The Vampire Bat (1940). **
In this film, vampire bats are bred for instruments of revenge by a "mad" scientist (Bela Lugosi). A rather uninspired film which exploited both the audience's attraction to vampirism and Lugosi's cult personality.
Spooks Run Wild (1941). *
Another film which exploits the cult of personality surrounding Lugosi; in this case, he plays Nardo, a magician suspected of being a vampire. It is a rather shoddy attempt to adapt the plot of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari to a vampire story.
Son of Dracula (1943). *
Written by Curt Siodinak (creator of the original script for The Wolf Man (1941), a true classic of the horror film genre), the premise is hardly original. It is, basically, the plot of Dracula all over again: The son of the Count emigrates to England in search of new victims, except that his name isn't Dracula, but, instead, it is Alucard — Dracula spelled backwards. This kind of comic book gimmick is indicative of the inspiration for this banal film. Moreover, casting Lon Chaney, Jr., an actor capable of eliciting a great deal of sympathy for his (often) confused and misunderstood "Beastman" was a serious mistake.
Return of the Vampire (1943). *
The plot of Dracula again, except adapted to World War II England. Instead of searching for new victims, the screenwriters suggest that the vampire (named Armand Tesla) is in England seeking revenge against those who tried to kill him.
House of Frankenstein (1944). *
As the popularity of the Frankenstein series declined, Universal (which produced every American Frankenstein picture until 1948) attempted to capture an audience by tossing into the plot every "monster" popular at the time — the Wolf Man, Dracula, Frankenstein, and even the ever-present "mad" scientist. A predictably silly and banal film.
