Beautiful bisexual artist Mary (a fine and touching performance by the fetching Cristina Ferrare) suffers from a strange disease that compels her to murder people for their blood. Beach bum Ben Ryder (a likeable portrayal by David Young) and sultry art dealer Greta (slender brunette Helena Rosa) both fall under Mary's deadly seductive spell.

Director Juan Lopez Moctezuma relates the absorbing story at a deliberate pace, ably crafts a haunting melancholy atmosphere, delivers a handy helping of bloody violence, and makes nice use of the breathtaking Mexican countryside. Malcolm Marmorstein's compact script offers a nifty spin on the vampire concept as well as presents the main character as a lonely and tormented tragic figure that the viewer feels sorry for. The lovely Ferrare not only brings a soulful sadness to her role, but also bares her sumptuous body a few times. John Carradine has a small, but memorable role as Mary's deranged estranged father. Both Miguel Garzon's pretty cinematography and Tom Bahler's harmonic score are up to par. Recommended viewing for fans of more thoughtful and unusual fright fare.

Mary is a vampire, but her reflection shows in the mirror completely normal. She also carelessly walks around during the daylight, and although it's not explicitly mentioned, I'm pretty sure that she can resist the effects of garlic and crucifixes as well. This all just to say that "Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary" (got to love title!) is a very unconventional vampire movie, but also one that is strangely absorbing and intriguing in spite of the ultra-thin story lines and the obvious budgetary restrictions. The film was directed by the Mexican born Juan López Moctezuma, who also made the '70s cult/exploitation highlights "Alucarda" and "The Mansion of Madness". Those who have seen these brilliant – in my humble opinion, at least – flicks know they can expect anything from Moctezuma. "Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary" is less flamboyant and bizarre than the other two, but still a uniquely compelling tale about a reluctant condition, hunger for love and the search for roots (bloody roots!). Mary is a successful painter, traveling around in Mexico with a handsome drifter that she met in an abandoned mansion where she was forced to spend the night. She desperately tries to hide it from Ben, but Mary needs to drink human blood in order to survive. So she occasionally drugs an unsuspecting victim and slits his (or her) throat with a hairpin. A duo of police inspectors follows the trail of beastly murders, but there's another mysterious figure pursuing Mary. Someone who also kills and drains all the blood from the bodies. "Mary, Mary, Bloody Mary" is full of odd little details that makes me cheerful, like the fact that the opening credits appear very late and totally randomly into the film, or the brief but very recognizable supportive role for cult-monument John Carradine. What makes me slightly less cheerful is the totally redundant and gratuitous animal cruelty (I sincerely doubt that the shark and turtles were fake). Lead actress Cristina Ferrare is a natural beauty and she gives away a powerfully integer performance, but the film mostly benefices from that typically mid-70s ominous atmosphere and the non-stop sexual tension. Recommended to cult fanatics!

The director Juan López Moctezuma is best known for Alucarda which is easy to find. it's a bloody flick with a lot of nudity. But just before Alucarda he made Mary Mary Bloody Mary. In fact 3 years before and this is something completely different. First of all, it has until this review never had a proper release, not on DVD or on VHS. It exists on VHS but it shows itself once or twice a year on ebay and it goes for a lot of money. I found it on a NTSC VHS on the Continental Video label. I saw that it was released in 1987 so still in the VHS era. I said it, it is really something different, there is no gore and a bit of blood, just once you see a wound but what a rare movie this is. When they make love for example, not even soft core they used porn music, you know, that cheap kind of saxophone stuff. But there is even some animal cruelty. When Mary walks on the beach you see some Mexican's killing a shark with knifes and some turtles lying on their back dying. It's so weird that the particular scene with the shark, and I see in other reviews, it reminded a lot of other viewers of the cruelty used. You can't find if it is a real shark or a dead one. Even the story is a bit weird, Mary's dad with the scarf and head, it's so funny. It's a good example of exploitation, some car chasing, suddenly they speak Mexican without subtitles. Weird weird, bloody weird.