Starring Abel Salazar, Ariadna Welter, Carmen Montejo, Jose Luis Jimenez, German Robles
Directed by Fernando Mendez
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)
After being stranded at a train station together, a doctor accompanies a young woman on her journey back to her ancestral home, while a vampire plots to return his ancestor to eternal life.
This vampire tale is Mexican horror at its best, well-directed by Mendez, with good performances from the whole cast, and eerie atmosphere throughout the production. Well-done sets and fog and wind effects really make the setting of a nearly abandoned estate spooky and unnerving, and a haunting music score from Gustavo Cesar Carrion helps escalate the terror. Welter is the perfect virginal victim, and Robles brings nobility but menace to his tuxedoed Count Lavud, wearing one of the first sets of cinematic vampire fangs. Salazar, as the doctor who has to come to Marta's rescue, is not a serious vampire hunter at first but has to engage in fisticuffs and vampire combat later. Montejo is also very good as Welter's aunt and Lavud's vampiress assistant, slinking through the castle in a jet black gown with a long dragging train. Although the special effects are elementary, with the vampires popping into frame and changing into bats through simple film edits, it works for the film and doesn't detract at all from all of Mendez' atmospheric touches.
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