El Vampiro -Two Bloodsucking Tales from Mexico (1957-1958) (Indicator)

[MifuneFan]

Indicator / Powerhouse Films have announced a new pair of Mexico gothic horror films from Fernando Méndez, featuring El Vampiro (The Vampire) for October.

El Vampiro: Two Bloodsucking Tales from Mexico Limited Edition

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/El-Va...lu-ray/366325/

https://www.powerhousefilms.co.uk/co...m-mexico-le-us

https://diabolikdvd.com/product/el-v...gion-preorder/

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION 2 x BLU-RAY BOX SET SPECIAL FEATURES

• Limited edition exclusive 80-page book with a new essay by Jesús Palacios, archival essays by Eduardo de la Vega Alfaro and Carmen A Serrano, archival interviews with Carmen Montejo and Ariadne Welter, David Wilt on cinematographers Rosalío Solano and Víctor Herrera, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits
• Limited edition set of 8,000 individually numbered units for the UK and US

THE VAMPIRE (EL VAMPIRO)

• 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative by Labo
• Original Spanish mono audio
• Alternative English mono audio
• Audio commentary with lead actor Germán Robles (2007)
• The Mark of Abel (2024, 22 mins): sisters Claudia Salazar Arenas and Rosa Salazar Arenas share personal stories about their father, the legendary actor, producer and director Abel Salazar
• Who’s Afraid of Carmen Montejo? (2024, 31 mins): film programmer, curator and Mexican horror cinema expert Abraham Castillo Flores examines the life and career of Cuban-born radio, stage and screen actor Carmen Montejo
• Original Mexican theatrical trailer
• Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials
• New and improved English translation subtitles for the Spanish soundtrack
• New English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• World premiere on Blu-ray

THE VAMPIRE’S COFFIN (EL ATAÚD DEL VAMPIRO)

• High Definition remaster from 2K scans by Alameda Films
• Original Spanish mono audio
• Alternative English mono audio
• Memories of a Storyteller (2024, 22 mins): novelist Juan Ramón Obón shares stories about the life and career of his esteemed father, the prolific screenwriter Ramón Obón
• The Great Mexican Vampire (2024, 20 mins): horror specialist Roberto Coria discusses Germán Robles and the representation of the vampire myth in Mexican cinema
• From the Drawing Board (2024, 15 mins): film historian and curator Elisa Lozano examines the work and impact of revered artist and production designer Gunther Gerzso
• Original Mexican theatrical trailer
• Image galleries: French photonovel, originally published at the time of the film’s release, and promotional and publicity material
• New and improved English translation subtitles for the Spanish soundtrack
• New English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• World premiere on Blu-ray

THE VAMPIRE (El vampiro, Fernando Méndez, 1957)
THE VAMPIRE’S COFFIN (El ataúd del vampiro, Fernando Méndez, 1958)

El Vampiro: Two Bloodsucking Tales from Mexico brings together a pair of atmospheric and terrifying classics of Mexican Gothic, directed by Fernando Méndez (Black Pit of Dr. M), and starring Ariadne Welter (The Panther Women), Abel Salazar (The Curse of the Crying Woman), and, in a star-making turn, Germán Robles (The Brainiac).

In The Vampire (El vampiro), the beautiful, bereaved Marta (Welter) travels with Enrique (Salazar) to visit her sick aunt in her ancestral home. There, the mysterious neighbour Duval (Robles) offers to buy the family’s decrepit hacienda. However, Duval is really Count Karol de Lavud, a vampire whose aim is to drain Marta of her blood and revive his entombed brother.

In the sequel, The Vampire’s Coffin (El ataúd del vampiro), grave robbers bring Lavud’s corpse to Enrique’s city hospital, where Marta now works as a nurse. Duly re-animated, Lavud sets about his bloody plan to make Marta his bride.

Pre-dating Hammer Films’ Dracula by a year, The Vampire’s uniquely Mexican take on vampire mythology was the first film to give its antagonist elongated fangs, and its success kick-started Mexico’s horror boom. Restored from the original negatives, these films finally receive their world Blu-ray premieres in this individually numbered Limited Edition two-disc set, complete with new and archival extra features, and a fully illustrated 80-page book.

