Bela Lugosi
Von Housen
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Comedy
Horror
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.
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| Release Date | 1952-07-11 |
|---|---|
| Runtime | 1h 14m |
| Directors | John Gilling, Stanley Pavey, Denis O'Dell |
| Producers | John Gilling, Stanley Couzins |
| Writers | Val Valentine, Val Valentine, Richard Gordon |
Arthur Lucan's disgustering "Mother Riley" is way behind on her rent, but when her Irish uncle dies she thinks things might be looking up. Some of his possessions are duly sent but they are misdirected to Bela Lugusi ("Prof. Von Housen") whilst she, in turn, received his life-size robot. He uses the remote control to summon his creature (and her), with it soon transpiring that he has very sinister motives that she must find some way to combat. Made in 1952, it has the production standards of something thirty years older. The editing and lighting are way more diabolical than the baddie could ever hope to be; Lucan's character delivers with relentless pace that is, on occasion quite amusing, but for the most part is just annoying and the infrequently seen Lugosi might have been better advised just never to have arisen from the coffin in which he sleeps. Much of the action (and the frenetically cobbled together score) is the stuff of a fairground, frequently bordering on "he's behind you" pantomime style. Dora Bryan and Geoffrey Keen must have fancied a chance to work with the legend, so appear as this increasingly slapstick thing heads towards it's suitably ridiculous denouement. Sad to think anyone was reduced to this, really - not just Lugosi.
— CinemaSerf