Blood of the Virgins

Ahhh…how I love Mondo Macabro, barely on the scene a few months and already building an impressive and diverse catalogue of genre titles from around the globe as well as a deserved loyal fan base too. Argentina is the country under the spotlight this time round for the Mondo Macabro team with the worldwide DVD debut of Emilio Vieyra's 'Sangre de Virgenes' or as it will be known to all us Anglophiles…'Blood of the Virgins'!!

The film opens back in the old days where the lovely and seductive Ofelia is having a secret rendezvous with her lover Gustavo, she's tormented though as her parents are keen for her to wed their choice of husband the more acceptable Eduardo. Even though Ofelia is desperate for Gustavo to introduce himself to her parents in an attempt to break the icy barrier between them he's having none of it and vows that they'll never take her away! Ofelia does though indeed soon marry Eduardo but on their wedding night Gustavo (in his true form of vengeful vampire lord) enters the marital bedroom and following the brutal murder of her newly betrothed husband she falls prey to his vampiric charms (well it's hard to say no when you've been bitten on the neck eh?)

Following some atmospheric opening titles (complete with vintage creepy B movie music) we jump to some years later where we meet a groovy hep bunch of (not so) young kids as they travel round the country dancing, romping, skiing, dancing, romping, sailing, romping…you get the picture?! Whilst between towns their tour bus breaks down and faced with miles to the nearest civilization they head to a nearby villa long believed to be abandoned, but they soon find this not to be the case when they come across not only a mysterious valet and a feast prepared for them but some ghostly happenings courtesy of our prologues vampire Gustavo and his mistress Ofelia. Who will survive the ghostly proceedings and live to tell the tale…

'Blood of the Virgins' is probably succinct in explaining why Argentina has never been renowned for its contribution to genre movies, being that this seems to be their heralded best even though in truth it's bewilderingly middling in its impact…but that's not to say it still has a lot to offer us fans of vintage genre trash, as it does! The opening prologue sets the scene for what looks to be an interesting take on the vintage European vampire movie, but when we cut to meeting the aging teens with a penchant for groovy dancing and voluptuous breastage the film swings into a strange variation of topless Scooby Doo by way of Joseph Sarno (of Inga fame)…and it's this bizarre combination of comic book styled breasts and blood that will be the clincher for many viewers. Well that and the fact that Mondo Macabro have brought to us once again yet another stunningly presented movie.

As for presentation, the quality of the image on the print is absolutely gorgeous and pretty much pristine throughout (well there is the odd minor speckle but not worth sweating about at all), struck from the original negative this could not possibly look any better - similarly the 2 channel stereo audio containing the original Spanish track is clear and faultless if perhaps not as active as many home cinema fans would like (but considering the origins, age and budget of a movie like this then you wouldn't expect anything really of note audiowise). But as I say, the film looks damn great and once again Mondo Macabro should be applauded for yet another presentation of note.

As ever with a Mondo Macabro release we are treated to another mouth watering episode of the Channel 4 licensed Mondo Macabro TV show - this time round we get a cool 24 minute episode covering the work of 'Blood of the Virgin's director Emilio Vieyra and the boobtastic movies of Armando Bo and the lovely Isabel Sarli. As always, these Macabro TV extras are very welcome additions to these releases and we can only hope that in time the entire series of not only Mondo Macabro but Eurotika! etc will be unleashed on DVD where they belong!)

Also included on the extras front is an entertaining text/images section prepared by Pete Tombs 'Gauchos Go Gear' (groan) which covers more info on director Vieyra's work…as ever Pete Tombs proves to be a very informed and knowledgeable guy that can keep things both interesting and fun (this is worth checking out just to get the low down of the movie's cool cameos).

So in summing up, 'Blood of the Virgin's is perhaps not Mondo Macabro's strongest release (movie wise) to date but if you like the idea of a retro groovy live action Scooby Doo by way of grooving hep cats, lusty vampires and boobs and blood a plenty then you can't really go wrong here. Presentation wise, this is yet another faultless Mondo Macabro stunner (right down to the delicious animated menu screens) - I reckon everyone should be picking up the entire Macabro line, if you can afford to then you really should. Now how about a release of '3 Dev Adam'?

Review by Alan Simpson

'Blood of the Virgins' can be ordered direct from Mondo Macabro by clicking here.