True Adventure, a TV show produced by veteran adventure filmmaker Bill Burrud, was produced in the 1960s. This episode “The Myth of the Vampire” traces the folklore of the vampire in colonial European accounts to the Central American vampire bat. A team of explorers visits Sinaloa, Mexico in order to do some fishing and track down a few of these creatures in their natural habitat. Ultimately the film crew finishes the job on their own, and a bowl of blood is offered to some thirsty bats. This film, which sometimes stretches the bounds of coherence, features some charming vampire footage culled from other sources, as well as views of the natural environment of Sinaloa. (TRT 26:34)

(0:08) A glacier falls into the sea. (0:15) Title: “True Adventure” superimposed over a montage of white water rafting, scuba diving, climbing ice (0:32) Bill Burrud narrates in front of a compass, introducing the myth of the vampire (0:56) Church, cemetery, a bloody hand pulls into a casket (1:55) A jet plane leaves a runway, ostensibly on the way to Europe (2:17) Views of French cityscapes, cottages, above-ground mausoleums (3:05) Crabs in a pool (3:25) A mini-narrative in which a red-headed woman looks out a window. In a nearby cemetery, a hand reemerges from its casket. The woman falls asleep, the fire crackles, the window drifts open, waking her. The vampire attacks (5:45) Donkeys hauling goods, rice farming, a beautiful cat, a stake is pointed towards a vampire’s heart (6:24) Hands mold clay. Scattered grains or broom straws will stop a vampire. (6:39) A depiction of conquistadors in tri-corner hats – a model boat drifts (7:12) The Pyramid of the Sun, Teotihuacan (7:20) Colonial depictions of Maya and images of Mayan and other indigenous American art. Burrud claims that tales of the vampire bat, from Central and South America, were intermingled with lurid accounts of the people in these regions. (7:47) Stills of Bela Lugosi as Dracula (8:15) An airplane takes off at dawn. The plane wing over mountains, TmC (Trans Mar de Cortez), a DC-3 (9:00) The plane, named Junipero Serra, lands in Sinaloa. The Trans Mar de Cortez logo on the door, as the guests deplane. (9:50) The tropical plants of Sinaloa (10:20) Fishing in a motorboat, the Sylvia. Pelicans fly, a reel is reeled and fish are caught. (11:17) A fisherman with a marlin (11:29) The marlin dies at the shoreline and is tied up. (12:05) Views of a church (12:39) Many bats flying in circles in the mouth of a cave. The vampire bat in closeup. (13:02) Burrud with a cowboy, lasso in hand. A team of donkeys on a beach. Cattle are led up the side of a mountain (13:35) A cemetery. Burrud tells of 25 miners dying of rabies from vampire bats. (14:00) A surveying team converses with the True Adventure camera crew. (15:00) A white Land Cruiser Jeep glides across the desert, and through narrow slot canyons. (16:15) A vampire bat tunnel. The Land Rover gets momentarily caught on an incline. (17:00) A cameraman pulls out a mason jar filled with blood and pours it into a bowl at the mouth of the tunnel, then descends into the cave. He shines his headlamp on the bats, and moves to position the blood bowl directly beneath them. (20:50) The bats lap up blood from the bowl, emptying it completely. (24:40) Burrud closes with a fragment of an “old Scottish prayer”: “From ghoulies, and ghosties, and long legged beasties, and things that go bump in the night – good lord deliver us.” (25:40) Credits: Presented by Bill Burrud Productions. Producer: Michael Carr. Associate Producer: Michael Pearce. Travel arranged by Bill Burrud Travel Agency

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