‘From the tombs of horror… draining the blood of the innocent!’
The Curse of the Vampires aka Creatures of Evil is a 1966 Filipino supernatural horror film directed by Gerardo de Leon (Mad Doctor of Blood Island; The Blood Drinkers; Terror is a Man).
The movie stars Amalia Fuentes (also the producer), Romeo Vasquez and Eddie Garcia. Also known as Blood of the Vampires, the original title was Ibulong Mo sa Hangin “Whisper to the Wind”.
On April 9th, Severin Films released The Curse of the Vampires individually on Blu-ray and DVD and as part of their Hemisphere Horrors box set.
- Cursed Vampire: Interview with actor Eddie Garcia
- The Market of Hemisphere: Interview With Marketing Consultant Samuel M. Sherman
- Audio Commentary With Philippine Genre Documentarian Andrew Leavold
- Partial Audio Commentary with Sam Sherman
- Deleted Scenes
- Trailer 1
- Trailer 2
- Beast of Blood/Curse of the Vampires radio spot
Plot:
An upper-class patriarch must keep the body of his deceased wife sealed in his jungle mansion’s secret mausoleum because her corpse is now inhabited by a demon. Consumed with a thirst for human blood, the animalistic “Mother” puts the bite on her own son Eduardo, who proceeds to make victims of other family members and their loved ones.
However, the forces of darkness don’t have a monopoly on invading the mortal world… Soon Eduardo is contending with a ghost who has come back for the ultimate battle of good vs. evil…
Reviews [may contain spoilers]:
“As a story of family relations, the script cannot be improved, except perhaps in the dialogue. The director – or the processing – uses garish colours in his contrasting of a sentimental but intense religiosity with the opposite side of the sacred coin: vampirism as sex, or vice versa.” Phil Hardy (editor), The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror
“De Leon presents an offbeat, tropical take on vampire film conventions, incorporating a streamlined version of the artsy color effects that saturated his previous film and placing the focus on emotions, rather than bloodshed. While that approach is certainly welcomed, it doesn’t always equal a full-on hit.” Bleeding Skull!
” …what interests De Leon is not the thrills he can eke out of the premise (vampires popping out of nowhere) but the opportunity to portray in close detail the family’s attempts to retain their humanity in the face of the curse–an altogether more ambitious, more complex challenge.” Critic After Dark
” …an above average vampire flick with an extended amount of religious symbolism, a tight conflict within the family, and a lot of nice turn-of-the-century atmosphere […] the film thrives on style and story telling rather than blood and gore…” DVD Drive-In
“No, it’s not a great movie, but I ended up caring about the characters and what happens to them, and this made the movie much more interesting than I though it would be. And I do have to take my hat off to any movie that manages to kill off practically every major character and still come up with a happy ending. Good show!” Fantastic Movie Musings and Ramblings
The reveal of the mother resting in her coffin is rather effective. Once Garcia gets his fangs though, the movie becomes a repetitive bore. It also has way too many false endings for any rational mind to handle. Just when you think it’s about to wrap up, Garcia finds another person’s neck to chomp.” The Video Vacuum
Main cast:
- Amalia Fuentes … Leonore Escudero – The Blood Drinkers
- Romeo Vasquez … Daniel Castillo
- Eddie Garcia … Eduardo Escudero – Batuta ni Drakula; Beast of Blood; Devil Woman
- Johnny Monteiro
- Rosario del Pilar
- Mary Walter … Doña Consuelo Escodero de Victoria
- Francisco Cruz
- Paquito Salcedo
- Quiel Mendoza
- Andres Benitez
- Luz Angeles
- Tessie Hernandez
- Linda Rivera
Some image credits: Cinefania | Video 48
