(124) GHOST TOWN (1967) Mexi Vampire in the Old West
6265DVD
original
Mexican/Spanish title PUEBLO FANTASMA (Ghost Town)
director
Alfredo B. Crevenna
starring Rodolfo de Anda · Fernando Lujan · Julissa ·
Elsa Cardenas · Carlos Lopez Moctezuma
The
story deals with the Rio Kid, a vampire gunslinger who challenges quick-draw
thugs in the old West. Considering the popularity of both Westerns and
Horror in the mid '60, this is not a surprising mixture of genres. However,
it IS surprising that so few films actually fall
into this category [the most popular would be Curse of the Undead
in 1959, with contenders Jesse James meets Frankenstein's Daughter
(1966), John Carradine's Billy the Kid vs
Dracula (1966), The Fiend Who Walked
the West (1958) and - arguably - El
Topo (1970) and Django the Bastard
(1969). That seems to be pretty much it]. So,
Alfredo Crevenna's movie is something of a rarity.
Rio
Kid (Fernando Luján) gets kicks from roaming around the West,
on lookout for brutish gunfighters, eliminating them with his lightning-speed
draw. According to legend [and seemingly based on some reality] the
bodies of his rivals oddly disappear from their graves soon after burial.
The Rio Kid has been active for decades, but during that time, he hasn't
aged at all. That's because he's a vampire. His home is a cemetery in
San Diego. And Rio's very existence has [somehow] turned San Diego into
a decrepit ghost town [not fully explained how or why, but the attempt
is made]. As a note:the
Rio Kid and his brides have the most amazing vampire fangs in cinema
(see top of page, left), looking more like walrus tusks.
A Mexican/Spanish
film with optional English subtitles; widescreen format,
(87 min.), DVD encoded for ALL REGION NTSC, playable on any
American machine. Extras include selected trailers.
Violence/Attempted
Rape/Sexual Brutality
for Mature Audiences