1967's "The Vampire Girls" (Las Vampiras) began shooting Aug. 28, third in the John Carradine Mexican quartet for producer Luis Enrique Vergara (following "Jekyll and Hyde: Pact with the Devil" and "Madame Death"), the first of two vehicles opposite masked Luchador Mil Mascaras (Spanish for 'Thousand Masks,' in one of his first screen appearances), as renowned for his championship prowess in the ring as El Santo and Blue Demon but, thankfully, featured in just a single bout in the opening reel. Santo had faced off against a similar threat in his first starring feature in Mexico, "Santo vs. The Vampire Women," an early vehicle for recording star Maria Duval (first seen in K. Gordon Murrray's 1958 import "The Living Coffin"), seen here as Countess Veria Alucard, widow of the legendary Count Dracula, while Carradine's red lined cape is that of Count Branos Alucard, not Dracula but still in his mind 'King of the Vampires.' The cult of female vampires alternate in rubber bat form when smashing up one car after another, all wearing one piece leotards with wings under the arms, literally flapping their arms as though they were comically trying to fly. Their self appointed leader is Aura (Marta Romero), denying Branos his rightful place on the throne by imprisoning him inside a cage while she must defeat his devoted Veria to retain her position of leadership. Mil Mascaras lives up to his billing by wearing a different mask in every scene, paired with a reporter played by Pedro Armendariz, their use of silver bullets rather ineffective so humdrum fisticuffs are necessary, neither side much of a threat to the other. Carradine's voice is dubbed in Spanish, ranting and raving with great elan even confined to a cage, finally sporting those sharp fangs denied Bela Lugosi even if he is a relation of Dracula rather than the actual Count, just over 17 minutes screen time and almost completely absent until the 40 minute mark. Federico Curiel replaced Jaime Salvador in the director's chair, his career kick started by German Robles' infamous Nostradamus quartet, with Italian import Maura Monti as Pedro's girlfriend, soon to play Boris Karloff's scarred assistant in Vergara's "Incredible Invasion." One more Mil Mascaras adventure to complete Carradine's Vergara pact, "Secret of Blood" (one single outing as Dracula upcoming in the 1978 disco comedy "Nocturna").
