Great Film overall

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

A different way of telling a story

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

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.

This review is of the English-dubbed, K. Gordon Murray presentation of the film as THE BLOODY VAMPIRE. From the first frames--with a slowed-down horse-drawn carriage almost floating through the fog-shrouded trail, the soundtrack containing an eerie wind punctuated by a slow churchbell and wolf howling--you know you are in the hands of filmmakers who know how to capture a disturbing setting of gothic horror. While this film does have some slow talky moments, I would rate it among the finest vampire films of the 60s, equal to the best ones coming from Italy and the Philippines. Director Miguel Mortaya is a master.The SWV video (which may no longer be available, for legal reasons) is from a fine print, and contains the outlandish and LONG K. Gordon Murray spoken prologue with a swirling, headache-inducing spiral on the screen.If you were to buy only one of the K. Gordon Murray mexican horror imports, this may well be the one to buy. The film is so visually stunning that even those who dislike dubbing may be able to get past it here and let the film's shadowy images wash over them.

Of interest to absolutely no one this is my 100th posted review and I thought I would choose a movie that is one of my wife's favourites. We both love Mexican movies but Count Frankenhausen is her absolute favourite villain. This movie, directed by Miguel Morayta, opens promisingly enough. A black coach rumbles silently through the night, its driver is a skeleton; its passenger is Count Seigfried von Frankenhausen and he musty reach his home, the forebodingly named Haunted Hacienda, before daylight. Bellowing "Whip the horses, for Satan's sake!" they proceed through the night. This movie creates its own lore about vampires and it all works very well. A Dr. Ulysses Albaran, student of Count Cagliostro, learns that a vampire can survive having a stake driven through its heart. the only way to really kill them is by injecting Clammic Acid into their veins. What is Clammic Acid, you ask? It can be distilled only from the black Mandragora flower that grows only on spots over which a man was hanged. Sounds like killing vampires is a tougher job then we thought! Count Frankenhausen is nothing if not an over-achiever. He wants to turn everyone in the world into vampires with himself as their supreme leader! But if everyone in the world is a vampire where will they get the blood they need to survive? I don't think the Count has thought this plan through very well. He might not get to try it out anyway, Dr. Albaran and the daughter of Count Cagliostro have determined to get into the Haunted Hacienda and put an end to the Count. They have a surprise ally in the Count's still human wife who hates her blood drinking husband and keeps a wooden stake by her bed at all times. Out of this surprisingly eclectic assortment of characters watch especially for Bertha Moss as Frau Hildegard. This is a cold hearted a witch as ever graced a terror film. She protects the Count jealously against everyone. She stomps about the castle barking orders and dolling out hideous punishments to servants who transgress, like cutting the tongue out of the footman because he talked too much, and letting the Count appease his thirst on badness knows how many chambermaids. So can this vampire be stopped? Not in this movie! A sequel, INVASION OF THE VAMPIRES, came soon after. The effects are cheap but good editing makes them look more effective than they should. The impressive castle set was also used in THE BRAINIAC. The studio, Churubusco-Azteca, guards the copyrights to its movies very well so expect to search hard for this one on VHS or DVD. This film and its sequel though are well worth the hunt. They are entertaining and scary too.

i love b horror movies. i was really excited to win this on ebay for $2.00. then i put it in the dvd player and fell asleepwithin 10 mins. so the next day i try again, though i didnt fall asleep this time, i wish i had. this isnt just a b-movie, as i stated before i love those. this is pure crap, no fun to watch at all, i would rather watch paint dry, if you are looking for a good b-movie do yourself a favor and look elsewhere