Swamp of the Lost Souls (1957) El pantano de las ánimas (original title)

Director:

Rafael Baledón

Writers:

Ramón Obón (story)
Ramón Obón (adaptation)

Release Date:

5 September 1957 (Mexico)

Genre:

Mystery | Western | Horror

Plot:

A disappearing body leads a detective and his sidekick into an encounter with a gill man. |

Plot Keywords:

Sidekick | Canoe | Diving | Tavern | Bumbling Sidekick

Cast

Gastón Santos	...	Gastón
Rayo de Plata	...	Gastón's Horse
Manola Saavedra	...	Julieta
Pedro de Aguillón	...	Espergencio (as Pedro d'Aguillón)
Manuel Dondé	...	Don Nacho Mendoza
Sara Cabrera	...	María
Salvador Godínez	...	Dr. Morales
Lupe Carriles	...	Carmela
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Arturo Corona	...	(uncredited)
José Dupeyrón	...	Villano (uncredited)
Moonlight	...	(uncredited)
Hernán Vera	...	Cantinero (uncredited)
Gabriel Álvarez	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Rafael Baledón

Writing credits
Ramón Obón		(story)
Ramón Obón		(adaptation)

Produced by
Alfredo Ripstein hijo	....	producer (as Alfredo Ripstein Jr.)

Original Music by
Gustavo César Carrión		(as Gustavo C. Carrión)

Cinematography by
Raúl Martínez Solares

Film Editing by
Juan José Marino

Casting by
Guillermo Castillo

Set Decoration by
Manuel Ladrón de Guevara		(as Manuel L. Guevara)

Makeup Department
Esperanza Gómez	....	hair stylist
Concepción Zamora	....	makeup artist

Production Management
José Alcalde	....	unit manager
Armando Solís	....	assistant unit manager
Carlos Ventimilla	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jesús Marín	....	assistant director (as Jesús Marín Jr.)

Sound Department
James L. Fields	....	sound supervisor
Galdino R. Samperio	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Galdino Samperio)
Rodolfo Solís	....	dialogue recordist

Special Effects by
Jorge Benavides	....	special effects (as 'Benavides')

Camera and Electrical Department
Carlos Nájera	....	lighting
Cirilo Rodríguez	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Julio Chávez	....	wardrobe
Consuelo Múgica	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
José A. Calvo	....	assistant editor
Francisco Gómez	....	color technician

Music Department
Gustavo César Carrión	....	musical director (as Gustavo C. Carrión)
Galdino R. Samperio	....	music recordist (as Galdino Samperio)

Other crew
Nicolás Rueda hijo	....	titles (as Nicolás Rueda Jr.)
'Chema' Hernandez	....	head wrangler (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Alameda Films

Distributors

• Alameda Films (1957) (Mexico) (theatrical)
• Trans-International Films (1965) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• American-International Television (AIP-TV) (19??) (USA) (TV) (dubbed)
• Genesis Home Video (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (199?) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Estudios Churubusco Azteca S.A.  studio (as Estudios Churubusco-Azteca S.A.)
• Orquesta de la Sección de Filarmónicos del S.T.P.C. de la R.M.  orchestra
• Querétaro  technical unit

Also Known As:

"El pantano de las ánimas" - Mexico (original title)

Runtime:

Mexico:75 min | USA:80 min

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA High Fidelity)

Filming Locations:

Mexico

Company:

Alameda Films

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Gastón dives towards the aquatic monster while holding the knife between his lips, the way the knife bends reveals it's actually made of rubber or a similarly soft material.

Movie Connections:

References Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

¿Qué?

Well, this was an unimaginably huge disappointment, and I'm really not used to be disappointed by a 50's Mexican horror production, especially not when the man in the director's chair is the same genius (?) responsible for one of the greatest Gothic masterpieces ever made, namely "The Curse of the Crying Woman". "Swamp of the Lost Monster" is an odd and lackluster hodgepodge of styles and genres and, despite its short running time, it's an incredibly boring effort. Horror and western story lines are already hard to combine as it is, and when the film then also tries to add in a mystery sub plot and some comical relief characters, it rapidly becomes a failure beyond imaginable proportions. The primary storyline centers on a laughably ridicule monster (some kind of hybrid between the "Creature from the Black Lagoon" and the aborted offspring of "Octaman") dragging people into a swamp and killing them. The dork in his stupid rubber suit first appeared when the corpse of a local eminent villager vanished from its coffin before the burial, yet nobody (not even the cowboy-detective or his assistant) seems to notice the link. There's another totally implausible sub plot about an old blind hag fooling the entire town into thinking she can see and a glorious, almost Academy-Award worthy role for the endlessly prancing horse. Too bad about the atmospheric filming locations and the occasional glimpses of decent photography, but the film is a total dud.