Movie Review: Pinochet as a vampire in surreal, frightening ‘El Conde’

The Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet is not dead in Pablo Larraín’s “El Conde.” He is instead a 250-year-old vampire living in semi-exile and wishing for death in this audacious allegory about history’s tendency to repeat itself, shot in sublime, otherworldly black and white. In “El Conde,” which he co-wrote, he uses “the language of satire and political farce” to show the world the true nature of a dictator who “never faced true justice,” he said in his director’s statement. This image released by Netflix shows Gloria Münchmeyer, left, and Jaime Vadell in a scene from “El Conde.” Jaime Vadell, who is a vibrant 87, plays Pinochet. Paula Luchsinger in a scene from “El Conde.” “El Conde” might stretch its gimmicky premise a little past its welcome, but it is an intoxicating, overwhelming and gruesome cinematic experience nonetheless, which would make a fitting double feature with last year’s great historical legal thriller “ Argentina 1985.” “El Conde,” a Netflix release in theaters Friday and streaming on Sept. 15, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for “some graphic nudity, gore, rape, language and sexual content, strong violence.” Running time: 110 minutes.