Vampires in Havana

Juan Padrón's 1985 Cuban animation joins the vampire story to political satire. Professor Von Dracula comes from Transylvania to Havana and develops a drug that lets vampires live in sunlight. When he announces he will give the formula free to every vampire in the world, both the vampire mafia in Chicago and the vampire association in Europe move against him; each wants a monopoly on it. The film is set in the Havana of the 1930s with the underground struggle against the Machado dictatorship in the background. The humour is coarse, the sexual innuendo plentiful and the music comes out of Cuban jazz. Padrón built an allegory about monopoly capital using the tools of genre. It is the best known work of Cuban animation. Who it's for: viewers who like animation for adults and political satire. Who it's not for: anyone wanting to watch with children; the content is plainly adult.