THE VAMPIRE (1957), aka MARK OF THE VAMPIRE

Director: Paul Landres

Writer: Pat Fielder

Producers: Arthur Gardner, Jules V. Levy

Cast: John Beal, Coleen Gray, Kenneth Tobey, Lydia Reed, Dabbs Greer, Ann Staunton, James Griffith, Herb Vigran, Paul Brinegar, (and uncredited cast) Wood Romoff, Brad Morrow, Hallene Hill, Mauritz Hugo, Chet Brandenburg, Arthur Gardener, Raymond Greenleaf, Michael Jeffers, Louise Lewis, Natalie Masters, Walter Merrill, Anne O’Neal, Carl Sklover, Christine Rees, George Selk 

When medical researcher Dr. Campbell (Wood Romoff) collapses in his home lab, family practitioner Dr. Paul Beecher (John Beal) is summoned. Campbell passes some pills he has developed to Beecher just before he dies of a coronary. It is discovered that Campbell’s pills were derived from vampire bats and could revert animal minds to a more primitive state. Once determining how to reverse that process, it was hoped that human intelligence could also be advanced. Unfortunately, Dr. Beecher accidentally consumes some of the experimental pills instead of his migraine medication. This causes a monstrous transformation in Beecher that compels him to feed on the blood of humans. 

The Flashback Fanatic movie review 

At the very same time that Britain’s Hammer Films were resuscitating the gothic horrors of Frankenstein and Dracula in 19th century European settings, America was contemporizing old-world horrors. While all of these films were just striving to thrill and chill, the US productions had science creating new versions of traditional monsters. There had been an atomic age variation on zombies in Creature with the Atom Brain (1955), and radiation again was used to create The Werewolf (1956). Two more mad-science-made monsters were loping across movie screens in the two June 1957 releases I Was a Teenage Werewolf and The Vampire. 

I always enjoy sci-fi spins on things that go bump in the night. As in other science-spawned variations on old-world supernatural menaces, the monster in The Vampire does not adhere to traditional folklore. Aside from bloodlust, his only other vampiric trait is that the original serum used to make the pills that turn Dr. Paul Beecher into a monster were derived from vampire bats. When in monster mode, Beecher acts as bestial as the typical werewolf. The most interesting deviation from tradition is that Beecher’s dead victims do not return to undead life. Instead, they undergo a very rapid decomposition. 

The menace of The Vampire is just as tragically sympathetic as his cinematic werewolf brethren. Dr. Paul Beecher is a swell guy and a fine member of his community. He is the kind of doctor that still makes house calls and will let his patients pay their bills as soon as they are able. He is a single, loving parent raising his adolescent daughter while conducting his private medical practice. It is just bad luck that Beecher accidentally ingests a dead scientist’s experimental drug, which transforms him into a blood-drinking monster. 

As Dr. Paul Beecher, John Beal appeals to our sympathies. Of course, his character is a decent person compelled to do horrible things, but he also is accidentally and instantly addicted to a drug that has caused his monstrous condition. His addiction is as stressful as his suspicions that during his blackouts he is responsible for the string of murders in his little town. In addition to Beecher’s stresses of addiction and guilt, he is also experiencing a lot of heartbreak at home. Due to his drug-related issues, he is afraid that he will no longer be able to raise his young daughter Betsy (Lydia Reed) and may have to send her away. This impact on his home life is a very down-to-earth consequence that keeps us all on Beecher’s side, regardless of his deadly loss of control. 

On hand to investigate the vampire killings is the John Wayne of 1950s sci-fi horror, Kenneth Tobey. This would be the last of a quartet of such films Tobey appeared in during the decade. Here, as Police Detective Buck Donnelly, he is as take-charge and likable as ever. Tobey’s secret weapon for being an effective movie hero was confidence, not cockiness. He always seemed like a supremely capable and manly nice guy. 

Of course, any manly hetero guy would have to take notice of gorgeous Coleen Gray. As Dr. Beecher’s receptionist Carol Butler, she immediately rouses Detective Donnelly’s interest. Although Beecher seems fond of Carol, there seems to be no overt attempt on his part to pursue a relationship with her. Beecher does ask Carol out to dinner one night just to help him stay distracted from his pills addiction. At one point, Beecher playfully tries to discourage Donnelly from checking out his new receptionist by describing her as someone unattractive. Curiously, this potential for a romantic rivalry and more mean monster motivation is never exploited. It seems that the addiction angle is meant to be the main focus of the turmoil in Beecher’s life, which keeps our sympathies for him steadfast. 

The main cast of characters is quite small and the story is simple and intimate. Despite the fact that we are ahead of most of the characters in this movie, we still remain engaged. The credit for this rests not only with the direction and performances; Gerald Fried’s music score provides plenty of creepy anticipation before the scenes of violence. Once that violence occurs, the music is appropriately savage. Fried scored a few other late ’50s fright flicks. In the following decade, he would contribute memorable themes to the original Star Trek TV series and a multitude of other television shows. 

Unlike many sci-fi flicks at this time, the consequences of atomic radiation are not the theme of this film. Here a drug developed for the benefit of human potential is what creates a menace. Perhaps the contemporary scientific concern addressed in The Vampire is the increasing prevalence of addictive prescription drugs. After all, amphetamines were becoming the go-to prescriptions for mood elevation and appetite suppression to ensure that many women could deal with the rigors of achieving perfection as 1950s housewives. However, then as now, when there was a buck to be made, many such addictive drugs were promoted and prescribed in excess. 

The lesson seems to be that as man strives for knowledge and progress, there will always be dangerous consequences that he can’t anticipate. As usual, man has to learn his humility the hard way. Unfortunately, sometimes a lot of innocent people pay the ultimate price.