One of the strangest genres of films I have ever seen (and I've seen a lot of weird stuff) are the Mexican luchador movies. I'm not surprised that they made them, as wrestling has been hugely popular in Mexico for many decades. But what makes them so odd is that they are NOT all about wrestling but are more like superhero films where the guys just happen to be masked wrestlers. Even odder yet is that while the films usually show a bit of a match or two, most of the films are supposedly about the wrestlers' real life adventures battling aliens, Atlantians or even monsters! Yes....masked wrestlers take on the likes of Dracula and Frankenstein in many of the flms!
In "El Robo de las Momias de Guanajuato" ("Robbery of the Mummies of Guanajuato"), the evil Count Cagliastro has managed to revive a group of Mexican mummies by using a spell which invokes the Egyptian gods! To stop him in his infamy, Mil Máscaras (Thousand Masks), Blue Demon, Blue Angel and El Rayo de Jalisco (The Lightning Bolt of Jalisco) take on the mummies and their master. Of course, this involves lots of wrestling and fighting...all during which the quartet keep their masks on at all times. In fact, in some of these hundred or more wrestling films, you see the luchadores showering, sleeping and even going out on hot dates while wearing these masks! It's something Mexicans just loved and took for granted back during the classic period of wrestling in the 1960s and 70s.
So is this any good? No....it's terrible. But also, it's terribly entertaining despite everything. The production values aren't especially high and the mummies look as if the make-up and rubber masks cost the production company about $30 (and this is probably being generous). Despite all this, however, the films are fun...and this mummy film never bores!
By the way, I looked it up and Guanajuato is a state north/northwest of Mexico City and it IS known for its mummies. In fact, they even have a mummy museum! It sure sounds like an interesting place to visit. I read about the place and, surprisingly, these mummies are NOT ancient but are from a cholera outbreak in 1833! The museum was opened just a few years before this film was made and it reportedly houses over a hundred of these mummified bodies.
In "El Robo de las Momias de Guanajuato" ("Robbery of the Mummies of Guanajuato"), the evil Count Cagliastro has managed to revive a group of Mexican mummies by using a spell which invokes the Egyptian gods! To stop him in his infamy, Mil Máscaras (Thousand Masks), Blue Demon, Blue Angel and El Rayo de Jalisco (The Lightning Bolt of Jalisco) take on the mummies and their master. Of course, this involves lots of wrestling and fighting...all during which the quartet keep their masks on at all times. In fact, in some of these hundred or more wrestling films, you see the luchadores showering, sleeping and even going out on hot dates while wearing these masks! It's something Mexicans just loved and took for granted back during the classic period of wrestling in the 1960s and 70s.
So is this any good? No....it's terrible. But also, it's terribly entertaining despite everything. The production values aren't especially high and the mummies look as if the make-up and rubber masks cost the production company about $30 (and this is probably being generous). Despite all this, however, the films are fun...and this mummy film never bores!
By the way, I looked it up and Guanajuato is a state north/northwest of Mexico City and it IS known for its mummies. In fact, they even have a mummy museum! It sure sounds like an interesting place to visit. I read about the place and, surprisingly, these mummies are NOT ancient but are from a cholera outbreak in 1833! The museum was opened just a few years before this film was made and it reportedly houses over a hundred of these mummified bodies.