Der Sarg des Vampiro

Graverobbers stumble upon the tomb of a vampire, who turns them into zombies to do his bidding, which is to stalk and capture beautiful women.

Dear Abel Salazar, you are an amazing actor with a great face. I wish you had been better-known to American horror audiences. Films like this, and especially "The Brainiac", have either been forgotten or became cult classics far too late.

When people speak of foreign horror, they often talk of Italian, or sometimes Japanese. These days Korean horror has become more fashionable, and the latest wave (as of 2015) is New Zealand. But who is out there blowing the trumpet for Mexico?

In Director Fernando Mendez' THE VAMPIRE'S COFFIN, a scientist steals the coffin of Count del Lavud (German Robles), in order to study the body. When the Count is inadvertently resurrected, a new spree of terror is unleashed. This time, he's out to exact his vengeance on those who killed him.

As sequels go, this is a good one. Abel Salazar and Ariadne Welter return in their roles from the first film. Once again, Mr. Robles is stellar as the Count. In probably the best scene of the entire movie, he stalks a woman down streets and alleys, casting some very creepy shadows. Another great scene takes place in a theater, where the Count and his thuggish henchman cause mayhem. This movie also makes use of a wax museum setting, where the finale takes place.

While not as impressive as the original, it's still a worthy follow-up...

Like Miami's Ivan Tors, K. Gordon Murray (his nickname was 'Kagey' for his initials) conducted all of his English dubbing at Florida's Soundlab studios in Coral Gables before making a mint with not just horror entries but a series of children's films such as "Rumpelstiltskin," "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Santa Claus," often performing narration himself. Universal's 1931 Spanish language "Dracula" was a huge success south of the border, but as a film industry the genre didn't truly take off until the 1950s, and while most think of masked wrestlers battling the Universal monsters 1957's "The Vampire's Coffin" and its predecessor were serious takes on the undead, though this sequel lacked the atmospheric setting of "The Vampire" ('Dracula set on a hacienda'), the first half located in a modern but deserted hospital, the rest dividing time between musical numbers in a theater and a shadowy wax museum. Mere weeks after "El Vampiro" premiered in October 1957, producer Abel Salazar was already shooting the follow up, rejoined by three more cast members for their second go round, including ingenue Adriadne Welter as Martha and Alicia Montoya as Martha's Aunt Mary, foiled by two grave robbers who steal the body of German Robles' Count Lavud, the stake still protruding from his heart, moving the coffin to the local hospital where Marion (Carlos Ancira) works with Salazar's Henry. His partner in crime (Yerye Beirute) is employed at the local wax museum, greedily sneaking back in to steal the Count's medallion, but in removing the stake restores the vampire to vengeful life, again casting a spell upon pretty Martha while also attacking a preteen girl in her hospital bed, and a streetwalker who fails to outrun the old bat. German Robles looks more comfortable in his second outing and proves ready for another shot, soon to arrive with the Nostradamus quartet. The urban milieu is no match for the isolation of "The Vampire," but at least this time Salazar actually dispatches his adversary, in bat form as well. Already typecast as thugs, Yerye Beirute would be familiar with Boris Karloff fans in both "Fear Chamber" and "Incredible Invasion," plus "Bring Me the Vampire" and Lon Chaney's "La Casa del Terror."

The Vampire's Coffin (1957)

*** (out of 4)

A doctor steals the corpse of vampire Count Lavud (German Robles) and soon those from the first film who destroyed him must try to do so again. Once again the Count is after Marta (Ariadna Welter) but Dr. Saldivar (Abel Salazar) is there to try and save the day.

This sequel to EL VAMPIRO is actually a lot better and manages to be one of the better vampire movies from this period. The movie fixes a lot of the problems with the first movie and manages to be a lot more entertaining thanks in large part to a nice atmosphere, a much better flow to the picture as well as some nice performances. The film kicks off with a great grave robbing sequence, which was obviously influenced by FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLF MAN but it's still a lot of fun.

From here we get a lot of very good scenes that manage to pack some nice atmosphere and of course the fog machine is on overdrive during most scenes. There's some very good stuff inside the hospital where two doctors debate on science and the idea of stealing the vampire's corpse. I thought the attack scenes were all extremely good and there's no doubt that the flow is much better here. The film manages to go by rather quickly and this certainly helps.

Another benefit is that the three leads are all very good. Robles is excellent as the vampire and manages to be quite menacing. Welter isn't given as much to do here as she did in the original but it's still nice seeing her return. Abel Salazar handles the role without any problems and makes for a memorable character. THE VAMPIRE'S COFFIN, like the first film, features some bad special effects with the wires attached to the flying bat being very noticeable but it doesn't do any major harm to the picture. If you're a fan of Mexican cinema then this here is a must see.

EL Ataúd del Vampiro(1958), The Vampire's Coffin, is not a fitting sequel to El Vampiro,both featuring German Robles as aristocratic vampire Count Lavud. This sequel seems like a quickie followup. Most of the film is filmed inside modern buildings or building sets. It lacks the beautiful foreboding night fog scenes of the former. However, when I first wrote this review I had only seen the K. Gordon Murray dubbed version. I expressed thoughts that the Spanish version might be better. I have now seen the Casa Negra restored version in which the beautiful photography and music are quite apparent. The restored version DVD has both Spanish with and without English subtitles as well as the inferior K. Gordon Murray dubbed English version.

German Robles's acting is fine; he is quite the natty-charming-aristocratic-menacing-sensual vampire seeking Martha (Ariadna Welter) from the first movie. There is also an interesting scene in which he picks up a woman in a bar. He returns to this life?? thanks to a thief who becomes an assistant and acquires that status while attempting to steal the Count's large pendant and in the process pulling out the stake and thus bringing the Vampire back from the nether place to which he had been consigned in El Vampiro. The Count does not punish him but acknowledges his appreciation and makes him his assistant. (This is somewhat a precursor to Leo (Manver) the beguiling, willing hunchback assistant in the later Nostradamus films).

The Spanish restored Casa Negra version is part of a two DVD set with El Vampiro in both Spanish with and without English subtitles and dubbed English. The movie does now stand on its own and is worth seeing IN Spanish with or without English subtitles. I would now give it a 7.5 or 8 rating for its genre. IMDb will not allow any modification of my review of El Vampiro so I am unable to mention the quality of the Casa Negra restored version of El Vampiro; it is outstanding. I would add to my earlier review of that film that the photographic and sound quality are magnificent in the Casa Negra restored DVD.

Thomas J McKeon Indianapolis