BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

WiseRatFlames An unexpected masterpiece

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

DarthVoorhees 'Vampire Over London' is a horrible film with one redeeming quality which is of course Bela Lugosi and yet even the legendary Bela is really not enough to give this a view. 'Vampire Over London' is worse than any collaboration Lugosi made with Ed Wood. In fact I would even go so far as to say that Ed Wood is dignified and deep in the title drag role in 'Glen or Glenda' in comparison to Arthur Lucan's Old Mother Riley. Lucan's Old Mother Riley is the kind of character that is like torture to watch. He is Jar Jar Binks/Steve Urkel caliber annoying. I'd rather watch someone scratch a chalk board for an hour than to sit through this film again. The fact that this type of character was never funny to begin with doesn't stop Lucan from indulging in every tired cliché. The film assumes it's audience is incredibly stupid but I don't think even stupid people would find Lucan funny. Lugosi is good but he is given a horrendous script and is not in the film all that much. Lugosi wants to explore new territory here and he kind of plays the character more for laughs but none of the material is very funny. And since this is Lucan's film, Lugosi is never given a chance to do anything except set up Lucan's horrible humor. In a career full of highs and lows this might be rock bottom for this talented man. He didn't deserve this.

MartinHafer 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?!

Jay Pearlman I had heard about this film for years, and when it turned up on TCM I decided to catch it. I would have been better off catching a disease.Now, I wanted to like this film - I really did. But the three words that keep coming to mind are: Pitiful, wretched, unfunny. The worst thing a comedy can be is unfunny.Actually, Bela Lugosi is the best thing in the film, but that's not saying much. With shoe polish in his hair (and a toupee!), he is Von Housen, a criminal who sleeps in a coffin and has plans for world domination (what else?). He meets his match in Mother Riley, an incredibly annoying character played by actor Arthur Lucan in drag.The problems with the film are many: mostly, it's just not funny. Lucan is unintelligible half of the time, the slapstick fight scenes are tired and lifeless (everybody seems to be anticipating what happens next), the character of the robot goes nowhere (literally), and, possibly worst of all, we are denied a big payoff as far as what happens with Lugosi's character! Oh yes, there is an absolutely horrendous musical number (!) in Mother Riley's shop at the beginning.Everything looks as if it were shot in one take - and that was one too many. I felt as if this film ran for hours and hours, instead of 74 minutes. (BTW, the print shown on TCM omits the pre-credits footage with Allan Sherman added for American release; unfortunately, his awful title song remains.) One or two (barely) funny lines and situations cannot sustain this terrible film. Perhaps the Mother Riley series played better to British audiences, but it's so hard to tell using only this film as a yardstick. The other films in the series are not shown here in the US; maybe having Kitty McShane (Arthur Lucan's ex-wife) would have helped. Bela definitely deserved better.

ayupodgey Yes this really is something of a clinker. A real poverty row, "quota quickie" that is really only of interest because of the bizarre teaming of British variety veteran Arthur Lucan (Old Mother Riley) and horror movie icon Bela Lugosi. Both are well past their prime and the knowledge that poor old Bela was quite ill at the time makes the whole thing quite a melancholy experience. However that being said there is a kind of earthy British working class exuberance to be found in some of the comedy. Lucan and his veteran writer Valentine,knew his audience and their preoccupations as exemplified in the early scenes in Mother Riley's corner shop. Jokes about post war rationing, living on "tick" (a slang term for credit Mr and Mrs America)etc. would've been fairly well received. (But the actual set for the shop is tawdry and really displays the cheapness of the budget). Still Lugosi does seem to enjoy the Vaudeville banter with Lucan. In Lucan's case this was probably more a matter of sheer professionalism rather than genuine enthusiasm as at the time he was, by all accounts, a deeply unhappy man due to an acrimonious split from his wife and former stage partner Kitty Mc Shane. The U.S. version starts incongruously with a song by Allen Sherman (I'll bet he never even saw the film)and some sketchy cartoon graphics that simply do not fit in with the narrative that follows. It's all a bit of a rag bag of second hand, slightly misunderstood horror movie cliché's (vampires, mad scientists, robots etc.)recycled in a half hearted kind of way but not totally without interest. Although of more interest to ageing Brits, like myself than to anyone else, I suspect. Only buy a copy if it's really cheap. It's a one screening curio. You'd have to be a serious masochist or else have no life to really want to see it more than once.