THE CURSE
OF THE AZTEC MUMMY

(1965), B/W, 64 minutes
Distributed by Trans-International Films
Presented by Young America Productions
produced at Soundlab, Coral Gables, Fla.
Produced by K. Gordon Murray
Directed by Paul Nagel (sic)

Seeing this movie for the first time is like seeing it for the tenth time, so familiar is much of the stock footage within. This sequel to LA MOMIA AZTECA (which to our knowledge was never released in an English-dubbed version, and is now considered lost even in its original language), and cousin to wild super-sequels THE ROBOT VS THE AZTEC MUMMY and THE WRESTLING WOMEN VS THE AZTEC MUMMY, contains a significant amount of footage from the first film.

In addition, footage from the first film and this film also found its way into THE ROBOT VS. THE AZTEC MUMMY, as well as two films from the late cine-genius Jerry Warren, who chopped them helter-skelter into his schizophrenic, minimal masterpieces ATTACK OF THE MAYAN MUMMY and FACE OF THE SCREAMING WEREWOLF!

We’ve seen Flora being regressed so many times, we get the sense that this film may be one of our own past lives! And this series is surely one of the most interesting pop culture takes on the “Bridey Murphy” hypno-regression craze of the late 50s.

So, watching this second in the Aztec Mummy series strikes a certain comfortable cord, although there’s stuff in here which makes it a classic all on its own.

One of the most exciting things about this film is its hero, “The Angel”, certainly one of the earliest incarnations of wrestler-as-superhero that would become such a staple of Mexican popular culture, with wildly popular superhero-musclemen such as Santo and Blue Demon.

The Angel is hilarious, driving around in his sports car (could it be a Stutz Bearcat?), cape a-flying, mask a-gleaming. And it’s a hoot when he is unmasked, and turns out to be the alter ego of Peacock, Dr. Almaden’s chicken-shit colleague! I can see he might be able to hide his courage, but where does he keep those muscles when he’s nerd-boy?

Dr. Krupp, aka “The Bat”, is a seriously amusing villain. With his wild eyes, cartoony beard, and absurd silent-film takes, he’s a walking caricature of the archetypal mad scientist, virtually parodic.

Krupp’s “helpers” are little better, petty thugs with wacky names (Lilac? Bear?) and moves lifted straight out of a 1937 poverty row murder mystery.

Krupp’s lab is weird too, an odd mix of a super-modern facility and an old warehouse.

The “good” scientist, Dr. Almaden, lives in an old castle, according to one brief establishing shot. Strange. Even stranger, there’s a teenage boy in the film, called Bobby, who is identified as Almaden’s younger brother! Doubtful, to say the least. Even in the Jerry Warren films, the kid is identified as Almaden’s nephew, much more believable. (In ATTACK OF THE MAYAN MUMMY, logic is so casual that the kid is called BOTH Timmy and Jimmy throughout the picture!)

Some excellent dubbing of the many prosaic speeches by the genies at Soundlab make this a bonafide Mexi-Murray treat.

-Rob Craig, kgordonmurray.com

DVD-R comes packaged as shown in color DVD case, wrapped in plastic!