Alucarda (1977), directed by Juan López Moctezuma, is a Mexican horror film loosely based on Carmilla (1872), by Sheridan Le Fanu. The film has achieved a cult-like status in Mexico and around the world, in part due to the director’s enigmatic figure. Though neither the protagonist, Alucarda, nor her new companion are supernatural beings, the director stated that "the film draws on the vampire tradition, and in a way the protagonist is a female vampire … but not in the sense of a blood drinker" (in Greene). In this paper, I will explore the similarities and divergences between the source material and López Moctezuma’s film, as well as the influence of Mexico’s tragic 1968 student protest on the anti-government and anti-clerical sentiment that pervades the film. At the end of this paper, I hope to elucidate how Mexican society and culture transform traditional Gothic motifs and the vampire myth to great acclaim.