Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

The Return of Dracula Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 16, 2017

Paul Landres' "The Return of Dracula" (1958) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of independent distributors Olive Films. The only bonus feature on the disc is an original trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Quiet!

Police investigators force the great Count Dracula (Francis Lederer) to leave his lair on the Balkans and he ends up on a train full of immigrants heading to America. There he kills Bellac Gordal, who is on his way to reunite with relatives that haven’t seen him in decades, and assumes his identity.

In California, Bellac is enthusiastically welcomed by his cousin Cora Mayberry (Greta Granstedt), who is convinced that it is a small miracle that they have lived to meet again. Cora’s teen daughter Rachel (Norma Eberhardt) also tries to be nice to Bellac, but quickly discovers that he can be uncharacteristically reserved, at times even surprisingly cold. She assumes that if they give him enough time to settle down eventually he will open up and she will be able to talk to him. But as time passes by Bellac distances himself even more and later on even openly demands that Rachel removes the tiny cross she loves to wear when she goes out to meet her boyfriend.

The rhythm of life in the small town is disrupted when an official from the Department of Immigration questions Cora and shortly after his body is located not too far away from the local train station. Then much to his amusement, Reverend Doctor Whitfield (Gage Clarke) also discovers someone has stolen the cold body of a blind girl that was good friends with Rachel.

Anyone expecting a rich story with effective twists will likely be disappointed with this film. After Bellack/Count Dracula is welcomed by the Mayberrys the script basically offers a couple of situations that temporarily postpone the inevitable discovery that the relative from the old country isn’t the person that everyone assumes he is. Rachel is the first to become suspicious, but no one seems willing to even attempt to consider her observations. Eventually, as it often happens in these types of films, people suddenly see the obvious and realize that they are running out of time to save each other.

The fact that the story is so straightforward, however, is largely irrelevant because the film’s intent to impress with a great atmosphere (rather than with an original tale about Dracula’s exotic adventures in the New World) could not have been any more apparent. Frankly, this is why it actually works rather well. Director Paul Landres and cinematographer Jack MacKenzie use every opportunity to build a dark and very tense atmosphere that ultimately ends up being the film’s most valuable asset.

The cast is good but the individual performances are easily forgettable. There are a couple of sequences where Lederer looks quite good -- with the one where his reflection in the mirror disappears arguably being the most effective one -- but other actors have done much better when trying to bring back Dracula amongst the living.

The appropriately tense orchestral soundtrack was created by Gerald Fried, who scored some of Stanley Kubrik’s early films, including The Killing and Paths of Glory.

The Return of Dracula Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Paul Landres' The Return of Dracula arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Olive Films.

The film has been fully remastered and looks lovely in high-definition. Detail and clarity are very good and despite the fact that large segments take place at night/at dusk depth is also very pleasing. The grayscale is very convincing as well, though there are a few segments where the blacks appear slightly elevated. There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening corrections. Before a couple of reel transitions some minor density fluctuations can be spotted, but they are clearly inherited. Image stability is very good. There are no distracting damage marks, debris, cuts, stains, or other noticeable age-related imperfections. (Note: This is Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Return of Dracula Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Clarity and depth very good, though as it is always the case with these types of smaller genre pictures the original sound design is hardly impressive. There are a few sequences where Gerald Fried's score does add some extra flavor to the action, but don't expect a great deal of dynamic movement. The dialog is stable, clean, and easy to follow, but I notice a few tiny pops. There are no audio dropouts or distortions.

The Return of Dracula Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - original trailer for The Return of Dracula. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 1080p).

The Return of Dracula Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Return of Dracula is a predictable but rather enjoyable film whose one and only valuable asset is its atmosphere. As many of you probably already know, I find these types of films to be most effective when they are seen in the wee hours of the night, which is why I would like to recommend it only to those of you that agree with me. Olive Films' recent Blu-ray release of The Return of Dracula is sourced from a recent remaster with very strong organic qualities. RECOMMENDED.