Guy Williams and June Lockhart are absent for most of this entry, but they return for the final portion of the story, so that John and Don West, played by Mark Goddard, can do their action hero bit at the end of the episode.

There's are some fun easter eggs for Allen devotees, as Lemnoc's lab is filled with equipment and props which appeared previously on Lost In Space, as well as other Allen series, including The Time Tunnel and Voyage To The Bottom of the Sea. "The Phantom Family" was written by Peter Packer, who wrote the lion's share of Lost In Space episodes throughout the series run, and helmed by veteran actor and director Ezra Stone. You might also notice some similarities to a third season episode entitled "Target Earth," in which another alien race creates duplicates of the Robinsons, as part of a plot to invade the Earth. If you're a Lost In Space fan, "The Phantom Family" is definitely worthy of a re-watch.