Vampus Horror Tales

Sympathetic, nostalgic but routine terror movie in short budget, outstanding the great secondary Saturnino Garcia. As a creepy gravedigger plays as a host to tell four stories each directed by a different first time directors , though main producer/filmmaker Victor Matellano had already made some films. As the sinister gravedigger Mr Fettes or Vampus : Saturnino Garcia, tells five stories, these are the following ones : Second appointment, Happy Birthday, The Wedding, Vampus and Lineage.

This is an eerie horror anthology shot in black and whitr, formed by five segments interwoven by the frightening appearance of Vampus well played by veteran Saturnino Garcia. It packs grotesque scenes, morbid black humor and lots of blood and gore. Made in the traditional style of the old comic strips as Vampirella, Eerie and especially E C comic books of the 50s, subsequently adapted by Amicus factory with producers as Max Rosemberg and Milton Subotsky in films as Tales of the Crypt and Vault of Horror. Many years later, George A Romero, Stephen King wrote/directed Creepshow I and II in similar style, including a sinister host presenting the episodes.

This Spanish Vampus was uneven and professionally directed in low budget by newcomer directors as Erika Elizalde, Isaac Berrocal, Manuel Velasco, Victor Matellano, Piter Moreira.

A horror anthology is a fairly good way to provide entertainment but wat would possess people to create such a dull, tedious and downright uninspired mess.

The acting is pretty bad, so I'll attribute that to the level of talent and the directorship.

The set designs are average and since the film was shot in black & white at least that scores you one point.

This seems to be a case of "going through the motions" and like I always have said, at least the cast and crew got paid.

The writing was rushed and left a lot of explanation on the table.

It was so boring that I had to pause the film and come back the next day just to see if there was a hope of redemption.

Nope...it was still bad.

A collection of short horror tales stitched together by grave digging "Vampus".

None are terribly scary, a couple are a little boring, but most are a lot of fun!

This is all Spanish language and that leads to a big complaint. The subtitles! They are way too small and always in white. The film is black and white so in many moments the text is completely lost in the background! Really annoying.

Outside of the issue with the subtitles, I really enjoyed a lot of this anthology film. The "Vampus" storyteller is a the highlight for sure! His inner monologue is worth the price of admission alone!

The strongest stories are early on, and they get a little weaker towards the end, but all are beautifully shot and well acted and directed.

Working in a local cemetery, a gravedigger recounts the stories of several individuals that were driven to madness and obsession as a result of bizarre and unnatural occurrences.

The Good Stor(ies): La Boda-Checking out a wedding venue, a soon-to-be-married couple manage to find themselves trapped in an underground cellar beneath the hall and find themselves succumbing to madness and obsession as they try to get out. Overall, this is a pretty solid and enjoyable enough opening that has a lot to like. The whole thing starts off slowly with the majority of this one centered around the idea of them arguing and trying to find a means of getting out. It's only once they start to add context to what's happening that the whole thing starts to take an ominous turn as we realize there might be more going on than at first thought giving this a generally enjoyable air of menace that makes for a highly generally more effective atmosphere here. The slow build might make it an odd choice to open things but on its own, this one is still quite fun.

Cumpleaños-While out for a friend's birthday, a pair of friends on a carnival scare ride are forced to wander back to the front when the power goes out only to realize they're not the only ones inside the building. This was a highly effective and enjoyable segment that carries on the fun of the first segment. Working with a fantastic atmosphere within the building as the whole thing already being designed to induce scares allows for a great time overall while the stalking and slashing that goes on throughout here is just as much fun and provides a couple of decent sequences as the psychotic killers generate some fine gore aftermath effects. This whole segment is let down if only it made more sense what was going on as everything tends to be quite underwhelming as to what's going on. That's really the main drawback to be had with this one though.

The Bad Stor(ies): Segunda Cita-Heading out to his country home, a blind woman finds that her host isn't nearly as nice as she thought when his intentions suddenly turn homicidal which puts her in grave danger. This is just a bit of a letdown following the previous segments but still has a lot to like about it. The mansion estate where it all takes place is a great touch and manages to generate some effective scenarios as we follow her plight against him that allows for a sympathetic take on everything due to her condition being exploited by the one person who she trusted not to. None of this is original, clever, or creative and is so underwhelming though that it's all just a complete wash as the finale is quite underwhelming which leaves this one just an overall drag to finish which leaves this a somewhat disappointing tale.

Linaje-Taking his girlfriend to a remote building in the countryside, a man tries desperately to keep her monstrous affliction from interfering in their relationship regardless of how difficult or life-threatening it becomes. This was a big disappointment that ends on a sour note. The whole thing is just undone by the fact that there's very little of anything interesting happening throughout here as just about the whole thing is undone by the general familiarity of everything that happens here with the general setup present. With the only real difference here being based around her being a vampire rather than a zombie that the more traditional storylines are built around, it's not enough of a change to overcome the underwhelmingly lethargic pacing or just generally cliched actions that paint a heartbreaking picture but not enough of those to make it overcome the rest of the issues here.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence and Graphic Language.