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Wrestling Women vs The Aztec Mummy
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| Year: |
1964
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Director: |
René Cardona
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| Stars: |
Lorena Velazquez, Armando Silvestre, Elizabeth Campbell, Ramon Bugarini, Chabela Romero, Victor Velazquez
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| Genre: |
Horror, Action, Adventure |
| Rating: |
  6 (from 2 votes) |
| Review: |
A group of archaeologists are being murdered one by one after discovering a codex that tells the whereabouts of Aztec treasure. Two female wrestlers, Loretta Venus (Lorena Velazquez) and Golden Rubi (Elizabeth Campbell), become embroiled in the schemes of the Black Dragon, who is searching for the codex, and will stop at nothing to get it. The wrestlers must use their fighting skills to overcome the menace and track down the treasure - but there's a surprise from beyond the grave in store for them all...
This was one of the many Mexican horror, adventure and children's films that were dubbed into English and promoted by K. Gordon Murray. Although made in the sixties, the film, scripted by Alfred Salazar, is reminiscent of an old serial of the thirties and forties, complete with criminal mastermind, fights and daring escapes, but with wrestling added. Imagine if Flash Gordon had set up a brawling contest with Ming the Merciless, or, more aptly, if Dale Arden had taken on Princess Aura - we're dealing with some strong women here, especially when it comes to throwing people over their shoulders.
There was a tradition of wrestling films in Mexico, but this one is very much a film of two halves. In the first part, our heroes and heroines, comprising of the wrestling women, a two-fisted boyfriend and a comedy sidekick team up with a professor and his daughter to battle the Black Dragon, who has a small army of henchmen to do his bidding. He also has two judo-expert sisters, who challenge the heroines to a match in the hope of deciding who gets all the clues to the treasure. Cue a lengthy girlfight sequence, with the villainesses fighting dirty (even biffing the referee a few times), but Loretta and Rubi emerging victorious (of course!).
Then it's all change, as the story turns into a horror movie when the team hunt down the treasure to an Aztec pyramid. There's a flashback in the style of the Boris Karloff version of The Mummy, showing who is buried in the tomb, and it's no suprise that the long-dead magician is resurrected by the intruders. This magic mummy can turn into a bat (which flies backwards at one point) and a spider, as long as you don't cover its eyes. The whole enterprise has a certain nutty charm, but you get the impression they couldn't decide what type of movie they were making. Maybe they went for a "two for the price of one" deal.
Aka: Las Luchadoras Contra la Momia
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| Reviewer: |
Graeme Clark
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