MOTHER RILEY MEETS THE VAMPIRE is the last in a long-running series of films (going since the 1930s) featuring Arthur Lucan in the title role of Old Mother Riley, a bad-tempered Irish washerwoman who always seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. This one's the only one in the series of interest to horror fans, thanks to a starring role for an aged Bela Lugosi, playing a sinister vampire with nefarious plans for England.Basically, this is MRS BROWN'S BOYS for the mid-20th century audience, and as juvenile and silly as it sounds. Most of the comedy involves groan-worthy slapstick, pitfalls, and dumb dialogue gags. Lucan is certainly an acquired taste, although I suppose he does grow on you a little bit as the film progresses, but it's still a very dated slice of British comedy. In fact the only part I really liked was the chase-based climax, which brings in some humorous Laurel & Hardy style sight gags. The cardboard robot is fun though, and narrowly predates the introduction of Robby the Robot in FORBIDDEN PLANET.Lugosi is given quite a fair bit of screen time to be menacing and is, well, Lugosi. What's impressive is that he takes this film just as seriously as his Universal classics, and is the best thing in this. However, MOTHER RILEY MEETS THE VAMPIRE is also worthy of note thanks to the presence of some familiar British comedy actors, including Hattie Jacques in an unlikely song-and-dance routine. Dora Bryan (CARRY ON SERGEANT) has a minor role and there are cameos for Charles Lloyd Pack, John Le Mesurier, and George Benson, although I was unable to spot the latter two. Future Hammer director John Gilling helmed this one.

Being a real Bela Lugosi fanatic, I just 'stumbled' into this movie by pure coincidence - I didn't even know that it was one of Arthur Lucan's 'Old Mother Riley' vehicles, of which I'd only heard so far, nor that it was the last one of this long-running (and I'm sure, tremendously funny) film series; so, simply following the label 'starring Bela Lugosi', I got mixed up, just like 'Old Mother Riley' did in this adventure, in one of the most HILARIOUS British comedies I've ever seen, with the humor certainly at its MOST British - in the most positive sense! An absolutely outrageous story about a mad scientist who believes he is a vampire and wants to rule the world with an army of robots, and the permanently broke old shop owner 'Mrs. Riley', whom some crazy twists of fate bring together - from here on, you can just STOP thinking, and start enjoying the slapstick-like chase scenes, the wonderful displays of Arthur Lucan's GREAT comical talent - and a really TOTALLY 'unknown' Bela Lugosi, who seems to feel ABSOLUTELY at ease with all that nonsense, and obviously has got a great lot of fun with deliberately overplaying his well-known 'mad scientist' image! (NO comparison at all with the entirely unfunny Hollywood 'comedy' he did - or maybe HAD to do, for financial reasons - the same year called "Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla"...) Of course, this movie DOES require a good sense of (British) humor; but I'm sure that EVERY fan of horror classics, and especially of Bela Lugosi, who is equipped with a little bit of said sense of humor will LOVE this crazy spoof - and will be wanting to see more of those hilarious 'Old Mother Riley' films!

Not a 'good' film, but definitely worth seeing for any fan of Bela Lugosi, and not nearly as 'awful' as its general negative reputation suggests. This was the last chapter in a British series that featured an Irish wash woman type character named "Old Mother Riley" (and played by comedian Arthur Lucan in drag). The movie is known under different titles, including VAMPIRE OVER London, MY SON THE VAMPIRE, and MOTHER RILEY MEETS THE VAMPIRE. It's an English styled comedy centered around an obsessively eccentric scientist/gangster called Van Housen (Lugosi) who lives his life as though he was a true vampire. He has an insane ambition to conquer the world by building an army of fifty thousand robots, but sheepishly admits when questioned that so far he has only been able to produce "one". The robot gets a hold of the zany Old Mother Riley and takes her back to Van Housen's mansion, where the madman has kidnapped a young heiress in the hope of securing from her a special chart to a uranium deposit to aid him in his diabolical plans. It's up to Mrs. Riley to foil Bela's scheme and save the day. If you're not interested in Bela Lugosi I wouldn't recommend seeing this, but for Bela fans this is probably his best performance from the 1950s, in terms of appearing robust and healthy. Lugosi really seems to be enjoying himself here and sinks his teeth into his comedic role and is quite funny at times. The jokes are not all the best written, but for fans I should think there are far worse ways to spend 70-some-odd minutes. The most commonly available version called MY SON, THE VAMPIRE eliminates a musical number sung by Old Mother Riley, which is no great loss. It also adds a new title song sung by Allan Sherman. **1/2 out of ****

I've never heard of or seen a "Mother Riley Adventure" and didn't realize it was a whole series of films, but I had Turner Classic Movies on and saw that Bela Lugosi was in this one so I figured I'd give it a shot. I'm glad I did, as this is one of the wackier movies I've seen in a long time. It's a slapstick horror featuring an old lady who gets abducted by a robot (?) sent to her by a vampire (played by Bela, of course, who endearingly and comfortably hams it up in his few scenes.) Oh yeah, did I mention old Mother Riley is played by an old man? What a strange vehicle this is, but I found it impossible to dislike. There's even a completely random goofy song and dance sequence. The slapstick goes over-the-top in some scenes (notably the ones that are sped up), but it's all in good fun. The best thing the movie has going for it is its distinctly British humor. I loved Dora Byran as Tilly the chambermaid, especially when she starts cavorting with Mother Riley. The woman has such fantastic comedic timing! Overall, its an amusing and quick movie. If you catch it on TV give it a go. I don't think it's as rotten as its reputation.