[sa5150]

Amazing , Finally !!! Day 1 pre-order . I consider this the Holy Grail of Mexican classic Horror .

[OceanBlue]

The other Powerhouse Films/Indicator announcement today (the Columbia Horror boxset), less than half of the films I'm interested in seeing. However..the Mexican vampire double feature Blu-ray set I'm definitely interested in getting (one of the reasons being plenty of extras).

[mikey horror]

[Thomas Veil]

So are these low on the sleeze factor? I gather from pics and years of release but just checking. I gotta have my sleeze with my Draculas or forget it.

[bigshot]

These aren’t like Santo movies. More like westerns crossed with horror.

[ravenus]

Originally Posted by Thomas Veil

So are these low on the sleeze factor? I gather from pics and years of release but just checking. I gotta have my sleeze with my Draculas or forget it.

Says the guy who has this in his collection

[Thomas Veil]

[QUOTE=ravenus;22287598]Says the guy who has this in his collection

[/ IQUOTE]

Yes, I have all four...they are animated comedies though...so nice try lol.

[BobSimms]

These films are not sleazy and they’re nothing like Westerns.

[Mose Harper]

Both films are up on Youtube in pretty good prints if anyone wants to get an impression before they purchase.


I was going to pass on these because vampire movies are usually the least interesting sub genre of horror film for me. I checked out a few random minutes of each from the above source and now I'm firmly on board. I'm still not keen on vampires, but I really liked the vibe I was getting from the non-horror scenes I saw.

[MartinScorsesefan]

EL VAMPIRO is a masterpiece of the genre. It’s very eerie and unsettling.

[Mose Harper]

Originally Posted by MartinScorsesefan

EL VAMPIRO is a masterpiece of the genre. It’s very eerie and unsettling.

That's the sense that was coming across in the few scenes I saw. Also well shot and staged.

Unsettling was the exact word I felt for another Mexican horror film I saw recently - Poison For The Fairies from the Mexican Gothic/Carlos Toboada set from VS.
That one will stay with me a while.

[WaverBoy]

Excellent news, the perfect companion to Mexico Macabre! Hopefully the Amazon preorder will be up soon. I’m really hoping that the four Nostradamus films are in the works, along with all the other missing Mexican horrors, many of which once turned up on those remarkably chintzy Beverly Wilshire DVDs. We could really use a proper Aztec Mummy Blu-ray set that, ya know, actually includes the first film in the series; a choice of soundtracks would be nice too, instead of only the English dubs, and a choice of aspect ratios too, as I tend to prefer the unmatted Academy ratio for these films.

I think this list contains most if not all of the remaining pre-‘70s classic Mexican horror films unavailable on Blu with original Spanish language tracks (please let me know if I’m missing any):

The Man Without a Face (1950)
The Revived Monster (1953)
The Witch (1954)
The Phantom in the Red House (1956)
The Aztec Mummy (1957)
Curse of the Aztec Mummy (1957)
The Robot Vs The Aztec Mummy (1957)
Mysteries of Black Magic (1958)
The Man and the Monster (1958)
The Living Coffin (1959)
Curse of the Doll People (1960)
World of the Vampires (1961)
The Curse of Nostradamus (1961)
The Genii of Darkness (1961)
The Monster’s Demolisher (1962)
The Blood of Nostradamus (1962)
Spiritism (1962)
Santo Vs the Vampire Women (1962)
The Bloody Vampire (1962)
Invasion of the Vampires (1963)
The Living Head (1963)
Doctor of Doom (1963)
Wrestling Women Vs the Aztec Mummy (1964)
Dr. Satan (1966)

[gekats]

Originally Posted by Thomas Veil

So are these low on the sleeze factor? I gather from pics and years of release but just checking. I gotta have my sleeze with my Draculas or forget it.

