(1957)
Overall: MEH
Released the same year as El vampiro, The Body Snatcher, (Ladrón de Cadáveres, Corpse Thief), stands as director Fernando Méndez' contemporary Frankenstein update, except with wrestlers because Mexico loves them some wrestlers. The ratio of shirtless men throwing each other around and/or training in a gym compared to anything that moves an already cumbersome plot forward is unbalanced at best, but that is only one aspect that makes this such a sluggish watch. Every scene, (wrestlers or not), goes on several minutes longer than agreeable, an unnecessary love angle is thrown in, there is no revived corpse monster until we reach the sixty minute point, and the film never leans into its goofy-on-paper aspects. Instead, it plays its cockamamie story straight, even when Wolf Ruvinskis's creature spontaneously grows monstrous fangs and Robin Williams chest hair in the middle of Carlos Riquelme waving a torch in front of him. Also, said monster uses the name "El vampiro" for the ring because apparently Mexico loves them some vampires too.
(1957)
Overall: MEH
A historically important work in Gothic horror that was pivotal in influencing a slew of Mexican genre films, El vampiro, (The Vampire), lacks much of the singular goofiness of later horror movies from the country and instead goes for a traditional Universal monsters vibe. Both Ariadne Welter and Germán Robles would appear in a handful of such movies, (the latter playing a member of the undead numerous times throughout his early career), but the latter unfortunately makes a lackluster impression here as he is granted little screen time and does not come off as either fascinating or menacing. Director Fernando Méndez keeps the humor at a bare minimum while emphasizing a dreary atmosphere full of sincere performances, persistent and overbearing music, much fog, much cobwebs, and the dashing vampire who stares menacingly, turns into a bat, spontaneously appears, and sports actual fangs. The later motif had only recently become the norm after pointy incisors had been routinely omitted from on-screen blood-suckers, though this was not technically the first movie to portray them. Yet for all of its gloomy aesthetic and strict cliche-adherence, the pacing leaves much to be desired, struggling along its predictable conclusion without any memorable moments or unique details to single it out amongst so many others of its kind.
(1958)
Overall: MEH
Many of the on and behind the screen personnel return with The Vampire's Coffin, (El ataúd del vampiro); a sequel to the previous year's El vampiro. Though he portrays the same hero character, Abel Salazar makes more of a dopey and comic relief presence, trying to convince the authorities that vampires are real while simultaneously protecting his love interest Ariadne Welter, (now a professional dancer), from Germán Robles' hypnotic medallion which is too sparkly to resits for the dimwit who pulls the stake out of his heart. Salazar also contributed to the screenplay along with Ramón Obón and Raúl Zenteno and compared to the previous film, the plot is more overstuffed and the tone more goofy. Instead of merely rehashing Universal monster tropes, (which it still does mind you), it adds Phantom of the Opera and House of Wax angles as well, but Robles still goes through the undead motions as opposed to making the on-screen blood sucker his own. Fernando Méndez' direction is likewise still trudging even if the modest Gothic set design and Víctor Herrera's cinematography remains atmospheric. The whole thing is no more or less forgettable than its predecessor, yet fans of Mexico's more straight-faced variations of horror films from Hollywood's black and white Golden Era may find it agreeable.
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