Even though I don't really have a definitive favorite film, the classic 1930s thriller "M" by Fritz Lang is definitely one contender. The movie was really dark and disturbing for its time, as it focused on a child killer who is so hated he's being tracked down not only by the police, but by the criminal underworld too. This rarely seen film from Argentina entangles portions of M's plot with the shadows and mystique of film noir to create something truly compelling, and it might even be on par with the original movie. If you haven't noticed, M didn't really have almost any female characters in it, as the movie is squarely focused on Peter Lorre's horrific acts, the cops, and the criminals trying to hunt him. El Vampiro Negro moves M's storyline into noir territory because it has quite a few women in it as central characters, even if they don't end up causing a man to suffer because of them. The movie's main character is Amalia (Olga Zubarry). Also known as Rita at her place of employment, she works as a nightclub singer and has a young daughter. One night while getting dressed, she sees a silhouette of a man drop the corpse of what appears to be a child into a sewer outside. Even though she doesn't realize it yet, Rita has just witnessed the Black Vampire; a lunatic who kills young girls and is on the run from a large manhunt. Upon seeing the horrible act, Rita screams and alerts someone to what she just saw. Soon, a prosecutor named Bernard (Roberto Escalada) shows up in order to question Rita about the supposed killing, but she lies and says nothing bad happened because her daughter might be taken from her if Bernard discovers her somewhat trashy profession at a nightclub. Sometime after, we see a nerdy looking professor named Teodoro Ulber (Nathan Pinzon) stalk two children as they walk down the street. One of the girls says bye to her friend and then enters an apartment building. Ulber waits here and kills her while she's in a stairwell. Although people find out about the despicable act almost instantly, Ulber is nowhere to be seen. For the time being, he spends time at the apartment of a girl named Cora, who is one of Rita's nightclub friends. Bernard interrogates Rita a second time, and she confesses that she withheld information from him because she doesn't want to lose custody of her daughter. The club Rita works at is raided by cops and the owner, Gaston, is shot dead. In the ensuing chaos, Rita helps Ulber escape. Rita makes no effort to look for a new job so soon, so she takes her daughter to Cora's place and leaves her in her care while she tries to go somewhere. The fact that Ulber knows Cora as a friend comes back to haunt Rita, since quite by chance, he shows up at her door while Rita's daughter is there. Cora doesn't realize he's the murderer, so she advises him to leave and take Rita's daughter to a carnival. Surprisingly, he doesn't end up killing her, but Ulber is recognized as the murderer by a blind man selling things on the street since he whistles In the Hall of the Mountain King. This same tune was whistled by Ulber as he purchased something from the vendor while accompanied by a young girl (who he later murdered). The blind man yells to everyone around him that the black vampire is going to kill the girl he's with, which prompts Ulber to take off, but he still holds on to Rita's daughter. As the two of them make it to the docks and sit down, Ulber pulls out a knife and it appears he's going to kill her, but her kindness towards him makes him hesitate. Once Rita finds out Ulber took her daughter, she confronts him, but he doesn't want to give her up because she's the only person who's nice to him. Ulber beats Rita and leaves. The cops later close in on Ulber. Rita manages to convince him the cops won't hurt him if he gives Rita her daughter back, so he complies and escapes into the sewers. While down there, Ulber is surrounded by vagabonds who know all about what he's done. He's eventually brought to sentencing and told he's to be hanged. Although remakes are never as good as the original, El Vampiro Negro comes close. Aside from the excellent use of shadows (which was present in Lang's original as well), El Vampiro Negro does a great job at showing how sometimes the most unlikely person will be a complete maniac. Ulber is akin to somebody like Clark Kent, since he hides who he really is with the brilliant disguise of a wimpy demeanor. Nobody would think to look at this guy and assume he's evil. Another detail (that doesn't apply to Lang's version) is how we actually see the antagonist get punished, since Ulber is going to be executed. Overall, El Vampiro Negro might be a remake of M, but is distinct from it in many ways and is definitely worth seeing if you're into foreign movies. It is frustrating when you realize that there are countless great films that are made in other countries and are never heard of in America until years (even decades) later.
Review of The Black Vampire
