El Vampiro: Two Bloodsucking Tales from Mexico 11/19/24

This fanged Drácula Mexicano predates Christopher Lee!  Germán Robles cuts an aristocratic profile as Count Karol de Lavud, vampiro extraordinario, in two films that marked Mexico’s full embrace of traditional gothic horror. Before masked wrestlers, Aztec mummies and baggy pant comedians took over, director Fernando Méndez styled the genre after the Universal tradition. The research in the disc’s extras — thank you Jesús Palacios, Eduardo de la Vega Alfaro & Carmen Serrano — opens new veins of thought in horror movie history. Charlie Largent reviews El vampiro and its followup El ataud del vampiro — and survives.  On Region Free Blu-ray from Powerhouse Indicator.
11/19/24