The Return of Dracula (1958)

In this somber, yet teen-filled vampire movie from 1958, Dracula – the King of All Vampires, The Lord of Darkness, Vlad the Impaler, decides to leave the moderate climate of Europe and, for some reason, settle down in a little podunk town in California populated with your Nana, your annoying little brother and your sullen teenage boyfriend.



That’s right, the most powerful supernatural creature known to man decides that he wants to downsize and retire to California where he can hit on young teenage girls and avoid going to church.

The Episode

Words From The Watchdog

Well, Bill Warren didn’t have anything to say about this one, because “Keep Watching The Skies” is a science fiction compendium, and there’s no way this is a science fiction movie.

I still wanted to share some thoughts on the movie, and I found Tim Lucas, of Video Watchdog fame, had a very nice review of the film up on his site, so we’re going to go with his thoughtful words.

In retrospect, there are a few other things that no one can take away from THE RETURN OF DRACULA. First of all, Francis Lederer’s performance as Dracula remains completely original in its approach to the character, if that is indeed who he is. Secondly, it is arguably the first film to present vampires in a truly modern context – even if that context happens to be set in a small town “where nothing ever happens.”

I highly recommend Tim’s site for finding out even more about the movies we all love.

The Links

Francis Lederer (Wikipedia) (IMdb); Obituary (New York Times) (Variety)

“Francis Lederer, the Forgotten Dracula” (Lloyd’s Beware the Blog)

“The Count of Canoga Park, and My Mental CD Player” (Alan K. Rode)

Filmfax, Issue #121 – “Francis Lederer, a Man of Many Worlds” – Article by Charles P. Mitchell and others.

The Return of Dracula (Trailer, YouTube); (Blu-Ray, Amazon); (Amazon Prime Streaming); (Free, YouTube)

Tim Lucas, Video Watchdog, on “The Return of Dracula”

The Credits

I am very grateful to be able to use the music and sound effects of so many wonderful creators.

You can find a list of all music used, and all sound effects used, and links, here, on our Credits page.

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