Luis Enrique Vergara Movies
The inhabitants of a small, remote island have been practicing voodoo rites and worshipping an evil priest named Damballah for years, but the local law officials generally turn a blind eye to this death cult's bizarre activities. Captain Labesch (Rafael Bertrand) arrives from the mainland, determined to crack down on the island's lawlessness and clean up the ineffectual, hard-drinking police force. He appeals for assistance from wealthy plantation tycoon Carl Van Molder (Boris Karloff), who owns nearly half of the island and wields a great deal of influence over the population. Van Molder has made the study of parapsychology his life's work and believes in the secret powers of the mind. He warns Labesch not to interfere with this forgotten island's ancient ways. Also visiting is Van Molder's niece, Annabella (Julissa), a temperance crusader who wants her uncle to help fund the International Anti-Saloon League. She falls in love with handsome police lieutenant Andrew Wilhelm (Carlos East), despite his fondness for rum. Meanwhile, beautiful native girls are being transformed into zombies, and a sinister snake dancer named Kalea (Tongolele) leads them to attack and devour any meddling policemen who get too close to their unholy rituals. When Annabella is kidnapped and prepared to be the cult's latest human sacrifice, Labesch and Wilhelm have to infiltrate their ranks to save her, and they finally learn the secret identity of the all-powerful Damballah. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
- 1969
Las Vampiras and The Vampire Girls are the alternate titles to this Mexican schlock-shocker. Like his fellow horror-thespian Boris Karloff, John Carradine made four Mexican horror films back-to-back in the late 1960s. This one is the most accessible, and also the most tolerable. Once more cast as Count Dracula, Carradine is followed around by winged female vampires with enormous breasts. The Count is eventually overthrown by power-hungry Maria Duval. Outside of Carradine, the only cast member who can truly act in The Vampires is Pedro Armendariz Jr. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1969
In this Spanish drama, a lifelong friendship falls apart when the buddies fall in love with the same girl. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A brilliant geologist sends a team to search the depths of the earth in an effort to learn the origin of some strange signals they've been picking up on their equipment. They discover a rock formation with an interior life that can communicate telepathically. They bring the mass to the surface and determine that the entity is "pure crystallized intelligence," and they believe many of the secrets of existence can be answered by studying the stone. However, the only message the mysterious rock is forthcoming with is what kind of food it needs, namely a particular chemical that can only be produced by the bodies of people in the throes of terror. To this end, Dr. Mantel (Boris Karloff) devises something called the Fear Chamber, where kidnapped prostitutes are frightened out of their wits with spiders, snakes, and faked Satanic rituals in order to obtain this precious chemical. Though the scientist and his assistants take pains not to physically harm their subjects, the weird living rock begins growing tentacles and soon learns how to capture its prey and extract the fluids itself, leading to the death of a lady burglar. The scientists realize what a deadly force they've unleashed on the surface world, though efforts to destroy the creature are complicated by its ability to control human minds and generate its own electricity. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Boris Karloff, Julissa, (more)
- 1968
One of four low-rent Mexican horror productions from the 1960s which featured an ailing Boris Karloff in supporting roles (and released after his death), this sci-fi/horror quickie features Karloff as a 19th-century scientist who invents a powerful energy device capable of rendering any weapon useless. Although we're led to believe that military forces will soon step in to nab the device, the scientist's laboratory is suddenly invaded by aliens -- who consider the raygun too dangerous to be allowed to fall into human hands. To achieve their ends, the invaders take over the bodies of the scientist and his assistant, who also happens to be responsible for a series of sex-killings in the surrounding village. Several confusing plot twists later, Karloff regains control of his senses and sets the machine to self-destruct before it can fall into evil hands. The filmmakers barely had enough talent to adhere to the simplest of storylines, much less this hodgepodge of cut-rate H.G. Wells posturing and sleazy exploitation. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
One of four low-budget Mexican horror productions to star an ailing Boris Karloff in a supporting (but top-billed) role, this odd little number features the horror legend as the dying forebear of an eccentric family, whose heirs descend like vultures on his palatial home when they learn of his impending demise... which apparently occurs shortly after their arrival. Little do they realize that their plucky patriarch has laid some elaborate traps for them, employing his collection of life-size automatons. The cast wanders about through dimly-lit sets for what seems like an eternity before being slain by the wind-up robots in a variety of gory ways, but the violent, bloody climax comes far too late to rescue viewers from the endless drudgery. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- 1968
In this bloody Mexican horror outing, a beautiful woman suffers a terrible accident and becomes maimed and ugly. Desperate to again be lovely, she visits a dastardly dermatologist who tells her that for his experiment to work, she must provide him with a constant supply of fresh skin and blood for the transfusions she will need. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1966
In this Mexican sci-fi adventure, super-powered professional wrestlers lead by the mask-wearing Blue Demon take on dreaded arachnoid aliens who assume human form to enact their plans to take over the planet. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1961
Scripted by Dalton Trumbo and directed by Robert Aldrich, this off-beat, almost eclectic film could be hailed as a thinking person's western. It is the dark cat-and-mouse tale of a sherrif's hunt for a philosophy-spouting criminal in the midst of a great cattle drive. The outlaw killed the sherrif's brother-in-law. During his flight, the outlaw pauses long enough to drop by the ranch where his former lover lives with her husband and 16-year-old daughter. While there, the rancher hires him to lead a cattle drive to Texas. The sheriff soon catches up, but he decides to help the killer with the drive before bringing him in. Along the way, the two men gain a grudging respect for one another. Also the sheriff begins to fall in love with the rancher's wife, while the crook finds himself drawn to her lovely daughter. The rancher ends up killed during the trip and this allows the romances to bloom until the widow tells the outlaw an awful secret about the young woman he loves. Grecian-style tragedy ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rock Hudson, Kirk Douglas, (more)
The Curse of Nostradamus is the first of four features edited together from chapters of a Mexican horror serial about the escapades of a vampire nobleman (German Robles) who is a descendant of legendary doomsayer Nostradamus. With the help of a hunchbacked manservant, the nobleman schemes to set devious traps for his enemies, including one for the skeptical scholar who first begins to connect historical accounts of Nostradamus with vampire myth. The producers of the original serial pay a faithful homage to Tod Browning's Dracula -- a bit too faithful, in fact, as they frequently lapse into horror clichés that had become old hat by the late '50s with the advent of the Hammer vampire series. The Curse of Nostradamus was followed by The Blood of Nostradamus, Monster Demolisher and Genie of Darkness. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
