My Son The Vampire (1952)

The legendary Bela Lugosi as "the Vampire" teams up with Britain's much-loved "Mother Riley" in this hilarious comedy adventure. The Vampire plans to control the world with the help of his robot, which accidentally gets shipped to Mother Riley. Through radar control, he contacts the robot and orders it to come to him, bringing along Mother Riley! But his life is turned upside down when he holds this most meddling of mothers captive. "My Son the Vampire" is the last of the Mother Riley film series (1937-1952), lighthearted, immensely popular British comedies that featured the slapstick antics of Arthur Lucan as an Irish scullery maid who gets herself into all sorts of tough spots.

Bela the Comedian

Saw this one on TV and had to buy to see it all. Pretty funny. and the title character - whew, what a strange one. all in all, this is a good movie. weird but good. November 3, 2007

Wild and Crazy British Comedy.

This is another Bela Lugosi flick filmed in glorious B&W that stretches the low budget dollar. For anyone that liked Bela's encounters with The East Side Kids and Abbott and Costello, this zany British flick is a good fit. Neither classic comedy nor classic horror, it's fun in a reverse sort of way. Bela covers all bases spoofing his own movie image portraying a mad scientist posing as a vampire. In making these career choices, we get a mental image of Bela shrugging his shoulders at the proposed absurdity and taking the money, paltry sums notwithstanding. British comic Arthur Lucan made a career out of dressing as an old woman. His "Mother Riley" character was apparently popular in England. This must be an acquired taste. Shades of Frankenstein, Bela's super robot gets delivered by mistake to Mother Riley, and the fun is on. There are sight gags and pratfalls aplenty. There's even a frantic chase scene. It's hard for Lugosi to be menacing while smothering chuckles. Viewers that like their comedy sprinkled with horror chills will find the results pleasing. ;-) November 29, 2003

Mother Riley Meets The Vampire. AKA My Son The Vampire!

This was the last of the Mother Riley films and this one is definately the best. Bela Lugosi is obviously enjoying himself despite taking on this film as a way of flying home to Los Angeles. You can see it in his face as he shuffles up to Mother Riley, "That's My Brother!" he says as Old Mother Riley stares at a painting of a BAT!. Dora Bryan is brilliant as always and so is Judith Furse as the matron-like housekeeper. This film is a must. Anyone who like comedy, old comedy, will love this film. Slapstick at it's best! September 22, 2001

Fanged Farce In A Frock From The UK!

The long-awaited DVD release of My Son The Vampire (aka Old Mother Riley Meets The Vampire) also contains the brief theatrical trailer for the film's American release (an inclusion not stated on the packaging). Previously available many years ago in an inferior VHS release, and undoubtably available elsewhere as a independently released video, the DVD transfer from the American print is beautiful!

Brit drag comedian Arthur Lucan stars as Irish scullery woman Old Mother Riley, a role he played in several "Riley" films over a course of fifteen years from 1937 to 1952 (when this film was released). Bela Lugosi actually co-stars as a mad scientist who believes he is a vampire, like a predecessor of his, and plans to rule the world with an army of 50,000 invincible robots...but only gets to create just one! Through an unfortunate hysterical mixup, Mother Riley ends up in the clutches of the pseudo-vampire, and slapstick farce ensues.

Directed by John Gilling, who went on to such films as Hammer Studio's THE MUMMY'S SHROUD (also on DVD), and featuring the title song written and performed by Alan Sherman (remember "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah?"). Sherman wrote the song for the American release, and appears in the short theatrical trailer which is also included on the DVD as a supplementary item (go to the main menu on the disc). September 13, 2000

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