Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary

Mary is a vampire, but her reflection shows in the mirror completely normal. She also carelessly walks around during the daylight, and although it's not explicitly mentioned, I'm pretty sure that she can resist the effects of garlic and crucifixes as well. This all just to say that "Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary" (got to love title!) is a very unconventional vampire movie, but also one that is strangely absorbing and intriguing in spite of the ultra-thin story lines and the obvious budgetary restrictions. The film was directed by the Mexican born Juan López Moctezuma, who also made the '70s cult/exploitation highlights "Alucarda" and "The Mansion of Madness". Those who have seen these brilliant – in my humble opinion, at least – flicks know they can expect anything from Moctezuma. "Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary" is less flamboyant and bizarre than the other two, but still a uniquely compelling tale about a reluctant condition, hunger for love and the search for roots (bloody roots!). Mary is a successful painter, traveling around in Mexico with a handsome drifter that she met in an abandoned mansion where she was forced to spend the night. She desperately tries to hide it from Ben, but Mary needs to drink human blood in order to survive. So she occasionally drugs an unsuspecting victim and slits his (or her) throat with a hairpin. A duo of police inspectors follows the trail of beastly murders, but there's another mysterious figure pursuing Mary. Someone who also kills and drains all the blood from the bodies. "Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary" is full of odd little details that makes me cheerful, like the fact that the opening credits appear very late and totally randomly into the film, or the brief but very recognizable supportive role for cult-monument John Carradine. What makes me slightly less cheerful is the totally redundant and gratuitous animal cruelty (I sincerely doubt that the shark and turtles were fake). Lead actress Cristina Ferrare is a natural beauty and she gives away a powerfully integer performance, but the film mostly benefices from that typically mid-70s ominous atmosphere and the non-stop sexual tension. Recommended to cult fanatics!

MARY, MARY, BLOODY MARY stars Cristina Ferrare as the serial exsanguinator of the title. All is well with her thirst-quenching endeavor, until she happens upon Ben (David Young), who sets her heart aflutter. Thankfully, romance doesn't slow her down one bit. The police are on the case, but there might also be a copycat on the prowl.

Director Juan Lopez Moctezuma presents us with a unique twist on the modern vampire tale. Instead of the usual trappings and tropes, he gives us a bizarre story of true bloodlust. This was a perfect Drive-In movie in its day, and still holds up well for Late-Night viewing. The grisly finale is a real grabber!

Watch for John Carradine in a small, but important role...

I rather liked this small budgeted movie from the 70's about a woman who acts like a vampire in terms of feeding on blood but in no other way. Mary is an artist who kills men - and a woman - for the blood in their bodies. The sunshine doesn't bother her, apparently Crucifixes hold no spell over her, or garlic or any other vampiric safeguard we have seen in movies before. But that really is not what the film is about. It is about Mary finding herself and something/someone she loves - maybe. If I do not sound too convincing, it is because it is not too direct in what it is trying to do. Mary has other problems. It seems her father holds some sway over her, even though they have not seen each other in many, many years. He is the one that gave her this insatiable thirst to feed on the living. Character actor legend John Carradine plays the role with gusto, and at least several stunt doubles as he drives cars maniacally, runs up hills, and fights like a street kid. I do have to say that watching the cloaked and masked figure of Carradine do all these things was quite amusing, especially later when he pulls the mask down and we see this somewhat feeble old man that was John Carradine. That leap of credibility aside and several other leaps as well, Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary has some interesting things going for it. It is a precursor to Martin, perhaps Romero borrowed from here. Christine Ferrare looks lovely, and I thought she did an OK job with the role. She was quite good at looking bewildered. Maybe that was not intentional but worked for me. The settings in Mexico and Southern California have that cheap 70's feel that always injects some nostalgia into me. That was a decade for films like this that I grew up watching late at night(on the weekends) and all summer long. The murders too are for the most part pretty unsettling. The opening flashback scene and the one with the fisherman were particularly well-shot. I loved the eerie paintings too. But before you get the impression I thought this was a great film, Ferrare is very limited in her acting range, the rest of the actors often more so, Carradine's character is ridiculous, and the second half of the film plunges into total unreality - I shook my head again and again. Notwithstanding these very real problems, because of the atmosphere, the weird, interesting story, and the nostalgic feelings it gives off - I give this film a qualified thumbs up!

Actually I am surprised at the lack of comments on this one. I rented this late one night after eyeing the video box for months. I hesitated because I had never heard of the director/cast w/ the exception of the late John Carradine. I was more than happy with this picture. Mary has more than her share of nudity violence and gore. The paintings are weird. Some of the editing is ahead of it's time. I highly recommend this picture to anyone looking for cool low budget horror.

First off, I loved the casting in this and the look and feel of it. I even thought the premise was interesting. That's why I kept watching. But when the killers so consistently get away when they could have been dealt with so easily over and over and over again, it really annoys me. Several victims drop their knives and/or guns or just ridiculously fall down instead of fighting back against their attacker. There was just no way for me to suspend disbelief in this movie and that really hurt it for me.

Honestly, the only real reason I kept watching was Cristina Ferrare. Her performance actually felt sincere and plausible almost no matter how ridiculous the situation was. It was a complex role to pull off, too. She's sort of bad and good at the same time. And she's gorgeous, to boot.

I'm seeing a lot of high reviews here with people who liked it a lot more than I did, so maybe you will too. I just couldn't handle how ridiculously often and easily the killer dispatched prey and evaded death. It reminded me of comedy bits where someone gets killed by a slow moving steamroller simply because they don't step out of the way of its path. The movie isn't quite that egregious, but it's up there.

Watch it for Cristina Ferrare's performance. As far as a thriller goes, it's only satisfying if you don't mind that it's mostly just people getting chased down and killed. It really did feel like a TV movie except for the nudity and light fake blood gore.

My two cents. Good luck.