Either papa Lugosi didn't teach Lon Chaney Jr. the art of being subtle in his villainy, or those years in the muck as ashes after being burnt by his daughter (or sister) made him bitter, resulting in a vampire brute that truly has really no charm. While special effects have been enhanced in the 7 years since Dracula's daughter further ruined the family name in London, what happens here as the count (renamed Alucard) moves to the old south (in the United States that is) where he doesn't make a good first impression, showing up on the doorsteps of an old southern family mansion just as they are mourning the death of the family patriarch. Daughter Louise Allbritton is manipulated into marrying "Alucard" and in a fit of fury, the man she really loves (Robert Paige) shoots at the count but hits Allbritton instead, obviously killing her, something Chaney had obviously planned in the first place. The town's wise doctor (Frank Craven) instantly suspects something is amiss, and just like Van Helsing before him, he will leave no coffin unturned until he finds out who Alucard really is and destroy him.
Chaney's lack of passion in this role makes him an unappealing vampire, and his genuine nasty attitude makes it hard to believe that anybody, even the dark haired Allbritton, would fall under his spell or even the spell of his ring. It's sort of like imagining Greta Garbo falling under the spell of El Brendel or Roscoe Ates simply because they were wearing some mystic ring. At least with Bela Lugosi, there was a handsome if obviously dark presence underneath, and even in the PRC and Monogram films he was appearing in at the time of this, he had twice the on-screen magic of the ultra boring Chaney. Evelyn Ankers really is wasted, her scream queen character overshadowed by Allbritton. Craven gives the best performance, although Paige has some intense moments as well, particularly when he is confronting the ultra dull count. I prefer to think that if Chaney's Alucard is indeed the real deal, the mud he came up through mixed with his ashes must have mixed with some quicksand, which ultimately caused his character to sink out of any realm of reality.
Chaney's lack of passion in this role makes him an unappealing vampire, and his genuine nasty attitude makes it hard to believe that anybody, even the dark haired Allbritton, would fall under his spell or even the spell of his ring. It's sort of like imagining Greta Garbo falling under the spell of El Brendel or Roscoe Ates simply because they were wearing some mystic ring. At least with Bela Lugosi, there was a handsome if obviously dark presence underneath, and even in the PRC and Monogram films he was appearing in at the time of this, he had twice the on-screen magic of the ultra boring Chaney. Evelyn Ankers really is wasted, her scream queen character overshadowed by Allbritton. Craven gives the best performance, although Paige has some intense moments as well, particularly when he is confronting the ultra dull count. I prefer to think that if Chaney's Alucard is indeed the real deal, the mud he came up through mixed with his ashes must have mixed with some quicksand, which ultimately caused his character to sink out of any realm of reality.