I decided to skip my at home reviews for the time being. Next week at this time I plan on being at another convention, so my Netflix DVD's will be sitting around again while I get reviews from screenings in. Since I have had these DVD's for a while now, I wanted to get at least some of them watched before next week. Even though The Vampire (1957) is the newest DVD I have gotten from Netflix, I have been wanting to watch it since I managed to watch the sequel first a little ways back. To my surprise, I actually liked the sequel more.
Marta (Ariadna Welter) returns home by train after hearing about her favorite aunt becoming very ill. She arrives to find out that her uncle had left already after hearing about a landslide that was supposed to have blocked the tracks. She is told by the employee at the station that there is no way for her to go home, as everyone in the area is afraid to go out after dark, which will be soon. Also at the station is Doctor Enrique (Abel Salazar), who is in the same boat. When someone shows up to pick up a box full of dirt from another country, Enrique convinces the guy to give them a lift. Eventually Marta gets home, only to find out her aunt has passed away already. The uncle had asked Enrique to come, in secret, because the aunt believed that vampires were trying to kill her which no one believed so he wanted a doctor to tell him if she was crazy or if vampires was causing her illness. There are such things as vampires though, and the Count (Germán Robles) takes a liking to Marta and wants to make her a vampire as well.
Since I watched the sequel first, I will talk about it for just a bit to start with. It was great to see the same actors return for the sequel, including director Fernando Méndez. This doesn't really surprise me much though considering that the two films were released a year apart (roughly). Okay, back to The Vampire. This film had more of a story than the sequel, but for whatever reason I liked the sequel more. Even though the story is a bit more complicated in this one, the Count doesn't really play a very big role in things. He is in this town to avenge and bring back one of his own, except he never really does anything to do that. Another aunt is also a vampire, which isn't a spoiler since they clue you in pretty much the first time she is really involved in the story. This confused me some. While she never runs from the sunlight, that we see anyway, the Count does. This made me wonder why no one was questioning why this aunt was gone all day then would show up at night. Seeing the sequel spoiled a little bit of this movie for me, as I knew one character didn't actually die, but I don't get why she wouldn't want Marta to know the truth. While I may not have liked it more than it's sequel, overall The Vampire wasn't a bad film for its time.
Again there isn't much for special effects. There are some quick cuts when someone appears or disappears, or turns into a bat. This wasn't done very well at times, as the cut seemed even more obvious this time around. We do get to see one of the vampires turn to bone. The acting was alright. Abel Salazar played his role a bit more serious this time around and does a good job with it. Ariadna Welter does a good job here as well, but we get to know her character more in the sequel. This was Robles first film and he makes a pretty good impression with his role. He isn't great as the Count, but there have been much worse vampires out there.
I'm glad that I was able to catch up with this movie. I find it a bit weird that Netflix would stream the sequel but not the original film. I know they do that for other films, but since we are talking about two films from the late 1950's, I don't get why they didn't stream them both. Anyway, I did like the more serious tone that The Vampire brings, but in a way I missed the silly mistakes that the sequel had and the lighthearted tone it had overall. I'm wondering if I would still feel the same if I had watched them in order. For a couple of films that were filmed in Mexico in the late 50's, these are pretty good. Well worth a watch if you enjoy the old style vampire movie.
3 out of 5 Amazing no one noticed the bite marks
Marta (Ariadna Welter) returns home by train after hearing about her favorite aunt becoming very ill. She arrives to find out that her uncle had left already after hearing about a landslide that was supposed to have blocked the tracks. She is told by the employee at the station that there is no way for her to go home, as everyone in the area is afraid to go out after dark, which will be soon. Also at the station is Doctor Enrique (Abel Salazar), who is in the same boat. When someone shows up to pick up a box full of dirt from another country, Enrique convinces the guy to give them a lift. Eventually Marta gets home, only to find out her aunt has passed away already. The uncle had asked Enrique to come, in secret, because the aunt believed that vampires were trying to kill her which no one believed so he wanted a doctor to tell him if she was crazy or if vampires was causing her illness. There are such things as vampires though, and the Count (Germán Robles) takes a liking to Marta and wants to make her a vampire as well.
Since I watched the sequel first, I will talk about it for just a bit to start with. It was great to see the same actors return for the sequel, including director Fernando Méndez. This doesn't really surprise me much though considering that the two films were released a year apart (roughly). Okay, back to The Vampire. This film had more of a story than the sequel, but for whatever reason I liked the sequel more. Even though the story is a bit more complicated in this one, the Count doesn't really play a very big role in things. He is in this town to avenge and bring back one of his own, except he never really does anything to do that. Another aunt is also a vampire, which isn't a spoiler since they clue you in pretty much the first time she is really involved in the story. This confused me some. While she never runs from the sunlight, that we see anyway, the Count does. This made me wonder why no one was questioning why this aunt was gone all day then would show up at night. Seeing the sequel spoiled a little bit of this movie for me, as I knew one character didn't actually die, but I don't get why she wouldn't want Marta to know the truth. While I may not have liked it more than it's sequel, overall The Vampire wasn't a bad film for its time.
Again there isn't much for special effects. There are some quick cuts when someone appears or disappears, or turns into a bat. This wasn't done very well at times, as the cut seemed even more obvious this time around. We do get to see one of the vampires turn to bone. The acting was alright. Abel Salazar played his role a bit more serious this time around and does a good job with it. Ariadna Welter does a good job here as well, but we get to know her character more in the sequel. This was Robles first film and he makes a pretty good impression with his role. He isn't great as the Count, but there have been much worse vampires out there.
I'm glad that I was able to catch up with this movie. I find it a bit weird that Netflix would stream the sequel but not the original film. I know they do that for other films, but since we are talking about two films from the late 1950's, I don't get why they didn't stream them both. Anyway, I did like the more serious tone that The Vampire brings, but in a way I missed the silly mistakes that the sequel had and the lighthearted tone it had overall. I'm wondering if I would still feel the same if I had watched them in order. For a couple of films that were filmed in Mexico in the late 50's, these are pretty good. Well worth a watch if you enjoy the old style vampire movie.
3 out of 5 Amazing no one noticed the bite marks
