Social Media Post; Blood of the Virgins

 Blood of the Virgins (Sangre de vírgenes), 1967, Argentina.

Writer-director Emilio Vieyra’s unusual, and slightly puzzling, attempt to bring old-fashioned gothic vampires into the modern world begins with a pre-credits prologue set in the past before jumping to the wild and decadent 1960s. Jealous and jilted vampire, Gustavo (Walter Kliche), kills the husband of his beloved Ofelia (Susana Beltrán) after she rebuffs him. He forcibly turns her into a vampire and calls her from her grave. After a creepy, animated title sequence, the action switches to a montage of what could be a film made by Argentina’s Instituto Nacional de Promoción Turística. Viewers spend next ten minutes following a healthy (and lusty) group of tourists visiting many of Argentina’s outdoor attractions and clothing-optional, swinging nightclubs. Stranded on the way to their next stop, the young tourists take refuge at the haunted villa where Gustavo and Ofelia reside. The vampire’s tragic love story reaches its crescendo as new love begins.

Like Gerardo de Leon’s The Blood Drinkers and Hammer’s Dracula A.D. 1972, Vieyra struggles to bring ancient vampires into the modern world. While not a perfect movie, Blood of the Virgins has much to offer for fans of vampire films, offbeat world cinema, and sexy-60’s exploitation. The film keeps viewers engaged in its highly entertaining, if baffling, story. Well worth watching, this oddity is currently streaming on Tubi.

Cherry Falls (200) Review

 My review of slash Cherry Falls is live here

Social Media Post The Curious Dr. Humpp

Another post from the unexplored world of South American Horror!

















The Banshee

The Curious Dr. Humpp (1969) is easily one of the most bizarre entries on this tour of Latin America horror movies! Argentinian director Emilio Vieyra's Dr. Humpp’s (Dr. Zoide in the original Spanish version) search for the elixir of eternal life among Buenos Aires' hedonistic youth is a brain-bending mix of sex, horror, and science fiction.
Vintage boutique sleaze vendors AGFA and Something Weird Video released a deluxe Blu-ray of this unusual film. Included on the disc is a freshly scanned 2k copy of the film in both the 87 minute English version and the uncut, original, Spanish-language version AND a commentary by exploitation auteur, Frank Henenlotter (BASKET CASE). Sadly, instead of SWVs usual ton of extras, shorts and trailers, there is only one “Salacious Short” and a handful of trailers.
With dialogue like “Sex dominates the world, now I dominate sex!” a talking brain in a jar and guitar playing monsters, The Curious Dr. Humpp might not be to everyone's taste, but for fans of bizarre world cinema, it is not to be missed.

X (2022) Film Review – X Marks the Spot

 My review of X is live here 

Social Media Post Latin American Horror Double Feature

 One of my social media posts on The Banshee site. For some reason, I can't share directly from there. The Banshee is an awesome site devoted to horror in all forms.

This week’s tour of Latin America Horror cinema visits Paraguay and Brazil for two ghostly narratives from the morgue.

Morgue, 2019 Paraguay - Written and directed by Hugo Cardozo, Morgue reveals the tale of security guard Diego’s (Pablo Martinez) first night patrolling the morgue. The film provides a couple of solid jump scares but becomes mired in the shadowy areas of its environment about halfway through. There is no connection established between Diego’s guilt over accidentally killing a man and the supernatural torment he experiences. This robs the audience of watching any sort of resolution or redemption on his behalf. Morgue is available for rental on Amazon and for free on Tubi.

The Nightshifter (Morto Não Fala), 2019, Brazil - Another tale of a fellow who works in the morgue whose wrong decisions literally come back to haunt him. Dennison Ramalho directs the film from his script co-written with Cláudia Jouvin and based on a novel by Marco de Castro. Hardworking morgue attendant Stênio (Daniel de Oliveira) devotes his nights to casually conversing with the lifeless people he meets at work. When he uses secrets revealed by the corpses for revenge, he unleashes a furious phantom, calling for its own vengeance. The Nightshifter is currently streaming on Shudder and Amazon