Doctor of Doom

Rating:
Summary: The "Hidden Gem" of Mexican Cinema
Review: A magnificent work from our brothers and sisters to our south. Truly riveting in it's expression of 1960's contemporary Mexico. By that I mean a mad scientist's dream and a city's nightmare. Not many films of this era effectively use strong women to "defeat" evil as they did in this film. A risk taken full force with no hesitation. A true film noir treasure. Not to mention the ominous meanings in Gomar's "Special Equipment" and the good natured bafoonery of Tommy. He truly lightened the intense feeling of this film. Watch it if you dare!

Rating:
Summary: The "Hidden Gem" of Mexican Cinema
Review: A magnificent work from our brothers and sisters to our south. Truly riveting in it's expression of 1960's contemporary Mexico. By that I mean a mad scientist's dream and a city's nightmare. Not many films of this era effectively use strong women to "defeat" evil as they did in this film. A risk taken full force with no hesitation. A true film noir treasure. Not to mention the ominous meanings in Gomar's "Special Equipment" and the good natured bafoonery of Tommy. He truly lightened the intense feeling of this film. Watch it if you dare!

Rating:
Summary: This flick is so bad it's actually funny!
Review: The plot stinks, the dialogue is awful, and the acting wooden, yet this movie has its moments, i.e.,when the women kick butt and take names, and save the men (for once!) This is almost unheard of in the sci-fi & horror, or any other genre, for that matter, which makes it all the more enjoyable. Another great moment is The Golden Ruby's response to the little policeman when he tells her that he and his buddy with protect her. This is almost worth the price of the movie. If you like your action fast and cohesive, don't bother buying this movie. If you have a well developed sense of humor (or an equally well developed sense of irony) and don't mind sitting through the dull parts, or just like collecting cheeseball flicks, by all means, grab it.

Rating:
Summary: Mexican quasi-masterpiece offers multiple delights.
Review: When I received this dvd, I was nervous. I had ordered it under this, its less specific English title, as opposed to its rather more poetic Spanish title. I was nervous because the packaging was so generic that for a moment I wondered if I had ordered the wrong movie, some likewise-titled piece of modern direct-to-video. Nowhere on the package did it mention the Wrestling Women whom I bought it to view. The picture on the case had nothing in particular to do with the movie. And the synopsis was vague at best, misleading at worst.

Well, glory be. The movie was the correct one, Las Luchadoras Contra El Medico Asesino. The disc was of fairly decent quality, with only a few bad splices and such. And the movie itself is a genuine, beans and rice, south-of-the-border camp classic, in such rarified air as Santo Vs. the Vampire Women and its own sequel, Wrestling Women Vs. The Aztec Mummy.

It's like a Republic cliffhanger serial directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet, only Mexican, and starring buxom women in leotards, and with wrestling instead of fistfights. If that doesn't give you an accurate idea of the tone, I don't know what will.

Gloria Venus (think Liz Taylor with muscles) is a famed wrestler whose sister is killed by a madman terrorizing the city. This madman is a brain surgeon kidnapping young women to remove their brains and succeed in transplanting an ape brain into their skulls. One of the girls he kills in his crazy quest is Gloria's sister. The madman has many thugs at his control, as well as Gomar, a hairy guy with the brain of an ape. He keeps Gomar in a cage, and it is unclear why he was not satisfied to be able to transplant ape brains into men. But he was not. Anyway, Gloria soon teams up with statuesque redhead (and wrestler) Golden Rubi to find the madman and end his plot. Their much smaller (but gun-toting) boyfriends also tag along. The madman always wears a mask, because his identity is supposed to be a mystery to the audience. (It ain't.)

There are some last-minute escapes, some false leads, and a whole lot of wrestling. It all culminates in a bout between Gloria and a squat, butchy woman into whom the doctor finally was able put a gorilla's mind. Oh yeah... the climax also brings to mind White Heat, in a low-budget Mexican sort of way. Absolutely none of this is to be taken seriously; nothing makes too much sense. Just sit back and enjoy it.

It took me years to finally come around to the charms of Mexi-horror as imported by K. Gordon Murray. The long wrestling segments and sometimes lumbering narratives turned me off at the start. But I'm glad I kept trying.

If you're new to the genre, I recommend Samson Vs. the Vampire Women, because it has some legitimate elements to work with its camp elements, which may otherwise take a while to overcome our typical American cinematic snobbery. And then once you are a Samson cultist, by all means get a ringside seat to experience The Wrestling Women.