The Return of Dracula

The Return of Dracula (a.k.a. Curse of Dracula on US television and The Fantastic Disappearing Man in the UK) is a 1958 horror film starring Francis Lederer as Count Dracula. The female lead, Rachel Mayberry, was played by Norma Eberhardt. It was filmed in black and white (with a brief color sequence involving blood) and directed by Paul Landres.

Plot
In Central Europe, Investigator John Meierman and several assistants attempt to trap Count Dracula inside his tomb in a cemetery, but upon opening his casket, find it empty. Nearby, Dracula, who has fled, boards a train, where he murders Bellac Gordal, a Czech artist en route to the United States to visit his extended family in the small community of Carleton, California. Dracula proceeds to impersonate Bellac, assuming his identity. After arriving in California, Dracula, posing as Bellac, is met by Bellac's widowed cousin, Cora, and her children, the young Mickey, and teenaged Rachel. Rachel is especially eager to meet her cousin, as she has a shared passion for art, specifically clothing design. The family quickly find Bellac's behavior eccentric, as he maintains a social detachment from them. The day after Bellac's arrivel, Mickey's beloved cat goes missing, and is subsequently found mutilated in an abandoned mineshaft.

Unbeknownst to the others, Bellac has established a secret resting place in the abandoned mine, replete with a coffin where he goes to sleep. Rachel is disappointed by his absence one day, as she hoped to show him the town, but is eventually met by him at dusk—he explains he spent the day painting. Rachel departs to her night shift at the local parish house, where she tends to elderly and infirm residents, including a blind woman, Jennie. After Rachel finishes her shift, Jennie is awoken by Bellac, who offers to give her the ability of sight, before biting her neck.

In the morning, Rachel is beckoned to the parish house, and is driven there by her boyfriend, Tim. Upon arriving, Rachel finds Jennie feverish and hysterical, claiming a man entered her room through the window. When she attempts to get out of bed, Jennie collapses and dies. After Jennie's funeral, Cora and Rachel are approached by Mack Bryant, a detective appointed by Meierman. He asks about cousin Bellac, and mentions that an unidentified man was thrown from a train to his death in Germany. Bellac appears at the home, and Bryant examines his immigration records and passport before meeting with Meierman outside to divulge his findings.

Bellac visits Jennie's tomb in the mausoleum, and awakens her from the dead. Later, Bryant hears Jennie's voice beckoning him in the woods near the train station. When he goes to investigate, he is fatally mauled by a white wolf (portrayed by a white German Shepherd Dog). That night, Rachel invites Bellac to attend a Halloween costume party the following day at the parish house, but he declines. Rachel confronts Bellac about his isolation from the family, but he remains evasive. Rachel later falls asleep while reading, and has what seems to be a nightmare in which Bellac asks her to remove Jennie's crucifix pendant from her neck, and offers her eternal life. In the morning, Rachel finds the crucifix lying on the floor, leading her to suspect it was not a dream.

Meierman visits the parish house, and confronts the Reverend Whitfield with his findings. Meanwhile, before departing for the Halloween party, Rachel finds a portrait of herself in Bellac's room depicting her inside a coffin. When Bellac appears downstairs, Rachel grows terrified when she realizes his reflection does not appear in a mirror. Tim arrives moments later, and Rachel leaves with him to the party in a trance-like state. At the party, Whitfield and Meierman confront Rachel, asking her to help them entrap Bellac. After finding Jennie's crypt empty, Meierman, Whitfield, and other police stake out the cemetery, where they soon witness Jennie returning to her crypt. Simultaneously, Rachel leaves the party and flees to the abandoned mineshaft to visit Bellac. As Meierman drives a stake through Jennie's heart, killing her, Bellac collapses before Rachel. Tim arrives at the mineshaft, having followed Rachel there, and finds her hysterical. Tim attempts to escort Rachel out of the mine, but Bellac blocks their exit. Bellac momentarily hypnotizes Tim, but Tim approaches him with Jennie's crucifix, forcing Bellac to fall in a shaft below, where he is impaled through the back and chest on a large wooden shaft and disintegrates into a clothed skeleton.