One of Leigh Brackett's earliest credits was for a Republic Pictures "B" programmer entitled "The Vampire's Ghost."

Despite its modest budget, the 1945 film delivers an interesting variation on the familiar plots of other such movies by relocating the action from Transylvania to Africa. The cast is filled with character actors elevated to larger roles. A seedy dive bar is run by a modern day vampire (John Abbott).

The film is much better than I have described, but I wanted to avoid spoilers.