The Old West, 1860. Don Robles sent his son Drago to Spain on
business, necessitating that he leave behind his new bride Isabella. In
Drago's absence, Isabella turned to Drago's brother Roberto for
companionship. When Drago returned and discovered their relationship, he
killed his brother. Unable to live with his deed, Drago then killed
himself. But that wasn't the end of Drago Robles.About 20 years later. Water has always been a priceless commodity to
ranchers and farmers in the American West. He who owns the rights to water
is often an important figure in the community. Even more important,
however, is that he share that water with those less fortunate. Much blood
has been spilled over water rights and between those who had water and
those who did not. So it is, between Dr John Carter [John Hoyt] and his neighbor,
Buffer [Bruce Gordon]. Buffer has water, and he is doing everything possible, including
placing a dam on the stream, to drive out Doc Carter so that he can get
his hands on the Carter ranch.But Doc Carter has another problem just now. Young girls all over
town are dying of some mysterious epidemic. The Fuller girl died an hour
ago, but it looks like young Cora [Nancy Kilgas] is going to pull through. Preacher Dan
Young [Eric Fleming] has not stirred from her side all night, and she is doing better
this morning. When offered some coffee and breakfast, Dan realizes how
hungry he is and joins everyone in the kitchen. They were just pouring the
coffee when Cora's scream is heard. By the time Dan gets to her bedside,
Cora is dead. As he kneels down to pray, Dan notices two small, bloody
holes in her neck.Since there is nothing more he can do, Doc Carter rides out to his
ranch where he lives with daughter Dolores [Kathleen Crowley] and son Tim [Jimmy Murphy]. Tim is extremely
upset when Doc arrives. He tells his father how Buffer's men body-beat him
after he tried to bust down the dam, and then Buffer fired four bullets
through his hat. Doc Carter decides to ride back into town to talk with
Sheriff Bill [Edward Binns], who promises to do something about Buffer. By the time the
Doc's buckboard gets home, however, he is dead. After his funeral the next
day, the vampire beds down in Doc's coffin.Grief-stricken over the loss of his father, Tim flies into a rage
when he learns that the fence at the back 40 has been torn down and the
cattle are escaping. Certain that Buffer is behind it, Tim plies himself
with booze and then goes gunning for Buffer. Unfortunately, Buffer
responds to Tim's challenge, and Tim suffers the consequences. Alone now,
Dolores hangs Gun Wanted posters all over town, offering $100 to anyone
who can gun down the murderer. Drake Robey [Michael Pate] answers the call, but not
before he has a talk with Buffer. Buffer identifies himself as the
"murderer" in the poster, and Robey promises that he will kill Buffer if
he takes the job. Buffer considers this a threat on his life, so one of
his men fires a shot at Robey. He swears he hit Robey dead center, yet
Robey just walks away.Robey takes the job and moves onto the Carter ranch, much to Preacher
Dan's concern. That night, Robey sucks a little blood from Dolores while
she sleeps.Buff is worried. He wants the sheriff to run Robey out of town, but
Dan points out that there's nothing the sheriff can do until Robey breaks
the law. Dan offers Buffer an alternative. He is to put up $5,000 in gold.
Anytime anything goes wrong on Dolores' ranch, even one nail falling from
one fencepost, it's going to cost Buffer $1,000. Buff isn't happy with the
deal, but he goes along with it.The next morning, Dan stops at the Carter ranch to tell Dolores about
the deal with Buffer. He is surprised to find her looking tired,
complaining of the cold and very compliant with his request that she fire
Robey, after she practically threw Dan out last night when he expressed
his mind about her hiring Robey in the first place. Dolores releases Robey
from his contract, and he leaves. Dolores and Dan spend the day going over
Doc's papers, looking for his will. It's growing late, so Dan takes the
safety box home with him to get the papers in order and record them at the
county seat. After Dan leaves, Robey comes to see Dolores. He claims to be losing
the ability to see in sunlight and offers his services as a night
range-rider who can keep an eye on Buffer and his men while the rest of
the ranch-hands are sleeping. Dolores gives him the job.Meanwhile, Dan is looking through the papers in the box when he comes
across a map that shows the Carter ranch as part of Rancho Robles and a
diary written by Don Robles that details the story of his son Drago. It
tells how, shortly after Drago's death, the young girls in town began
dying mysteriously and how Don Robles heard Isabella scream one night and
found his dead son Drago drinking her blood. In an attempt to end the work
of the devil, Don Robles plunged a knife through the heart of his son as
he lay in his coffin. The next day, only the dagger remained.Drago Robles...Drake Robey...Dan is beginning to piece it together.
When he tells Dolores about his discovery, plus the fact that Robey came
to him later that night and stole the map, Dolores doesn't believe him, so
they go to the crypt to look for the body of Drago Robles. His coffin is
empty...except for a silver dagger. When Dan suggests they look in all the
coffins, including those of her father and brother, Dolores goes ballistic
and refuses. Dan leaves to get a court order. Dolores, apparently weak
from loss of blood as well as from throwing a fit over the opening of the
coffins, collapses on the floor of the crypt. Robey pops out of the Doc's
coffin, drinks a little more blood from Dolores, then carries her back
home to her bed.When Dolores awakens, she is disoriented, not knowing how she got
home from the crypt, and she is angry at Robey...until he shows her the
map of Rancho Robles and points out that the stream Buffer has been
damming up is actually on HER property. Robey goes into town to show the
map to Buffer. Buffer doesn't buy it . He draws a gun on Robey, shoots,
and hits him; Robey shoots back, kills Buffer, and walks away.Dolores tells Robey that Dan is going to get a court order to open
the graves. Robey promises to stop him. He goes into town to talk Dan out
of it, but Dan won't be stopped. They challenge each other to a shoot-out.
Since Robey has the advantage with the gun, he gratiously offers Dan the
right to call the turn. Robey begins to walk away. Dan calls the shot.
Robey turns, Dan shoots, Robey shoots, but it's too late. Dan's bullet
hits, and Robey falls to the ground and turns to dust...right in front of
Dolores. Dan walks over to where Robey's clothes remain and fetches his
bullet...the one with the cross on it. [Original Synopsis by bj_kuehl]
Where were Doc's papers kept?
Safety box