Wow, Elizabeth! That's a great commercial for your company. So that's what you were working on in your kitchen, wow. You have a good speaking voice and you're a natural as a spokeswoman. Bring on the advertising jobs! Seriously, I could see you on a national TV commercial. I didn't know what ASMR was, so I had to Google it. Gives new meaning to the phrase "spine tingling", lol. You did an excellent job in every respect, including maintaining eye contact and the slight "head nods" newscasters use for emphasis. A very impressive debut in your latest art form, created during the lockdown no less......and the use of the houseplant was cool, too, as "proof of fan". :)
It's not an easy segue from your commercial into tonight's movie, haha, but I'll give it a shot : I found a flick called "The Return of Dracula"(1958) a stripped down take on the Vampire Legend starring an actor named Francis Lederer, whose career goes way back to the Silent era. Lederer plays the infamous Count, who at the beginning of the film has fled his native Transylvania, one step ahead of the local vampire hunter, Inspector Merriman. In the opening scene, Merriman and several other men, including a priest, enter a cemetery, prepared to open Dracula's coffin at sunrise. The exposure to daylight, plus a stake through the heart, should finish him off for good. But it looks like old Drac knew they were coming. When they open the lid, he's not home. Merriman's surprise is ruined.
Drac jumps a train en route to the coast. Along the way, he kills his cabinmate, tosses the guy overboard and assumes his identity. Now he is "Bellac Gordal", artist. When he arrives in California, he finds his American "relatives" waiting for him at the station. His aunt hasn't seen the real (now deceased) Bellac since he was a child, so she has no idea this new guy is an imposter. Drac (we'll just call him Bellac for now) accompanies auntie and cousin Rachel back to their house, where he is to stay for the duration of his visit. During the first few days, Rachel and her aunt try to include Bellac in on all the family activities, but he won't come out of his room. He just lays on his bed all day. "Excuse me if I seem strange to you", he explains. "I am a little set in my ways".
What they don't know is that Bellac has taken his luggage - which includes his coffin - and has set up a separate bedroom in the Bronson Canyon cave. He starts spending more and more time there, always with an excuse for where he's been all day. "Oh, I've been in the park, working on my latest sketches".
Cousin Rachel volunteers at a nursing home where one of her patients is a blind girl named Jennie. Bellac sees an easy mark for his first American victim. He turns Jennie into one of his legion, after which she is buried in a Hollywood cemetery with no one realising she's undead. At around this time, Inspector Merriman and an assistant arrive in Los Angeles, hot on Drac's trail. They discover he's been masquerading as Bellac and ask a local priest for his help. The priest has a modern theological viewpoint, doesn't believe in vampires, and asks for proof before he will assist in the hunt. Merriman has learned of Jennie's "death" by this time, so to prove his case to the priest, he takes him to her crypt. When they open her coffin, sure enough she's not inside. The priest is now a believer.
However, Jennie was just a test run for Bellac. What he really wants is to "turn" cousin Rachel, with whom he's in love. She finds Bellac fascinating : his European charm, the Old World manners, his knowledge of art. But Rachel has a boyfriend, young Tim (Ray Stricklyn). Tim doesn't trust the older, more sophisticated Bellac, who he's sure is trying to steal Rachel from him. Also in the way is the cross Rachel always wears, given to her by Jennie on her deathbed. "You must never wear that around me", Bellac tells her, but for some reason she always does.
Inspector Merriman and the Priest are closing in on Bellac, and it's only a matter of time before a showdown occurs. Rachel has invited him to a Halloween party, to be held at the nursing home, but Bellac as usual begs off. He's onto the vampire hunters by now, and has his own plans to deal with them, inside the Bronson Cave.
I loved "The Return of Dracula". We were speaking of "minimalist" filmmaking the other day - a new term for us - and "Return" qualifies under that banner, though it has several more characters in it than did "Jennifer", the first film we mentioned in that regard. But "Return" has that same "claustrophobic" feel, where the outside world doesn't exist for the people in the story. They have no one to help them with their Vampire Problem and must solve it themselves, as is usually the case in these pictures. Another minimalist feature is the look of Bellac/Count Dracula himself. He doesn't wear a cape, there are no long fangs. Instead he is dressed in a well tailored but simple suit. That, and the handsome but menacing countenance of Francis Lederer are enough. I thought this approach was original and very effective, given that every other Dracula we've ever seen conforms to the stereotype, which is fine, too, but this time it was nice to see him portrayed differently. And Lederer is very scary.
"Return" also gets big points for the art direction of the Halloween Party that takes place near the end. If you've ever wanted to go back to a classic Halloween, 1950s style, with old fashioned Devil and Witch costumes, and cardboard paper Black Cats pinned to the walls, this is the movie for you. For Halloween lovers, the party scene is reason enough to see it. Add in the great acting of Lederer, some richly dark black and white photography, and you've got a very different but excellent take on the Dracula story. Oh yeah, and there's also an appropriately chilling score by Gerald Fried, of Star Trek "Amok Time" episode fame.
Two Big Thumbs Up for "The Return of Dracula", a no frills/no fat film that'll drive a stake through your heart. Highly recommended! ///////
I'm getting better at pounding out these afternoon reviews. I tell myself "don't try to get cute, Ad. You don't have time for that". So I'm just going for "the facts, ma'am". Sorry about the missing humor (but hey, maybe that's a good thing, haha!). Only you would know, as I'm the type to laugh at my own jokes (groan.....).
Okay, I'll shut up now. Got a few minutes to do some reading before heading out on my walk. Then back to Pearl's. See you tonight at the Usual Time!
Tons of love. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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