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Title: Vampires in Havana (0) |
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Review of Vampires in Havana
- The third feature by Cuban director Juan Padrón, Vampires in Havana (1985) is a silly, raunchy spoof of horror and gangster films. Wolfgang Amadeus von Dracula, the nephew of the famous count, invents a formula that allows vampires to endure sunlight--which he tests on his nephew Joseph "Pepe" Emmanuel. It works so well that Pepe is completely unaware of his true nature; he plays jazz trumpet in a nightclub and joins a cell plotting to overthrow a repressive general. Pepe soon finds himself dodging the general's inept henchmen and rival vampire syndicates who want the valuable formula. Drawn in a simple, cartoony style that suggests a cross between the work of Zagrebfilm and the Mad Magazine cartoons of Sergio Aragones, Vampires in Havana offers American audiences a rare glimpse of the work of one of Cuba's leading animators. Unrated; suitable for ages 16 and up: Nudity, sexual humor, profanity, violence, ethnic stereotypes. --Charles Solomon
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Comments for Vampires in Havana
- Posted on 2007-10-19
very funny
This movie is very good you must see it right now,go and buy one and enjoy every minute of it.Very creative and funny.
Score: 5
- Posted on 2007-01-11
asere cuba en un buen material comico
La mejor pelicula de dibujos animados cubana de todos los tiempos. hay que tenerla.
Score: 5 - Posted on 2006-08-01
Odd but enjoyable animated film
Watch this after the kiddies are in bed. The plot is strange. Vampires in America (Chicago) and Europe (Düsseldorf) try to gain control over a product that can allow vampires to be out in the sun. The vampires are like old time gangsters. And the war zone is in Havana where the product was made. The professor who made it has a nephew he experimented on who doesn't know yet that he is a vampire. He becomes front and center in the struggle of control of the product. His uncle wanted all the vampires to have the potion free.
The music is fun. Latin and Bop jazz. The animation reminds me a little bit of "Yellow Submarine" but not psychedelic. It is in Spanish so if you don't like subtitles you won't enjoy this film.
Score: 3
- Posted on 2005-07-16
Very funny movie but.....
For those of you who speak Spanish you might find the English subtitles a little bothersome when they interfere with the animated charater's faces. The DVD menu does not allow you to take them off and they are not set to be all the way down at the bottom of the screen. Other than that, it is a very enjoyable piece of work from director Juan Padron.
Score: 4
- Posted on 2004-07-27
A Brilliant Subtle Political Film
Wolfgang Amadeus von Dracula has discovered a formula that will allow vampires everywhere to enjoy the sunlight by day. Wolfgang knows that his formula is successful because he has given it to his nephew for many years and the sunlight does not harm him. The nephew, Pepe, doesn't know he is a vampire. Because Pepe is liberated to enjoy the sunlight, he thinks nothing of enjoying his life as an individual (he is a trumpet player with healthy sexual appetite) and as a revolutionary, a member of a group intent on assassinating a right-wing general. He is, in effect, socialism's "new man."
It is significant that Pepe doesn't initially know he is a vampire. By not knowing his origin, he is able to lead his life unaware and unaffected by the personal nature that the formula transforms. Wolfgang (who is in some respects like Marx) intends to make the formula available to all vampires free of charge. The lack of the formula keeps vampires longing for the ability to enjoy sunlight as well as dependent on wealthy elite vampires who provide them with artificial sunlight for a hefty price. In short, the vampires are not truly liberated but must accept bastardized versions of true freedom
Wolfgang's offer to socialize the formula becomes the occasion for the audience to see the true nature of the vampires. Rival vampire syndicates battle each other and with Pepe and Wolfgang to control the formula. The syndicates (representing competing capitalist elite groups) are composed of two factions: one that wishes to repress knowledge of the formula altogether (thus preserving the status quo as well as their financial interests as peddlers of artificial daytime tropical beaches) and another that wishes to merchandize the formula to vampires for profit. In the end, Pepe broadcasts the formula by radio to all vampires, reminiscent of Castro's radio broadcasts to Cubans near the end of the Batista dictatorship.
This animated film is a must see.
Score: 5