#MacabroXVIII: The Night of The Vampyre Marathon at Sala Julián Carrillo

THE NIGHT OF THE VAMPYRE

A vampire marathon at Sala Julián Carrillo, Radio UNAM, from 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. A reading of the text before the screening, complimentary coffee (bring your own cup or thermos). For safety reasons, no one may leave the room after midnight until the marathon is over.

Free admission.

200 Years of “The Vampyre” by John William Polidori

Casandra Vicario

Before ending his life by drinking prussic acid, at 26 years of age, John William Polidori, would leave us one of the finest legacies… the text known as “The Vampyre”, first published in 1819, following the famous night at Villa Diodati in 1816, when, after reading a book of mystery and horror stories, a poet issued the challenge to write a scary story.

We cannot conceive of the vampire myth in the fine arts without the text by Polidori, that vampire, whose traits we discover little by little throughout the story: attractive, pale-faced, popular, admired, possessed of irresistible powers of seduction yet cold at the same time, pursued by women, physically strong and, moreover, endowed with cunning and intelligence… undoubtedly a beast difficult to defeat.

This year marks 200 years since “The Vampyre”. Welcome…

Mark of the Vampire

Director: Tod Browning |Screenplay: Guy Endore, Bernard Schubert |United States | 58 min | 1935

Synopsis: A police inspector investigates a series of strange deaths in a Czech town. The victims have small marks on their necks that suggest vampires may be behind what is happening...

The Fearless Vampire Killers or: Pardon Me, But Your Teeth Are in My Neck

Director: Roman Polanski |Screenplay: Gérard Brach, Roman Polanski |United Kingdom |111 min | 1967

Synopsis. Doctor Abronsius and his assistant Alfred travel through Transylvania to confirm a theory holding that vampires really exist, one that meets with skepticism from their colleagues at the University of Könisberg. They stop at an inn whose walls and windows are covered with strings of garlic, but both the regulars and the innkeeper insist there is no castle anywhere nearby, explaining the garlic away as a typical ornamental custom of the region. The kidnapping of the innkeeper's daughter and his transformation into a vampire give the protagonists enough clues to reach the castle.

The Vampire Lovers

Director: Roy Ward Baker |Screenplay: Harry Fine (Story: Sheridan Le Fanu) |United Kingdom | 91 min | 1970

Finch, Douglas Wilmer, Ferdy Mayne, Pippa Steel, Dawn Addams, Janet Key

Synopsis: A young knight goes to Karnstein Castle to avenge the death of his sister, killed by vampires. There, after seizing the shroud of one of the vampires, he draws it to himself. But terror paralyzes him, and only the cross hanging from his neck saves him. He then beheads a vampire woman…

The Hunger

Director: Tony Scott |Screenplay: Ivan Davis, Michael Thomas (Novel: Whitley Strieber)

United States |94 min | 1983

Synopsis: Miriam Blaylock collects not only Renaissance art and pendants from ancient Egypt but, above all, lovers and souls. Modern and elegant, Miriam is a timeless vampire living in Manhattan, a woman blessed with beauty and cursed with a thirst for blood

Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles

Director: Neil Jordan |Screenplay: Anne Rice (based on her novel) | United States | 122 min | 1994

Synopsis: Whenever he wishes, the vampire Lestat turns his victims into vampires, granting them the gift of immortality. In the late eighteenth century, Lestat turns Louis de Pointe, a man devastated by the loss of his wife and young daughter, into a vampire. Two hundred years later, at the end of the twentieth century in San Francisco, Louis decides to tell his story—the story of a vampire's love, terror, and ecstasy—to a young reporter, Daniel Malloy.