Las luchadoras contra la momia ( Wrestling Women vs. the Aztec Mummy) (1964)As someone who has a great fondness for professional wrestling, and Monster Movies, it shouldn't come as a surprise that I have a soft spot for Mexican Lucha Libre films. These are movies staring (mostly) masked Mexican wrestlers going up against monsters, aliens, criminals, or foreign spies. The most famous wrestling movie star/superhero is of course El Santo, but there were plenty of others, including the stars of the movie I watched this evening, Las luchadoras or The Wrestling Women.
The movie begins with a number of murders of prominent archaeologists by the Black Dragon gang. The gangs latest victim flees into a wrestling arena where our heroines are in the middle of a match. After they win, they find the man hiding out in their locker room. He explains that he's an archaeologist, one of a group who recently discovered a Codex that could show the whereabouts of the treasure of the Aztecs. Now the Black Dragon gang have been kidnapping, torturing, and killing the members of the group, trying to find the codex. He asks for the help of the girls, as well their Police officer boyfriend, just before he's killed with a poisoned dart. The Black Dragon gang are bunch of generic bad guy Asians, who's leader is a Fu Manchu type. Not that they're real Asians though. They're a bunch of Mexicans dressed up like movie bad guy Asians. Also, the Fu Manchu type leader has two martial arts expert sisters, who can fight the Wrestling Women later. The convoluted plot eventually leads to the awakening of the Aztec Mummy, who doesn't get enough screen time, but is pretty bad ass.
These movies have a tendency to be kind of clunky, and this one is no exception, but if you like old fashioned serial style adventure, and you don't mind the plot stopping every once in a while for an extended wrestling sequence, there's a lot of fun to be had.
The movie begins with a number of murders of prominent archaeologists by the Black Dragon gang. The gangs latest victim flees into a wrestling arena where our heroines are in the middle of a match. After they win, they find the man hiding out in their locker room. He explains that he's an archaeologist, one of a group who recently discovered a Codex that could show the whereabouts of the treasure of the Aztecs. Now the Black Dragon gang have been kidnapping, torturing, and killing the members of the group, trying to find the codex. He asks for the help of the girls, as well their Police officer boyfriend, just before he's killed with a poisoned dart. The Black Dragon gang are bunch of generic bad guy Asians, who's leader is a Fu Manchu type. Not that they're real Asians though. They're a bunch of Mexicans dressed up like movie bad guy Asians. Also, the Fu Manchu type leader has two martial arts expert sisters, who can fight the Wrestling Women later. The convoluted plot eventually leads to the awakening of the Aztec Mummy, who doesn't get enough screen time, but is pretty bad ass.
These movies have a tendency to be kind of clunky, and this one is no exception, but if you like old fashioned serial style adventure, and you don't mind the plot stopping every once in a while for an extended wrestling sequence, there's a lot of fun to be had.
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