The Bloody Vampire (1963)

The greatest movie ever made..!

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

A fairly bog standard Gothic horror entry from Mexico, filmed at the Azteca studios with a strong foreboding atmosphere and some great production design. Expect to see a film filled with classic horror images: the spooky old castle and crypts; vampires rising from their coffins in a cave; oodles of dry ice masquerading as fog filling the screen with an eerie chill and sense of the weird. THE BLOODY VAMPIRE also boasts one of the best openings I've seen in a Mexican horror flick: it involves a carriage (driven by a skeleton!) riding slow-motion through a spooky old forest, making no noise whatsoever as it travels by. It's just a shame that the rest of the movie can't live up to this classic horror imagery.Instead, the film boasts smalltalk, smalltalk, and more smalltalk. Director Miguel Morayta doesn't seem to know what he's doing, as he films long static takes with little action or excitement to enliven them. Instead we get one long monotonously-dubbed scene after another which becomes a little wearing after a while. Conversations about a new method to kill vampires, boring romantic sub-plots between minor characters and even a discussion of the origins of coffee (!) threaten to drag this film right down to the ground and eventually lessen the entertainment value a great deal. Not so that the film is totally unwatchable, but it could have been a lot more successful with a little cutting here and there and a few more scenes of action to recommend it.The special effects employed by Morayta and his team are largely amusing, if limited. The sight of the giant rubber bat (with huge ears) flapping around the sets is a cheesy delight for the bad movie buff. Otherwise most of the effects are of the sound variety – the film is chock full of weird moans, chanting, creaking doors and eerie winds. The sound actually highlights the horror in a number of scenes and adds to the watchability of the film a great deal. Cast-wise, the unpleasant Count von Frankenhausen is played by Carlos Agosti as a sneering Bela Lugosi variation, complete with (added in) pin-prick lights in his eyes and the trick of shining normal lights on his eyes to make them more spellbinding, again originally used by Lugosi. But Agosti just comes off as a thoroughly nasty fellow rather than a truly evil bloodsucking vampire.Glamour content is added by the lovely Begona Palacios, as a purveyor of good who goes undercover as a maid and whose affections are hunted by the evil Frankenhausen (well, who wouldn't?). Bertha Moss is suitably hissable as the evil Frau Hildegarde but Raul Farell leaves a void as the uninteresting Doctor Peisser, supposedly the film's male lead. By far the best character is unlucky manservant Lazaro, who gets violently whipped by the Count for his insubordination. The biggest cheat of the film is there's no real ending; INVASION OF THE VAMPIRES, the superior sequel, followed.

According to Mexican lore, a vampire can survive the usual wooden stake. Who knew? You must use Clammic acid, which can only be distilled from the black Mandragora flower. This flower grows only on spots over which a man was hanged. Killing vampires is tough work!A watchable Gothic horror film with some really spooky music. Perfect accompaniment to the aspirations of Count Siegfried von Frankenhausen (Carlos Agostí)., who plan to turn the whole world into vampires with himself as the head vamp in charge.Where he plans to get blood after that is anyone's guess.The Count's wife Eugenia (Erna Martha Bauman, a former Miss Mexico) is not a vampire. An interesting proposition, with some funny scenes between them.The o0verly melodramatic acting and the presence of Frau Hildegarde (Bertha Moss) make this a must see. You won't be disappointed.The best part is that they will be back in La invasión de los vampiros.

Count Frankenhausen is a sui generis villain. But that means that he's effective, creepy, and evil for Satan's sake! This is one of the best Vampire flicks I've seen from the 60's. The movie follows the school of "Curse Of The Crying Woman" and of course, "El Vampiro".The movie centers around Count Frankenhausen and his diabolical wife; not to mention their diabolical minions.If you want a Hammer related Horror vampire flick this is the best option for those who enjoy monster movies. This one isn't exactly a monster feature but the plot suggests it. There's room for sadism, sexiness, violence, and of course, vampire action.Not the best vampire performance but still deserves a credit.The Gothic atmosphere and chilling score is also a decent feature for the movie. Please give it a chance and rent it or better, buy it. It's a very good Mexican Horror movie that should be ranked higher.

I'm glad to see on Imdb that others have enjoyed this one too. The bizarre music alone is reason enough to see this movie. This is a dyed-in-the-wool spook movie, with its creepy atmosphere and great sets. The hoakiness only adds to the charm and puts it above what are called "bad movies." I love the big hairy (obviously fake) laughing bat that The Count turns into! I also greatly enjoy the dialogue about coffee drinking. I'd also recommend World of Vampires and Curse of the Doll People, which are both highly entertaining mexi-horror spookshows.