Argentina is not the first place I think of when I think of foreign horror films. Usually, I will think of Italy, France, or Spain but South America does not usually come to mind. Although Blood Of The Virgins is from Argentina and has the distinction of being the 'first Argentinean vampire film', it reminded me stylistically of the type of horror that was coming out of Europe around the same time. Most notably the films that were coming out of Spain from directors like Jess Franco. As far as the plot, you could see shades of the classic creepy abandoned building story and more recently for the time, shades of Hammer's Dracula: Prince Of Darkness.

The film opens as a period piece where we are introduced to a woman named Ofelia (Susana Beltran) who is slated to be married to a guy named Eduardo but is secretly wishing to be with her lover Gustavo (Walter Kliche). The special day comes and on their wedding night, Eduardo does not because he is promptly stabbed through the neck by Gustavo. It is also revealed that Gustavo is a vampire and he proceeds to bite Ofelia so that they can be together forever. After a cool animated opening credit sequence we are in the present day 60's where we meet the rest of our cast who frolic about for ten minutes while some groovy jazz music plays over a series of scenes of the gang partying, skiing, making out, sightseeing, and dancing topless. The story finally begins when the group's car breaks down and their Elton John-glasses wearing tour guide tells them about an abandoned mansion in the area. Upon arrival, they meet a creepy servant and one of the guys named Raul (Rolo Puente) finds vampire Ofelia walking around and has lazy sex with her. The next morning the females disappear and it is up to the guys to figure out what happened to them.

There are certain movies that are not a hell of a lot of fun to watch for the first time around. They do, however, have some scenes to make them memorable but memorable scenes need to be tied together to produce a great end result. When I reflect on this film, I remember the opening credits, the fact that vampire Gustavo reminded me of Count Yorga, Susana Beltran's nude scenes, the go-go dancing, the frequent use of red-filtered footage of seagulls (trying to pass as bats), and a score that reminded me of the opening scene in Ghost World. Vincente Aranda's The Blood Spattered Bride came to mind a lot when I was watching this in that the lead female in both films sort of drifted in and out of scenes and interacted with a few characters but was never terribly threatening. In the case of Ofelia in this film, this is to do more with the fact that she is a reluctant vampire who wants out of the curse that has been bestowed on her.

If this film was a little faster paced, I would have liked it a lot more but the fact that the plot was nothing new and it had a slow, dreamy pace made me give it an average rating. In fact, I would not recommend watching this too late at night as it could have the ability to put you to sleep (especially if the frequent nudity does not interest you). I am intrigued enough to check out some director Emilio Vieyre's other work but it is doubtful that I will be returning to Blood Of The Virgins anytime soon. Beltran and co-star Gloria Prat also appeared in Vieyra's The Naked Beast, The Deadly Organ, and The Curious Dr. Humpp. (Josh Pasnak, 10/5/05)

Directed By: Emilio Vieyre.
Written By: Emilio Vieyre.

Starring: Susana Beltran, Gloria Prat, Walter Kliche.