El vampiro sangriento

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.