Recently added to Netflix is the black-and-white, Spanish horror, drama-comedy, El Conde. The movie – directed by Pablo Larraín – stars Jaime Vadell, Catalina Guerra, and Paula Luchsinger, and follows the story of a 250-year-old vampire who is finally ready to die.
In the movie, after faking his own death twice and dropping in and out of society, aged vampire and former dictator of Chile, Augusto Pinochet, is more than ready to fade out of existence. But before he goes, he agrees to bequeath his secret fortune to his wife and children.
Employing the assistance of an accountant to help divide his assets, Pinochet believes he is in safe hands to see out his final request. But the accountant has her own little secret, which involves a holy mission to ensure Pinochet pays for his past crimes.
Stunning to look at, and occasionally amusing, El Conde is a black comedy horror that I really wanted to like, and yet I really struggled to get on board with. The film’s attempts at satirising a real-life figure by re-positioning him as a vampire should be a masterstroke, but unfortunately the picture fails to fly.
Why? Because despite wowing in the visual department (El Conde boasts some gorgeous cinematography), the script lacks the right amount of bite and the story is largely quite dull.
What could be clever often feels too pretentious, and despite a few decent ideas the whole thing is painfully slow. El Conde isn’t a movie that gets lost up its own arse, but at times it does head in that direction, and for some audiences it will be a right snooze fest.
The film works best when it leans into more traditional scenes of horror, such as Pinochet flying through the air (complete with fluttering cape), or when he’s preparing to feast on blood. All old school references to the golden era of vampire movies are most welcome and this is when the picture shines.
El Conde also has some fun with the narration, which is spoken in English – a stark contrast to the Spanish spoken by the characters. The English narration is present for a specific reason and builds to a genuinely comical moment in the final act, when the mysterious narrator is unveiled.
But outside of this, El Conde is something of an acquired taste and that’s the best thing I can say about it. Some will like what it sets out to do, others will not care for it one jot, while I’m largely neither here nor there.
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