The Vampire (1957)

Starring John Beal, Coleen Gray, Kenneth Tobey, Lydia Reed, Dabbs Greer
Directed by Paul Landres
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

After murders shock a small town, its doctor suspects himself, convinced his accidental ingestion of a scientist's experimental pills have turned him into a monster.

We have here a compelling little sci-fi/horror thriller, efficiently directed by Landres on what must have been a tight budget.  Beal anchors the film as the affable and genial doctor who finds his life turned upside down, and can't help but capture the audience's sympathy in a quality performance.  Plenty of familiar faces from 1950s films and television are featured in the supporting cast, including Coleen Gray, Herb Vigran, Kenneth Tobey, and Paul Brinegar, but the best support comes from Lydia Reed as the doctor's charming daughter, and Dabbs Greer as a scientist and friend to Beal's character, who tries to apply common sense to his predicament.  Gerald Fried's foreboding score is a perfect accompaniment to the picture, and although the monster makeup isn't anything we haven't seen before, it's more than serviceable to a film which primary strength is its story and its characters.