If the sleaze factor is that important to you, I would suggest avoiding this set - no sleaze at all, these are very traditional vampire films. Think something along the lines of Universal horror, 60s AIP Corman-Poe pictures and early B&W Italian gothics. For what it's worth, I don't rate these ones as highly as the ones in the Mexico Macabre set (probably let down by the familiarity of the monster and the relevant mythology). If you have not watched those ones (assume you don't, since the overall style and - nonexistent - sleaze content is comparable), I would suggest starting there. Superior stuff in similar style and much more refreshing that another vampire film.

Curse of the crying woman is my favourite of that group (Man and monster is another CasaNegra favourite I hope will be released in a future set), Black pit of Dr. M being probably the best of the lot. Also, The Witch's Mirror would be another good one to try, especially as it throws everything in the mix in its first hour and seems to combine every possible thematic (face reconstruction, premature burials, etc.), while Brainiac is great silly fun. If you like any of the above, I think you'll want to add this release to your collection as well.

Don't want to sound too negative, both El Vampiro and its sequel are fine films and required viewing for fans of this style and Mexican horror in general - there are just too many worthy vampire films from around the world, these just do not feel that special.

By the way, El vampiro was my first Mondo Macabro DVD (from the early days when they still had a UK branch).

[Thomas Veil]

Originally Posted by gekats

If the sleaze factor is that important to you, I would suggest avoiding this set - no sleaze at all, these are very traditional vampire films. Think something along the lines of Universal horror, 60s AIP Corman-Poe pictures and early B&W Italian gothics. For what it's worth, I don't rate these ones as highly as the ones in the Mexico Macabre set (probably let down by the familiarity of the monster and the relevant mythology). If you have not watched those ones (assume you don't, since the overall style and - nonexistent - sleaze content is comparable), I would suggest starting there. Superior stuff in similar style and much more refreshing that another vampire film.

Curse of the crying woman is my favourite of that group (Man and monster is another CasaNegra favourite I hope will be released in a future set), Black pit of Dr. M being probably the best of the lot. Also, The Witch's Mirror would be another good one to try, especially as it throws everything in the mix in its first hour and seems to combine every possible thematic (face reconstruction, premature burials, etc.), while Brainiac is great silly fun. If you like any of the above, I think you'll want to add this release to your collection as well.

Don't want to sound too negative, both El Vampiro and its sequel are fine films and required viewing for fans of this style and Mexican horror in general - there are just too many worthy vampire films from around the world, these just do not feel that special.

By the way, El vampiro was my first Mondo Macabro DVD (from the early days when they still had a UK branch).

Nice, well thought out answer, thanks! I gotta admit I really didn't care for vampire movies until I discovered Naschy, Rollins and Franco among a few others so its a tough sell for me for any traditional (live action) vampire movie. I figured these being late 50s it was a stretch to have what I wanted.

My collection is very heavy on 60s through 70s which to me was the hey day of stylised sleeze. There is just a certain look and vibe not found in any other time period.

[Mystic]

Originally Posted by Mose Harper

Both films are up on Youtube in pretty good prints if anyone wants to get an impression before they purchase.


I was going to pass on these because vampire movies are usually the least interesting sub genre of horror film for me. I checked out a few random minutes of each from the above source and now I'm firmly on board. I'm still not keen on vampires, but I really liked the vibe I was getting from the non-horror scenes I saw.

The thing I like most about these films in particular is that they are very atmospheric and moody. I've always thought of the B&W Mexican horror films from this period as Mexico's answer to the Universal Horror films of the 1930s and 1940s with the atmosphere and mood of those films cranked up to the max. If you like atmospheric gothic horror films then you'll likely enjoy these films.

[BobSimms]

Originally Posted by gekats

there are just too many worthy vampire films from around the world, these just do not feel that special.

Reported for blasphemy.

[bigshot]

There’s a Mexican horror movie I remember as a child that I would love to see again. It had a phantom on horseback and a severed head in a wooden box.

[Indicator]

Final specs for El Vampiro:



The Vampire (El vampiro):



The Vampire's Coffin (El ataúd del vampiro):

[MifuneFan]

First post updated with final extras .Looks like an excellent release.