Villain(s)  Vampire, werewolf

Actor(s):  Bela Lugosi, Frieda Inescort, Nina Foch, Miles Mander

Brief Description  The Return of the Vampire is a 1943 American horror film directed by Lew Landers and starring Bela Lugosi, Frieda Inescort, Nina Foch, Miles Mander, Roland Varno, and Matt Willis. Its plot follows a vampire named Armand Tesla, who has two encounters with Englishwoman Lady Jane Ainsley, the first taking place during World War I, and the second during World War II.

Plot:
Prologue 1918 London: The story begins at the tail end of World War I. Armand Tesla, a 200-year-old Hungarian vampire, stalks the English countryside and terrorizes a local family. He has enslaved Andreas Obry, transforming him into a submissive werewolf servant. Scientists Dr. Walter Saunders and Lady Jane Ainsley deduce that a vampire is at large. They successfully track Tesla to his crypt and destroy him by driving a large iron railroad spike directly into his heart. With the vampire dead, the curse on Andreas is broken; he reverts to a normal, peaceful human and is hired by Lady Jane to work at her sanitarium.

Resurrected by the Blitz 1943: The timeline shifts twenty-five years later to the height of the World War II London Blitz. A stray Nazi bomb strikes the cemetery, tearing open Tesla's hidden grave. Civil defense workers and gravediggers mistake the iron spike in Tesla's chest for a piece of bomb shrapnel. Upon pulling the spike out to rebury the body properly, they inadvertently resurrect the vampire.

The Plan for Revenge: Free once more, Tesla tracks down Andreas, overpowers his will, and forces him back into his monstrous werewolf form. Tesla plots absolute vengeance against the family that entombed him. He targets Dr. Saunders' now-grown granddaughter, Nicki Saunders, aiming to drain her blood and claim her soul. To move freely through high society, Tesla murders Hugo Bruckner, a prominent scientist who recently escaped a Nazi concentration camp. Tesla assumes Bruckner's identity, allowing him to infiltrate Lady Jane's social circle and gain direct access to Nicki.

The Climax: Lady Jane grows highly suspicious of "Dr. Bruckner" and eventually realizes the horrifying truth: the vampire has returned. Sir Frederick Fleet of Scotland Yard is brought in, initially skeptical of the supernatural threat. During the final confrontation, an air raid strikes the area. Andreas, struggling against the vampire's telepathic control, experiences a sudden moral awakening fueled by his residual humanity. He turns on his master, attacking Tesla and dragging him out into the courtyard just as daylight breaks. While the sun's rays weaken Tesla, a piece of heavy bomb shrapnel pins the vampire to the ground. Sir Frederick Fleet and Lady Jane arrive to finish the monster. The vampire's flesh melts away into a skeleton as he dies permanently, and Andreas is finally freed from his curse as he passes away from his wounds.