The Vampire

...and probably the best one to date.

Surprisingly creepy and atmospheric black and white Vampire movie. This looked like the Coffin Joe series at times because it has excellent settings, music, and cinematography. On the other hand, the movie has some parts that were meant to be funny but that's just Mexican typical humor that maybe some others won't understand. The direction is truly memorable, it deserves a special mention because it is very stylish and atmospheric. For example, whenever the vampire is about to attack, you can clearly see advanced camera and lightning techniques (for it's time). The way the lightning focuses on Robles' face is creepy. The events are fast paced but in a suspenseful manner.

The vampire characterization is pretty good as our main hero (or villain?) is a sui generis Mexican vampire. Germàn Robles delivers a fantastic performance based on erotism, and creepiness. Believe me, he is a unique vampire, like none other you haven't seen. Once he said that he liked how this vampire is an erotic, dark character because he appears at night, 99.9% of his victims are women that use sexy lingerie, and he likes to possess souls through their blood. His presence is creepy enough.

As one of the reviewers said, this movie obviously inspired the Hammer vampire flicks. That makes me proud as I'm Mexican and I'm a big fan of Hammer.

This movie is heavily underrated to the point that only avid Horror fans from around the world know about it; not even Mexicans seem to recall this cult Horror movie.

Please, watch this movie and you will be pleased. Recommended for Vampire Horror fans, and Horror fans of Black and White movies.

I have just seen El vampiro during a Latin American Film festival held in Amsterdam and Rotterdam, where its protagonist German Robles was present as guest of honour.

El vampiro is imaginative rather than talkative and has imagery no American fifties vampire flick can match. The story, of course, is lame and predictable, and, as Latin movies go, there is a lot of supernatural hokum coming with it. The overriding presence of Robles, together with the humor and the menacing, beautiful atmosphere, make up for it.

Vampiric action is kept to a bare minimum and the man-to-bat-metamorphosis (and vice versa) challenges in no way the 1932 standard. Nevertheless, it is one of the classics of the genre.

If you want to know how a vampire lady looks when she tries very hard to look like a vampire lady - well, the film gives you ample chance. One last thing: the soundtrack, however primitive, is a revelation: good vampire music and sound effects culminate in the humorous ending, when the leading man's words are drowned by the departing train's whistle. Nearly perfect.

My first time seeing this solid Mexican horror film properly in its original language, as intended. It's certainly one of the finest of its genre, with German Robles in good form as Count Lavud, the Vampire. A pretty young woman travels to the eerie mansion of her ancestors, accompanied by a doctor (Abel Salazar). Something is not quite right when she learns that one of her aunts has just mysteriously died, and another aunt seems rather strange and exceptionally young. It turns out that the blood-sucking Lavud is behind it all, and Salazar has to take on the role of hero. I was very impressed with the consistency in set design, production values, and all-around creepiness and foggy atmosphere that helps make this winner a classic of its kind. Abel Salazar produced this himself, reportedly very keen on following in the step of the old Universals, and it pays off handsomely. *** out of ****

I had heard a lot about this Mexican horror classic and cult film by Fernando Méndez: that it was a remarkable B&W production, that it established the vampire genre in México, that it was the first movie in which the vampire had fangs and –most of all- that it was intentionally funny in parts. I had seen its sequel, "El ataúd del vampiro" (The Vampire's Coffin) when I was 8 years old, of which I have a vague memory. Now, after 47 years of its release, I've finally seen "El vampiro" and to my surprise it is better than what I expected. Producer Abel Salazar knew what he was getting into –as probably did Luis Buñuel when he made "Abismos de pasión", adapting Emily Brontë's "Wuthering Heights"- and decided not only to approach the tale of an Hungarian vampire in México with humor, but to play the leading part of the doctor with comic touches, as a cynic and fearful hero. Beautiful Ariadne Welter (Tyrone Power's once sister-in-law, sometimes credited as Ariadna) is the young heroine who returns to her family hacienda in Sierra Negra (Black Sierra) and meets Salazar on her way, while they are followed by her aunt (Cuban soap opera superstar Carmen Montejo), a spinster under the spell of Count Duval (Germán Robles), the local vampire. The initial situation reminded me of the Hammer Films production "Kiss of the Vampire", which was made a few years later: a young woman being observed and chosen to be part of the undead, though in this case the open setting is darker and in obvious decay. What was surprising to me was the plot's twists, which seem quite original for its time and probably not yet equaled, mainly the introduction of a woman buried alive (Alicia Montoya) –whose appearance predates Myrna Fahey in Roger Corman's "The Fall of the House of Usher"- who protects the heroine and has a decidedly active part in the conclusion. Although screenwriter Ramón Obón takes many elements from Bram Stoker's classic novel, he introduces clever touches, immensely helped by Rosalío Solano's cinematography, Gustavo César Carrión's eerie score and Méndez' firm direction. As a research, it's also interesting to see another movie by Méndez, "Ladrón de cadáveres", which paved the way for a unique Mexican cross of genres: the wrestler and horror films.

Mexico made some great horror films in the fifties and sixties, and thanks to Casa Negra, we're now getting to enjoy some of them. Casa Negra set the bar high when they released the likes of The Black Pit of Dr M, The Curse of the Crying Woman and The Witch's Mirror, and while El Vampiro doesn't quite live up to the brilliance of those releases; it's still a more than decent little vampire flick and the atmosphere alone is likely to keep many horror fans entertained. The back of the box professes this film to be an influential classic; though to me it seemed like more of a Dracula rip-off. Anyway, as the title suggests; the film focuses on vampires, and in particular, Count Karol de Lavud. The Count has been surviving on the blood of young woman, and plans to get inside his brother's crypt to resurrect him too. The story picks up when a young girl named Martha returns to her once beautiful hometown to find it a graveyard. The vampire plans to drink her blood and add her to his list of immortal brides, and her only hope lies with the doctor who travelled with her and her butler...

The plot will be largely familiar to anyone who has seen the classic Dracula films, and that is likely to be everyone who goes to the trouble of seeing this film. However, it's easy to forgive the film for taking ideas from Bram Stoker's tale as the film does manage to stay interesting despite the familiarity of it all, and while it largely lacks substance; the film does continually look very nice, the shots of the smoke filled streets being the best that the film has to offer. The role of the vampire is taken by Germán Robles, who does well with it. He's no Bela Lugosi or Christopher Lee, but he's easy to believe in the role and looks sinister enough, which is the most important thing. A problematic element of his performance, however, is the fact that he doesn't ever pose much of a threat - which is a pretty big problem. Director Fernando Méndez would go on to direct one of the best films that Casa Negra released in The Black Pit of Dr M, as well as the disappointing The Living Coffin. Overall, I can't say that this is the best Mexican horror film you're ever likely to see; but it is worth seeing and I can recommend it.