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I'm guessing that Fernando Méndez's "El Vampiro" was at least a fairly big success in its native Mexico as the director wasted no time in regrouping the main players from the cast of the aforementioned film and cobbling together this cheap sequel. Not as much care and attention has gone into this one; the film lacks the excellent atmospheric night-time shots of the original and the plot is not as well defined, but in spite of these things; The Vampire's Coffin is certainly an enjoyable romp that fans of the original should at least appreciate. The film starts off rather well with a sequence that sees a bunch of grave robbers accidentally resurrect the evil Count Karol de Lavud (an influence on Dracula 2000?) by removing the stake from his heart. The Count soon decides to turn his liberators into zombies, and proceeds to resume his mission from the first film. Naturally, it all falls down to the heroic Dr. Enrique Saldívar (Abel Salazar, returning to his role from the first film) to rescue the girl, kill the count and save the day.

This film reminded me of the Universal classics much more than the original did. As mentioned, the Gothic atmosphere does not make a comeback in this film and it's been replaced by a dose of misplaced and largely unfunny humour, which is unfortunate. The outdoor shots are really missed too; I guess it must have been cheaper to film indoors and the sets don't leave much to admire. All the main cast members from the original return and fit into their roles well. The standout is obviously Germán Robles who plays the count. My main problem with him in the first film is that he never really posed a threat; and he doesn't manage it here either, although it's not so much of a problem as the film appears to want to be taken with a pinch of salt. Abel Salazar stars opposite in the 'hero' role. He doesn't really fit the model of the hero, but he has good charisma and is at least entertaining. The plot doesn't go anywhere and doesn't really provide us with any surprises by the time the film ends. However, The Vampire's Coffin is a decent follow up in spite of its flaws and I'd recommend anyone who tracks down the original sees it; they might as well anyway since it's packed in the set with El Vampiro...

Dr. Enrique Saldivar (Abel Salazar) once again has to protect Marta González (Ariadne Welter) after evil vampire Count Karol de Lavud (Germán Robles) is brought back to life.

Director Fernando Méndez's sequel to his previous year's El Vampiro features many of the same cast playing the same characters, and yet it isn't anywhere near as successful as the first film, lacking the original's wonderful gothic atmosphere, despite beginning promisingly with a howl of a wolf and a spot of grave-robbing.

The bulk of the action takes place in a hospital and a theatre, neither location possessing the ominous vibe of the original's run-down rural hacienda with its secret passageways and creepy family crypt. Worse still, the theatre location leads to some dreadfully choreographed dance numbers with Welter looking bored and confused throughout.

Thankfully, Méndez saves the best for last, with a fun battle between Enrique and the count in what must be Mexico's worst wax museum: not only are the exhibits totally unrecognisable (they have the characters' names pinned to them so that visitors aren't left guessing), but all of the props are real and potentially lethal. This means that there are sharp axes and spears for weapons, as well as a fully functional guillotine and a 'Virgin of Nuremberg', an iron maiden filled with very sharp spikes.

After escaping being bitten by Lavud (in rubber bat form, suspended on very visible wires), Enrique eventually manages to pin the vampire to the wall with a spear, while Marta narrowly avoids having her head chopped off by the guillotine.

4.5/10, generously rounded up to 5 for IMDb.

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.

Mondo Macabro's R2 DVD of this film's prequel, THE VAMPIRE (1957), had included stills from the follow-up excerpted from its photo-novel edition (apparently included in full as a DVD-ROM extra on Casa Negra's 2-Disc R1 Set "The Vampire Collection"); at the time, the synopsis had felt contrived and, therefore, I had anticipated that the film itself would be inferior to the original (though I'm still disappointed that there's no Audio Commentary to accompany it!). Having watched THE VAMPIRE'S COFFIN now - and re-acquainted myself with its predecessor (the very first Mexican horror effort I'd seen), which didn't disappoint - I can only confirm this!

Anyway, the original was largely set at a dilapidated hacienda in a remote village - with characters dressed in old-style clothing and an overpowering foggy atmosphere - so that it was jarring to see these same characters (or who was left standing among them) transposed to modern city surroundings! Apparently, the film-makers purposely opted to make the sequel as different as possible to its predecessor - and, while that same Gothic mood is felt on occasion, the three main settings of the film, i.e. hospital, wax museum and burlesque theater, elicit their own particular ambiance with which the vampire character may not always be compatible (for instance, he appears outside a bar to stalk an aspiring young female performer incongruously dressed in his traditional cape...and, yet, she never for a moment suspects his true intentions, in fact welcomes the stranger's advances by throwing flirtatious glances at him herself)!

