The Vampire's Ghost (1945)

Strong and Moving!

Just what I expected

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

John Abbott plays Webb Fallon, a centuries-old vampire currently earning a living as a dive owner in an African locale called Bakunda. Coinciding with his arrival is, of course, the expected outbreak of curious murders. The heroes don't put two and two together right away, but they DO figure him out, and head into the heart of the jungle, while he attempts to obtain a female companion for his further journeys through the years."The Vampire's Ghost" is more intelligently handled than some films of its type, no doubt the result of the craftsmanship of the celebrated Leigh Brackett, who co-wrote the script based on her own original story. Still, it can't help but spend some time going over some of the standard rules involving vampires, with which so many people are familiar by now.Although a low budget production (you never do believe that the sets and actors are actually in Africa), the filmmakers, led by director Lesley Selander, make up for this with a presentation that is dependent on mood and characterization. Like many an old-school horror film, it relies on suggestion and subtlety. All we need to see are the frightened reactions of various victims. Abbott, whose buggy eyes are hard not to fixate upon, gives people such a cold stare that they meekly submit to his presence. This, even though he's not a particularly intimidating specimen physically.The cast is good overall - Charles Gordon as the young hero, the pretty Peggy Stewart (who's still alive and still working) as the leading lady, Grant Withers as a helpful priest, Emmett Vogan as Stewarts' father, the stunning Adele Mara (whose exotic dance is a highlight), and Roy Barcroft as an unlucky gambler / skipper. But Abbott tends to command most of the attention, giving a performance that is world-weary and somewhat sympathetic. Webb doesn't particularly care for his continued, haunted existence.This viewer didn't think the pacing was that tedious; the film maintained his interest for a modestly enjoyable experience running only an hour long.Seven out of 10.

The African jungle pounds with a rhythmic drumbeat throughout this film. Is it something sinister? There is a 400 year old vampire on the loose. John Abbott (Fallon) has a kind heart on the outside but don't mess with him. And don't be an attractive lady, either. Natives in the jungle are being killed and having their blood sucked from them. This is no murder mystery story – it's a genuine vampire story.The film is a quickie in that the story is related as if it were a sequence of events and it could have been better if it was longer. That would have allowed more time to develop scenes of tension and drama. As things stand, it's still an enjoyable watch but lacking in those spooky moments. We do get some and the film has an atmospheric setting in the jungle but we have a lame Charles Gordon (Roy) leading the good side against evil.Next time you play cards, walk away from the player who keeps winning, Check out the reflection in a mirror and monitor if the moonlight generates healing properties if you shoot him or her. Spot the vampire.

This is a shocker from Republic Studio's with John Abbott as the undead blood sucker. Abbott gives a bit of a different slant to his vampire. His Webb Fallon is not truly a monster and his attitude of melancholy resignation about his existence speaks volume's of the sadness of his unnatural immortally. The arrival of Julie Vance played by Peggy Stewart gives Fallon hope that he can relieve his loneliness by making her his companion in eternity.Republic specialized in western's and serials. John Wayne was their top star. However, when WWII started studio executives noticed that some of the other smaller studio's were making a nice profit with horror and chiller films so a few few were added to the production schedule. Lesley Selander was director of B-westerns and a pro at staying with the budget and staying on schedule but had little experience with the horror gender. Abbott was a stage trained actor with a dour look and a crisp, clear voice and while he couldn't convey physical menace he could project a sinister quality. Vampire's Ghost being set in Africa is a different kind of locale for this kind of a tale and the vampire is not bound by some of the traditional movie clichés such as moving about in the daylight which adds to the interest. It does moves a little slowly and has a bit too much talk to be a really frightening horror film. Not much FX either. But a solid cast helps it along and it's an entertaining way to spend an hour.

While the title hadn't struck me as being familiar when I read Michael Elliott's positive review here, I later found out that it was in fact listed - albeit meriting only a single sentence! - in "Horror Films", a compendium of the genre written by Alan Frank and which basically served as my introduction to many horror classics as a child.As Michael has said, the script (co-written by Leigh Brackett, future collaborator of the great Howard Hawks) is unusually literate for a low-budget horror film of the Forties, suggesting that its main influence may have been the Val Lewton horror cycle being made contemporaneously at RKO; though it never quite achieves their level of quality, it was a very pleasant surprise and it ought to be better known and, more importantly, seen (alas, given its virtually non-existent reputation and the fact that it's a Republic production, whose catalogue has recently been acquired by Paramount, its official release on DVD anytime soon seems a highly unlikely prospect...though I would love to be proved wrong).Anyway, the combination of vampirism and voodoo is an intriguing one - though we don't really see much of either. The largely unknown cast responds remarkably well to the fanciful proceedings (which offer some new and interesting variations on the standard vampire lore) - but it's John Abbott as Fallon, the world-weary and rather sympathetic bloodsucker who obviously steals the show. The film features a number of effective sequences during its brief (a mere 59 minutes!) but thoroughly engaging running time: a booby-trap shotgun is fired and the bullet goes right through Abbott (shades of SON OF Dracula [1943]) and lodges itself in the arm of one of the natives; only the vampire's clothes are reflected in a mirror (an effect borrowed from Universal's Invisible Man films) and when he looks at it, the mirror shatters of its own accord; the vampire attacks which mainly rely on Abbott's uneasy glare for their impact; the climax set in an ancient temple.Looking at Lesley Selander's busy filmography (but whose work I had never seen before now), I'm left with the assumption that he was one of the innumerable unassuming journeyman directors who specialized in B-movies and Westerns in particular (at least 6 of his films are called "Fort Something Or Other"!); as a matter of fact, he inserts the obligatory poker game, followed by a bar-room brawl, even in THE VAMPIRE'S GHOST - having made Abbott the unlikely proprietor of a tavern (albeit using this identity merely as a cover for his true and sinister self). Still, given my enthusiastic reaction to the latter, I'm willing to give his FORT ALGIERS (1953; which has been available for some time at my local DVD outlet, without generating much interest to me personally) a chance - even if I'm pretty sure it won't be anywhere near as satisfying...