Identify This Horror Film (Extra bonus: vampire cape!)

Cafe Society
1

Like a lot of other cities in the U.S., Kansas City had its own weekend horror host who played both classic and not-quite-as-classic horror films late into the night. Although Crematia Mortem crawled out of her tomb back in '88, I still remember quite a few movies I saw through her show back when I was a wee kiddo. One of them, however, I can’t put a name to, and I’ve drawn a blank trying to Google-Fu it.

Basically, from what I can recall, the movie–or a short story within a collection of horror shorts–dealt with Bela Lugosi’s cape and what happened to the people who owned it. (I assume it was Bela Lugosi; it may have been a generic movie Dracula actor they used in place of Bela.) Those who wore it eventually turned into vampires–a kind of curse that went along with the cape, and the secret of the actor’s famed creepiness.

Sound familiar to anyone? The film was shown in the early '80s, so I’m guessing it was made between the mid-to-late '70s and, oh, '84 or '85.

If it was a part of a collection of horror stories, then another story may have been one about a voodoo doll and the stolen beard shavings that bound the doll to its victim.

I know; not a lot to go on, but I’ve seen miracle sleuthing on he SDMB before, so here’s hoping and all…

2

Cape Fear?

3

Heh.

4

The House That Dripped Blood

5

That’s it! Thank you!

ETA: I have to ask, though: did you remember the movie, or what combination of search words/phrases helped you find it?

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A quick search on IMDB with the terms vampire cloak turned up the following:

A Scotland Yard investigator looks into four mysterious cases involving an unoccupied house:

  1. A writer encounters a strangler of his own creation,
  2. Two men are obsessed with a wax figure of a woman from their past,
  3. A little girl displays an interest in witchcraft, and
  4. A film actor discovers a cloak which gives him a vampire’s powers.
    edit - beaten to it.
7

I should have thought of searching with “cloak” in addition to “cape”. Thanks for the quick answer as well, Peter Morris.

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You don’t forget an awesome title like that.

Well, you did, actually, but I didn’t.

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:stuck_out_tongue:

I shall soundly chastise my six to eight year-old self.

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Oh, that movie about the actor with the second-hand vampire cloak. But the question everyone is asking themselves is, what connection does this film have to Doctor Who?

Well, the most obvious would be that Jon Pertwee (the actor with the cloak) played the Doctor on TV from 1970 to 1974 and Peter Cushing (protagonist of the segment “Wax Works”) played Dr. Who in two films in the 1960s. Beyond that, Joanne Lumley (uncredited) played the Doctor in a parody that, although not “canon,” had the full involvement of the BBC and used actual props from the series.

Additionally, the actor playing the Scotland Yard inspector whose investigation linked the segments in the movie would play a major character in “The Talons of Weng-Chiang,” a six-part serial from the Tom Baker years. I could go on, but people might start to think I’m a geek.

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I don’t think you’re a geek. I think you’re AWESOME.

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And also featured Geoffrey Bayldon, who was offered the role of Doctor Who, but turned it down. (Though he did later play the part in an audio-only drama)

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He did play the Crowman opposite Jon Pertwee’s Worzel Gummidge.

And Catweazle, but there’s no link there.