The Vampire

Fernando Méndez's 1957 film is one of the most influential in Mexican horror and is often called the most successful Latin American continuation of the Universal tradition. A young woman returns to her home town to arrange her aunt's funeral; rumours of vampires circulate, and suspicion gradually settles on her surviving aunt and the mysterious neighbour. Abel Salazar both stars and produces. What still works is the atmosphere: fog, hacienda architecture and deep shadow make the limited budget invisible. Devices like the vampire's cloak enveloping him as he flies rebuild Dracula's screen iconography in a Mexican register and shaped many films that followed. Who it's for: viewers interested in classic gothic horror, black-and-white atmosphere cinema, and Mexican genre production after the golden age. Who it's not for: anyone expecting modern horror pacing and effects, or who will find the slow build of 1950s genre film dull.