The music score is typically overstated (as far as I can tell replicating that of the original, where it seemed to work better!) and the special effects pretty ropey - especially the very visible wires holding the supposedly flying bat, but also the number of times that the vampire is seen reflected in a mirror when it's made clear that he shouldn't!; that said, the transition from vampire to bat is, once again, neatly enough done. The most atmospheric moments are those set in the wax museum with its numerous torture devices (though the climax is a rather awkward mess!), and the large shadows thrown by the vampire on the various buildings in the afore-mentioned stalking sequence (in fact, the film-makers seem to have liked this effect so much that the scene is absurdly extended, when the vampire could very easily have rendered himself invisible at any moment and let the girl simply fall into his clutches - as he does, eventually!). Resting largely on the shoulders of lead/producer Abel Salazar, the comic relief comes off remarkably well (particularly in scenes where he has to explain his tall tale about disappearing coffins and rampaging vampires to his superiors or the police) and, in fact, my relative disappointment with the film isn't due to any intrinsic campiness - as was the case with THE BRAINIAC (1962), for instance - though, as per reviews I've read of the English-dubbed U.S. version prepared by K. Gordon Murray (included on the DVD but which I haven't checked out), it's a different matter altogether!

As for the principal cast members, Salazar is, again, an engaging hero; likewise, Ariadne Welter is lovely throughout (even when engaged in a sleazy dance number!) - but German Robles fares less well than in the first film (where he had cut a suitably imposing figure), here tending to come off as merely nonchalant...and a veritable Elvis Costello look-alike to boot! The evidently rushed production, then, ultimately brings (perhaps unkind) comparisons - with respect to the difference in quality between the two films - to SON OF KONG (1933) when stacked up against its monumental prequel!

The Vampires Coffin(1958) Starring: Abel Salazar, Ariadna Welter, Germán Robles, Yerye Beirute, and Alicia Montoya Directed By: Fernando Méndez Review FROM THE DEPTHS OF EVIL COMES A DIABOLICAL KILLER OF BEAUTIFUL WOMEN! Hello Kiddies your pal the Crypt-Critic is back with more vampires and grave-robbers. This looked liked a good-black and white B-movie with a vampire heading it as the monster and I was right but I forgot to notice it was made in Mexico. In this film we got a doctor who is studying cellular health I guess and takes note from a story of doctors who stole a grave. Doctor Mendoza and a friend of his named Bazarra do the same thing and our asked by an old woman to stop but they do not listen. Bazarra is paid and wants to take the vampires gold necklace but in doing so takes off the stake and unleashes the vampire to finish his evil deed. The film does present some horror movie tropes and is a b-level flick, it doesn't offer much fright and you can clearly see the strings holding up the bat but the actors performances and the action do go a long way from making this a fun film to sit through. Just remember kiddies don't pull off the stake.

"The Vampire's Coffin" ("El Ataúd del Vampiro") is a bad horror film. However, it is not quite bad enough or silly enough for me to recommend it to bad movie buffs--though at times, it sure comes close!

When the film began, I actually thought if might be a good film. It was very atmospheric and there was nothing to complain about...at least for a while. The Mexican horror filmmakers got the look right as grave robbers stole the coffin of Count Karol de Lavud (Germán Robles). It seems that an exceptionally stupid doctor wants the body to study HOW vampires are ageless. Perhaps, he thinks, he can learn the secret and use it on others. Not at all surprisingly, some butt-head ends up pulling the stake from the vampire's chest--and soon Count Lavud is alive and the butt-head is now the Count's slave. And, again not surprisingly, the Count goes on a killing spree until he is eventually destroyed (huzzah!).

So why was this all so bad? Well, the most obvious problem is the worst use of strings I have ever seen in a vampire movie. Had the silly bat on a string been used sparingly, it might not have been that bad--but the stupid bat kept showing up and much of the end (inexplicably) has the hero battling the Count in bat form. Each and every time, the many strings holding the fake bat are VERY obvious. The same is true in a scene where you see a spear being tossed--you can see it suspended from strings! Now if I could easily see all this on a 42" TV, imagine seeing it on a big screen back in the 1950s!! And, speaking of spears, don't you think that if one of your big weaknesses as a vampire is a stake that you'd make sure your hideout does NOT have spears lying about as well as a cabinet full of spikes?! It's a lot like Superman keeping some Kryptonite in his fridge!! Apart from some dumb scenes, there also are some dull ones (such as some horribly choreographed and completely unnecessary dance numbers) and after the first 10 minutes I cannot recall anything good about the film!

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

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?

