Director: Felix Villar (segment)
Release date: 1960
Contains spoilers
Night of Terror, as the English translation of the title goes, was an anthology of four stories – though in surviving prints the first story has all but vanished (a moment of piano and credits all that remains). It is the second (now first) segment that interest us, with the remaining two being the vengeful ghostly arms of a wrongly killed (and scapegoated man) and, lastly, a sojourn in a haunted mansion.
The vampire segment begins with a coffin floating to shore. It opens and a bat flies out, a plume of smoke and it transforms into a standard, Euro-dinner-suited vampire. It is interesting that a Philippine horror movie of this date would rely on the European version of the vampire rather than portraying one of the many vampiric creatures of local folklore.
Still in the coffin is the corpse of a woman, Melissa, and the vampire intones to her that she will rise and rise she does. He leads her off and then explains that there is a village nearby and she is to go there and feed as they do not know their kind. He is leaving her for a short while and will “return for you before the sun is fully round in the sky.” In truth this is a few days at least and also it is worth noting that she can move around in daylight. Soon a corpse of a local is found, drained of blood with two punctures in the neck.
The story introduces us to Mang Amgo, a fisherman with two children, the older Lita and younger Enteng. Working for him are Celso, who looks to marry Lita, and Kiko – known as lazy and a bit stupid. Melissa arrives and asks Mang Ambo if she can stay at his house, which he agrees to. She is posing as a city lady who has come to the country due to illness to recuperate. Of course more die – including Kiko who decides he loves her, follows her on a midnight walk to woo her and gets eaten for his trouble.
Eventually she attacks Enteng who had approached her whilst she was on a mission to drink Lita’s virgin blood before leaving with the vampire. Strangely Enteng was able to fight her off (when a grown man couldn’t) and then she fails to get Lita when the young woman slams into a wall, disturbing a shrine and causing a crucifix to fall between them. She is despatched by Calso, who pulls up a cross shaped grave marker and stakes her with it. Interestingly, though it is intimated that she is the male vampire’s fledgling, the act of killing her causes him to disintegrate – her body is given a proper burial.
That, as they say, is that for vampires and I have spoilt the whole thing. However it wasn’t necessarily that shocking or original (bar the killing of the younger vampire, destroying the older). The pair appear again at the finale of the haunted house segment, as do other segment characters, in an almost spectral form that is a film conceit rather than an actual thing. This looks good in black and white, the story is simple and I think 4 out of 10 feels fair.
The imdb page is here.
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| the coffin |
The vampire segment begins with a coffin floating to shore. It opens and a bat flies out, a plume of smoke and it transforms into a standard, Euro-dinner-suited vampire. It is interesting that a Philippine horror movie of this date would rely on the European version of the vampire rather than portraying one of the many vampiric creatures of local folklore.
 |
| Melissa risen |
Still in the coffin is the corpse of a woman, Melissa, and the vampire intones to her that she will rise and rise she does. He leads her off and then explains that there is a village nearby and she is to go there and feed as they do not know their kind. He is leaving her for a short while and will “return for you before the sun is fully round in the sky.” In truth this is a few days at least and also it is worth noting that she can move around in daylight. Soon a corpse of a local is found, drained of blood with two punctures in the neck.
 |
| fangs |
The story introduces us to Mang Amgo, a fisherman with two children, the older Lita and younger Enteng. Working for him are Celso, who looks to marry Lita, and Kiko – known as lazy and a bit stupid. Melissa arrives and asks Mang Ambo if she can stay at his house, which he agrees to. She is posing as a city lady who has come to the country due to illness to recuperate. Of course more die – including Kiko who decides he loves her, follows her on a midnight walk to woo her and gets eaten for his trouble.
 |
| protected by the cross |
Eventually she attacks Enteng who had approached her whilst she was on a mission to drink Lita’s virgin blood before leaving with the vampire. Strangely Enteng was able to fight her off (when a grown man couldn’t) and then she fails to get Lita when the young woman slams into a wall, disturbing a shrine and causing a crucifix to fall between them. She is despatched by Calso, who pulls up a cross shaped grave marker and stakes her with it. Interestingly, though it is intimated that she is the male vampire’s fledgling, the act of killing her causes him to disintegrate – her body is given a proper burial.
 |
| the vampire dies |
That, as they say, is that for vampires and I have spoilt the whole thing. However it wasn’t necessarily that shocking or original (bar the killing of the younger vampire, destroying the older). The pair appear again at the finale of the haunted house segment, as do other segment characters, in an almost spectral form that is a film conceit rather than an actual thing. This looks good in black and white, the story is simple and I think 4 out of 10 feels fair.
The imdb page is here.
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