Mother Riley Meets the Vampire (1952)

Dull and Humorless This movie begins with a woman by the name of "Julia Loretti" (Maria Mercedes) being kidnapped by agents working for a man named "Von Housen" (Bela Lugosi) who goes by pseudonym of "the Vampire" and has everyone convinced that he is an actual vampire. As it turns out, however, although he sleeps in a coffin Von Housen is actually an inventor who is working on a plan to build 50,000 robots so that he can take over the world. To that end, he has abducted Julia because she knows where a secret chart is kept which identifies the location of a rich deposit of uranium that he desperately needs. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned as the prototype of the robot is accidentally sent to the wrong address which forces him to seize an old lady by the name of "Mrs. Riley" (Arthur Lucan) before she has a chance to alert the authorities. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that prior to watching this movie I had no idea that it was one of a series of films focused exclusively on the character of Mrs. Riley. Be that as it may, I honestly didn't care too much for this particular film due in large part because the slapstick humor was so incredibly dull and ineffective. It just wasn't a good movie. That being said, I have rated it accordingly. Below average.

Mother Riley Meets the Vampire was the last of a series of films in which actor Arthur Lucan starred in drag as Old Mother Riley. Lucan's character was an endearingly funny one and popular in the British Isles for a couple of generations. Only his death the following year prevented more films from being made.For this final one Bela Lugosi plays the old woman's adversary, he's a mad scientist in this one who also fancies himself a vampire, he actually does sleep in a coffin for effect. Bela as Count Dracula in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein dabbled in some black science as well, but Bela played it quite serious there. He said though that A&C's spoof on horror films though it made a ton of money killed the classic horror genre which did not get revived until Hammer films started doing those again with a lot more gore. Realizing it and also realizing that Arthur Lucan would probably dominate the whole film as he always did in his film, Lugosi hams it up to the hilt as the scientist. Bela really got into the spirit of the comedy, just like Charles Laughton did in Abbott&Costello Meet Captain Kidd. It's sad though because Lugosi showed a good gift for comedy and did not have to end his career with Ed Wood films.Anyway the robot he was working on was shipped to Old Mother Riley's address in London and with his remote control device Lugosi attempts to get it back. Of course he gets Old Mother Riley with the robot and a couple of handfuls of trouble with the old biddy. By the way watch what the old woman does to defeat this prototype of an invincible mechanical warrior. Pretty funny stuff. As is the film.

Arthur Lucan plays the female lead, "Mother Riley", and Lucan's schtick involved playing an old hag in both a series of films as well as on stage. Unfortunately, Lucan looked and sounded nothing like an old woman and instead seemed to be one of the least talented "actors" ever to grace the silver screen. What made it worse was the way that the film's director and producer added "funny" sound effects and optical effects in order to supposedly heighten the humor. All this really did was loudly and very unconvincingly announce "this is really funny--look everyone--isn't this hilarious?!". The film had all the subtlety and charm of an obnoxious four year-old who thinks everyone wants to watch him recite and tell jokes. Also included for "laughs" are a giant stupid robot (a sure sign the movie is in trouble), a "hilarious" song by that accursed Mother Riley and opening credits that feature a song that might encourage suicide. If Anmesty International got wind of all this, they might try to condemn the movie as a form of cruel and unusual punishment.Unfortunately, as a result of all this badness, Bela Lugosi is 100% wasted in the film and generally looks rather lost. He could have been funny or scary (like he was in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN), but the Mother Riley character was so pushy, detestable and awful that Lugosi's performance (as well as a plot) are completely overwhelmed by the eminently hate-able Lucan. You just wanted it all to end!After seeing this film, I wonder why Bela Lugosi's last film (PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE) is so famous for being the worst movie ever made. Sure, it's very incompetently made and inept in every way--but at least it's fun to watch. On the other hand, MOTHER RILEY MEETS THE VAMPIRE might be one of the most annoying and pathetically unfunny films ever made and watching it will likely induce a humongous migraine!! Painfully bad and awful in every possible way!! I hated this movie and hate everyone who made it. I really wish I could give it a score lower than 1!!! Curse all of you responsible for this bilge.Did I mention that I didn't like it?!

Arthur Lucan's drag character of old Mother Riley, whilst being somewhat of a big hit in England, never really made its mark here in America. Why? Well, for starters, the character of Old Mother Riley, a working class Irish woman who gets into all kinds of comedic situations, doesn't have the universal traits necessary to bring success out of England. There are jokes dealing with class and other very traditional English situations. I heard such awful things about this film in particular, being the last film Lucan did playing Mother Riley, and was honestly a bit pleasantly surprised. Sure this is pretty lowbrow stuff. A man in drag mugging for the camera at every opportunity. A series of comedic situations that were almost all slapstick oriented. One scene where Mother Riley breaks into song for no reason at all. And let's not forget the truly inane plot about confusing the names Riley and packages that were mixed up - with Old Mother Riley getting a robot that should have been sent to Bela Lugosi. But Lucan is talented to a degree and made me laugh a time or two. The film was very watchable. As for Bela Lugosi? He did this film as a means to make money so as to get passage back home for himself and his wife while they were in London after failing at a revival of Dracula on stage. This is probably his last good picture in terms of looking robust and relatively healthy prior to committing himself for drug rehabilitation. He looks good and he looks like he is having a lot of fun. There is one story circulating that Lugosi may not have even known Lucan was in drag at their first meeting - Lucan it seems never went out as himself in public but always as Mother Riley so as to preserve his personal life. At any rate, you might give this film a look while keeping a somewhat open mind. It's not Hamlet. It's not Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, but it does have its moments and it has Bela Lugosi. Lugosi is enough for me.