Rise of the Chupacabras (2003)

Plot: A group of local townsfolk are led by a treasure hunter into a nearby mine in search of gold but encounter a vampiric Chupacabras monster and the townsfolk that the beast has turned into murderous slaves.

Original Title: Blood of the Chupacabras

Director: Jonathan Mumm

Writer: Jonathan Mumm

Producer: John F. Mumm , Dave Novick , Kim Schultz , Hugh McChord , Jonathan Mumm

Type: movie

Year: 2003

Genres: Horror

Cast: Tom Moore , Rachel Sense , Mike Arbios , Don Button , Michael Siegel , Matt Stevenson , Loren Taylor , Sharon Evans , Linda Siegel , Mike Mattos , Dan Mumm , Jeff Mumm , Jenna Baldacchino , Elaine Benoit , Lu Ann Higgs , Roberta Mumm , Kim Pomales , Lenore Sebastian , Christopher Benoit , Michael James Bryant , Anthony Cisneros III , Tony Cisneros , Mark Halverson , Dave Marquis , Gil Sebastian , Karen Massie , Jamie Siegel , John T. Mumm , Jessica Evans , Dan Leis , Hugh McChord , Kevin Hale , Jim Lane , Mike Maas , Jonathan Mumm

Runtimes: 85

Countries: United States

Languages: English

Color Info: Color

Original Air Date: 18 Mar 2003 (USA)

Rating: 1.8

Votes: 235

Year: 2003

Akas: Rise of the Chupacabras (United States) , Bloodthirst: Legend of the Chupacabras

Distributors: Spartan Home Entertainment , Wild Eye Releasing

Synopsis: "There are tales in the American Southwest, in Puerto Rico, in Mexico, Central and South America, of a creature known as 'el chupacabra', or the Goat Sucker, so named because of its tendency to prey on goats...to kill them and drain them of their blood. But goats aren't all the chupacabra will kill. Sometimes it takes chicken or sheep. And, occasionally a human being. Some say it is a vampire. Others say it is a creature from outer space. No one knows for sure if it actually exists."The day is getting long. Mom Spinola calls her three kids to come in for dinner. The kids are playing "Monster," after the monster who has been killing their goats. Mom doesn't believe in el chupacabra, but she does make the kids come inside when the sun sets. Re-entering the kitchen, Mom notices a broken flowerpot and a curtain flapping at the window. She pushes the curtain aside and screams.Reporter Sandra Walker [Elaine Benoit] is assigned the job of covering the killing of the Spinola goats. Mom tells her that, if she wants to hear the story of el chupacabras, she should talk to "the Mago" (the white witch). Sandra arranges to meet the Mago [Lenore Sebastian]. She speaks of el chupacabra in riddles ("It could be a vampire or a creature from outer space; it's neither male nor female; maybe it's a pet that was left behind by space aliens.") She suggests that Sandra seek out the "Vampire Hunter."Meanwhile, the Parkers are also having problems. The landlord is hassling Terry [Kim Pomales] for the rent. Son Randy [Dan Leis] vows to get the money somehow so that they and Grandpa Charles [Loren Taylor] won't be forced to move. Grandpa Charles is the retired professor known as the "Vampire Hunter" (because he staved off the Mokka Vampire some 50 years ago). He followed the Mokka to a mine in the Sonoran Desert and has the only known map to the place. He believes that the Mokka Vampire and el chupacabra are one and the same and that the creature is just biding its time and will return again.At the Desparado bar, where Randy's girlfriend Linda Trent [Rachel Sense] works as a waitress, a drunken Duds Malcolm [Hugh McChord] is trying to force singer Sue Ramsey [Roberta Mumm] to go home with him. Newcomer Kurt Rod [Jonathan Mumm] rescues her from Malcolm and kicks him out of the bar. He and Sue get to talking, and he reveals that he's a prospector headed for the Sonoran Desert in search of a "bubbling" gold mine known as "the goat mine," because it supposedly has a statue of a goat guarding it. Linda overhears their conversation and reveals that she knows someone who might be willing to sell him a map to the mine. She tells Randy of the prospector. Needing money to pay the rent, Randy steals the map from his grandfather and sells it to the prospector for $2,000. Kurt and Sue decide to go looking for the mine.Meanwhile, el chupacabra is busy, but not killing goats. First to go is the Parkers' landlord. Next is Duds Malcolm, followed by a rancher and his wife. All the bodies have their necks slit and their blood drunk. The mayor decides to appoint a team to investigate el chupacabra. The team is to include police, the Mago, and the Vampire Hunter. The next morning, the mayor and his wife are found dead, and the Team heads out in search of the mine.Back in the morgue, the bodies of those slain by el chupacabra are beginning to rise. Malcolm kills Terry, and Linda (who is staying there while Charles and Randy go vampire hunting) enlists the help of her boss Reno, who just happens to have made a sketch of the map. They set out to find the mine and, hopefully, to warn Randy and the rest of the Team. Unfortunately, Charles doesn't have the map anymore, but the Mago offers to hypnotize him into remembrance. It works.Linda and Reno meet up with Kurt and Sue, but they won't listen to reason and decide to enter the mine anyway. While waiting outside, Linda and Reno are attacked by Malcolm. The vampire hunting team hears her screams and come running into the mine. After a lot of searching and being attacked by everyone who has been turned into a vampire, Charles learns that the bubbling gold is a deep pool of molten lava and that the Mago is both the Mokka vampire and el chupacabra. Charles tosses her into the lava, which kills el chupacabra, and all the newly-made vampires disintegrate into dust. [Original synopsis by bj_kuehl]

Cinematographer: Dave Novick

Producer: John F. Mumm , Dave Novick , Kim Schultz , Hugh McChord , Jonathan Mumm

Box Office: $3,000 (estimated)

Certificates: United States:Not Rated

Composer: Dan Mumm , Max Marchol , Rob Wukmir , John T. Mumm

Editor: John Alexander Jimenez , Jonathan Mumm

Miscellaneous Crew: David Mulholland

Assistant Director: John Alexander Jimenez

Videos: Video 1