El vampiro sangriento (1962)

Director:

Miguel Morayta

Writer:

Miguel Morayta (story)

Release Date:

1963 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Plot Keywords:

Torture | Bare Chested Male Bondage | Bare Chested Male | Vampire | Murder

Cast

Begoña Palacios	...	Ines Cagliostro
Erna Martha Bauman	...	Countess Eugenia Frankenhausen
Raúl Farell	...	Dr. Riccardo Peisser
Bertha Moss	...	Frau Hildegarde
Carlos Agostí	...	Count Siegfried von Frankenhausen
Pancho Córdova	...	Justus (as Francisco A. Cordova)
Antonio Raxel	...	Count Valsamo de Cagliostro
Enrique Lucero	...	Lazaro
Lupe Carriles	...	Lupe, the innkeeper
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nathanael León	...	Torture Chamber Master (uncredited)

Directed by
Miguel Morayta

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Miguel Morayta		story and adaptation

Produced by
K. Gordon Murray	....	producer (English language version)
Rafael Pérez Grovas	....	producer

Original Music by
Luis Hernández Bretón

Cinematography by
Raúl Martínez Solares

Film Editing by
Gloria Schoemann

Production Design by
Manuel Fontanals

Set Decoration by
Carlos Arjona

Makeup Department
Esperanza Gómez	....	hair stylist
Armando Meyer	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Raúl H. Arjona M.	....	production manager
Enrique L. Morfín	....	production chief (as Enrique Morfin)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Américo Fernández	....	assistant director

Sound Department
James L. Fields	....	sound supervisor
Jesús González Gancy	....	dialogue recordist (as Ing. J. Gonzalez Gancy)
Galdino R. Samperio	....	sound re-recordist (as Galdino Samperio)

Special Effects by
Juan Muñoz Ravelo	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Miguel Araña	....	lighting technician
Cirilo Rodríguez	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Bertha Mendoza López	....	wardrobe (as B. Mendoza Lopez)
Georgette Somohano	....	wardrobe supervisor (as G. Somohano)

Editorial Department
Reynaldo P. Portillo	....	synchronization editor
Rosa Schoemann	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Eduardo Mendoza	....	titles

Production Companies

• Atzeca
• Internacional Sono Film S.A.
• Tele Talia Films

Distributors

• American-International Television (AIP-TV) (19??) (USA) (TV) (dubbed)
• Beverly Wilshire Filmworks (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Cine Vu (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (????) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Estudios Churubusco Azteca S.A.  studios and laboratories
• México  shooting unit
• Orquesta de la Sección de Filarmónicos del S.T.P.C. de la R.M.  orchestra
• RCA  sound system (as RCA Alta Fidelidad)

Also Known As:

"Count Frankenhausen" - USA (promotional title)
"The Bloody Vampire" - USA (TV title)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Mexico

Company:

Atzeca

Movie Connections:

Followed by The Invasion of the Vampires (1963)

The Bloody Boring Vampire.

The impressively eerie opening scene of The Bloody Vampire—a creepy black carriage being driven by a grim reaper-style character across a foggy landscape while bells toll and wolves howl—lays on the atmosphere thick and fast, and the splendidly spooky trappings continue unabated throughout this cheesy Mexican horror, leaving virtually no cliché left unturned. Unfortunately, despite the potential for this being a frightfully fun slice of Gothic excess, director Miguel Morayta undoes most of his good work with a terrible script that is overly convoluted when it comes to its vampiric lore and which features far too much dreary conversation.

The occasional sight of evil Count Frankenhausen turning into a giant, hairy rubber bat with over-sized ears and fangs enlivens proceedings occasionally, and Latino beauty Begoña Palacios (second wife of Sam Peckinpah, no less) is easy on the eye as plucky undercover vampire hunter Ines, adding a little spiciness by briefly stripping to her corset and big 'ol bloomers, but overall the film is a frustratingly dull affair, one that all the shadowy corridors, caverns full of cobwebs, choral music, raging thunderstorms, secret passageways, and clocks chiming midnight in the world cannot save.

3.5 out of 10, rounded up to 4 for IMDb.