Las momias de Guanajuato (1972)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Federico Curiel

Writers:

Rogelio Agrasánchez (story)
Rafael García Travesi (adaptation)

Release Date:

3 February 1972 (Mexico)

Genre:

Adventure | Horror | Mystery

Plot Keywords:

Wrestler | Wrestling

Cast

Blue Demon	...	Blue Demon
Mil Máscaras	...	Mil Máscaras
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Elsa Cárdenas	...	Lina
Julio Cesar	...	Julito
Patricia Ferrer	...	Alicia
Juan Gallardo	...	Police inspector
Manuel Leal	...	Satan
Jorge Pinguino	...	Pinguino
Santo	...	Santo
Carlos Suárez	...	Sr. Gonzalez

Also Known As:

The Mummies of Guanajuato (USA)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

Guanajuato, Mexico

Company:

Películas Latinoamericanas S.A.

Movie Connections:

Followed by El castillo de las momias de Guanajuato (1973)

Sorcery raises the dead

Initially intended as a vehicle for Blue Demon and Mil Mascaras, both of whom had joined El Santo in making lucha libre films, MOMIAS ran into a snag somewhere along the way.

Whether (as has been suggested) it was due to the writer being simply unable to resolve the plotline after many pages of keeping the two heroes from vanquishing their supernatural adversaries, or whether the producers decided to hedge their bets by bringing Santo into the production, the Man In The Silver Mask arrives at the literal last minute to solve their problem.

The ad art for the film seems to suggest this last-minute addition. While several mummy faces and Mil Mascaras' and Blue Demon's faces are obviously related in the artwork, Santo's face is painted against a different background, and off to one side.

The concept of the film is intriguing, in that Guanajuato, the city where the action takes place, is famous as the "home" of literally hundreds of mummified former residents. Already a macabre tourist attraction, and as monsters, aliens and other weird menaces had featured in a number of genre films to the time, these natural mummies seemed made to order for a wrestling horror film.

Blue Demon and Mil Mascaras are wrestling in the city of Guanajuato, which just happens to be where Mil's current girlfriend lives. When one of the larger mummies -- a magician -- vanishes, and several people are killed, the wrestlers investigate. At this point the idea of calling in Santo is proposed and is rejected by Blue Demon.

The magician, mow revived, awakens a number of the mummies into a lethal army. They begin a series of attacks in the city, complicating things when one of the mummies impersonates a kidnapped Blue Demon.

Things come to a head until the arrival of Santo. Fighting with the released Demon and Mil Mascaras, he can't overcome the living dead. However, he has three flame guns in his car. When Mil retrieves these, the trio make short work of the supernatural menace.

MOMIAS is possibly the most notorious of the lucha films, in that it stars the three most notable wrestler/actors of the lucha film boom. It's not bad as an action film, with some nice mood points, but the theme, played on a slightly jazzed-up organ, is anything but ideal for what is to come. Good, but not as great as it's rumored to be.