The Vampire's Ghost (1945) directed by Lesley Selander
Webb Fallon (John Abbott) runs a bar in the central African town of Barunda. A lot of sailors from the river hang out there. Fallon takes them to the cleaners at the craps table. He gives the money to one of the poorer sailors who buys a round for everyone. The captain keeps a chip on his shoulder. In town, Roy (Charles Vance) and Julie (Peggy Stuart) are engaged and looking forward to a life together. Their only problem is the rash of deaths in the area--several people have died with puncture wounds to the throat and blood loss. The white population doesn't know what to make of it but the natives know there is a supernatural monster in their midst. The natives communicate through drums. The drumming has been going on for a long time, putting people on edge. In an attempt to settle things down, Roy plans to go to one of the villages. Fallon volunteers to go with Roy and a group of natives. In the jungle, a booby-trapped rifle almost kills Roy. Fallon manages to push him out of the way and the native behind Fallon is hit in the arm by the bullet. The group camps for the night. The natives figure out Fallon is the vampire but fail to kill him. Roy finally figures it out but Fallon puts Roy under his control so he can't reveal the truth. They go back to Barunda where Roy falls ill. Fallon volunteers to help Julie nurse him back to health. That's when Fallon gets the idea to make Julie a fellow vampire so he'll have a companion for the long stretch of years ahead of him.
For a 1940s vampire movie, this has a lot of distinguishing marks. There's no European castle. Fallon dresses in a white suit and tie--no cape or tuxedo or finery (also, no fangs). He has a box of dirt from his grave that he sleeps on. The box was given to him by Queen Elizabeth when he helped defeat the Spanish Armada four hundred years earlier. Fallon passes off the box's inscription as referring to an ancestor. As a vampire, he's a bit melancholic about his eternal life. The heart of Africa seems like a good hiding place to him, though he recognizes that sooner or later, the situation will turn bad and he will have to move on, like he has done so many times before. He describes time as a circle, monotonous and unending. So Fallon is not at all like Dracula or other slick and exotic vampires from the old black and white films; nor is the location some drafty old castle or modern city.
While Fallon does have some sympathetic aspects to him, he is definitely evil. He is vulnerable to crosses and silver weapons, though he's had some practice in dodging them thanks to 400 years of experience. He clearly likes mastering situations and people. And he's happy to turn on allies like the bar's dancer Lisa (Adele Mara), who draws in customers but is jealous of his attention to Julie. He's able to shift from forlorn to malevolent quickly and convincingly. John Abbott gives a very good performance.
The town has a priest who is an effective counter to the vampire and especially to his influence on people. I found it interesting that the Africans were clued in much faster than the Europeans about what was going on. Even in a short running time (barely 59 minutes), plenty of minor characters get their due during the story. The jungle setting makes for a very interesting location to deal with vampires.
Recommended, highly for vampire fans looking for something different than the usual sparkles or capes.
The movie is available on YouTube for free.
H/T to Hypnogoria podcast for recommending this film as the best of the Republic Pictures horrors produced in the 1940s.
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