Imagine yourself trapped inside a museum of the dark middle Ages and a resurrected vampire and his maniacal sidekick are chasing you. Where is the absolute last place you want to hide? I'd say inside the uncanny Virgin of Nuremberg torture device, because there's a good risk you'll get brutally spiked to death. And yet, the elderly lady in this film stupidly runs into her spiked coffin. "The Vampire's Coffin" is a rather disappointing sequel, as director Fernando Méndez doesn't re-create the Gothic atmosphere of the 1957-original but puts the emphasis on comical situations and dialogs. No more ominous castles with eerie cobwebs and dark vaults, but confused doctors and clumsy assistants that provoke laughs instead of frights. The story opens inside Count de Lavud's final resting place, where an eminent doctor and a hired assistant steal the coffin in order to examine the corpse at a private clinic. Naturally the wooden stake gets removed from his heart, and the vampire count comes to live again, immediately enslaving the petty thief to do his dirty work. The vampire has his eye on a beautiful female patient at the clinic, and it's up to Dr. Enrique Saldívar to rescue her soul and to destroy the bloodsucker. "The Vampire's Coffin" uses a limited amount of locations and there's very little action. The whole film would actually be pretty boring if it weren't for a handful of memorable sequences and decent acting performances. The photography is amazing, though, with the sublime use of shadows and darkness. This is most notably during the scene in which Count de Lavud stalks a young woman through the deserted streets of little town at night. It's the only truly worthwhile scene of the whole film, the rest is fairly mediocre and déjà-vu.

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...

In Sierra Negra, two graverobbers steel the coffin of Count Karol de Lavud (Germán Robles) from the crypt, despite the resistance of María Teresa (Alicia Montoya). They head by car to a hospital, where the greedy Barraza (Yeire Beirute) sees a medallion when the coffin is opened and demands more money from his partner, Doctor Mendoza (Guillermo Orea). Meanwhile, at the same hospital, Marta González (Ariadna Welter) is working as a nurse with Dr. Enrique Saldívar (Abel Salazar) and still recovering from the events in Sicomorros. When Dr. Mendoza seeks out Dr. Enrique to tell that he has stolen the vampire coffin to study his cells, Barraza returns to the room and remove the wood stake to steal Count Lavud's medallion. The vampire returns to life and begins a crime spree in the city, hunting down Marta to marry her.

"El ataúd del vampire", a.k.a. "The Vampire's Coffin" (1958), is a weak sequel of "El vampire" (1957) using the same characters. However, on the contrary of the first movie, the locations in the hospital and in the wax museum are very poor, The character Dr. Enrique Saldívar looks like a silly man most of the time, and not a MD, and destroys the movie as the hero, or good guy that fights the vampire. María Teresa hiding inside a torture chamber is another silly moment. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Ataúde do Vampiro" ("The Vampire's Coffin")

A coffin - an inscription reveals Count Lavud's first name, in case you were wondering: Lazlo - is extracted from its crypt by Dr. Mendoza (Guillermo Orea) and his hired muscle, Barraza (Yerye Beruite). Maria Teresa (Alicia Montoya), a skittery attempts to thwart the removal of the coffin, alas in vain.

The two medicos open it to find the dead Count Lavud (German Robles) perfectly preserved, albeit with a very large wooden stake jutting from his chest.

Later, Barraza removes the stake in order to steal a sparkly amulet from Lavud's body, and the vampire rises anew. (Even his shirt no longer has a hole.) Always in the market for a Renfield-like slave, Lavud puts Barraza under his hypnotic control.

The two doctors re-enter the room to find the coffin empty and the wooden stake on the ground. Maria Teresa shows up to urge caution, but she's too late. Lavud puts the bite on little Nina, and hypnotizes Marta.

Barraza hides Lavud in the basement of a wax museum. He's ready for a quick bite, Marta being his main aim. He wants her for his bride ... and he will fight tooth and nail to achieve it ...

The sequel to El Vampiro isn't as great as that film, which was quite spooky and effectively chilly with its broody atmosphere - there's some good atmosphere in the vampire's coffin, but not on the same level as the first film. However, it's imaginative and has some neat visuals; the scene where the long in the tooth count trails Marta in alleyway is quite a scene with its shadows. Tense stuff. The action scene in the finale is exciting.

It's fairly enjoyable, especially with it being set in the city area, mainly around the theatre, but it can be plodding, uneven. The best thing though is the count who is one spooky dude and has some menace, leaning towards Christopher Lee. The annoying thing is the hero (Salazar) who is comedic and lacks the seriousness needed. He was better in the first film.

Vampire's Grave is the second of two films concerning the character that German Robles played in the first film. The film is from Mexico and apparently it has a certain cult status that has thoroughly escaped me.

This is the kind of film that Universal Pictures used to do so well and I suspect had it been done there where they mastered the art of Gothic horror, it would rate a lot better from me. German Robles is no Bela Lugosi, he's not Christopher Lee either.

This vampire is dead and buried in his grave with stake plunged through his heart when some scientist decides to steal the body for experimentation. Pull out the stake and you've got troubles as Robles remembers all the people who did him in in the previous life and film. He's out for a little payback.

Universal did these so much better.