Las luchadoras contra el médico asesino

It is seldom that B-movie lovers get a treat like this. K. Gordon Murray, the man who delivers Mexican wrestling flicks for our consumption, brings us "Rock & Roll Wrestling Women vs. The Aztec Ape." I can honestly say that this is truly a guilty pleasure.

This movie involves your typical Mad Scientist (MS), who is working on transplanting brains for reasons not explained. He has already transplanted an ape's brain into a man, giving us a man slowly turning into an ape. The purpose of this is not entirely clear either, but thankfully said MS has a hypnotic trance over him. Heaven knows we can't afford to have half man/half apes walking around willy-nilly.

Anyhow, since the young, less educated women don't seem to be surviving these transplants (gee, I wonder why?), MS decides to abduct and operated on a pretty young lady who is a scientist. Sadly, she dies on the table. Next, MS decides he needs more athletic women -- so he decides to find a wrestler. Unfortunately, the woman he goes after is Venus, the sister of the pretty scientist MS just killed.

This flick is enjoyable in every area except for the soundtrack, which should have been stopped at the border, strip searched, and held on trumped-up charges. The wrestling scenes are well done, and the acting is much above the norm. Plus, I love Venus! She is absolutely fabulous as both an actress & as a wrestler. She puts Peaches Page to shame.

This movie also doesn't take itself too seriously, and tells a good story without cutting corners or relying on an overuse of stock footage. Plus, it doesn't insult my Suspension of Disbelief or cause it to slap me for my poor choice in movies.

Sterno says flick your Bics for "Rock & Roll Wrestling Women".

"Doctor Of Doom" has something for everyone: whodunit (just WHO is the mysterious masked mad doctor? The answer surprises - and cheats!), comedy (an almost "Abbott & Costello"-like duo of cops), camp (through the dubbing, as well as the straightfaced handling of the most outrageous plot points), monster film (with a man-gorilla hybrid), and of course lots of female pro wrestling (which may appear a bit crude, but still remains far superior to most of women's wrestling even in today's WWE; this is a must-see for fans of the sport in a more pure form). Lorena Velázquez (who actually bears a resemblance to Elizabeth Taylor!) and Elizabeth Campbell are two beautiful, sweet, strong, and eye-poppingly curvy heroines who are more often doing the rescuing than being in need of it; in that respect, "Doctor Of Doom" was ahead of its time. Good schlocky fun. **1/2 out of 4.

I recently (and reluctantly) posted a somewhat negative review of the Mexican classic BRAINIAC. Last night I watched DOCTOR OF DOOM and my faith has been restored! This is the kind of goofy fun I expect from old south of the border exploitation films. A mad scientist kidnaps women for brain transplant experiments! His henchman is a hulking guy with a gorilla brain in his skull! The detectives are trapped in one of those rooms with spiked walls that close in on you! Wrestling women who look like Laura Petrie on steroids save the day! Oh man, it doesn't get better than this. I especially liked the detective captain's sidekick, a little guy one of the women refers to as a "five foot lightning bolt." He's actually funny and engaging. At one point he faces nearly certain doom and radios his girl friend for help. If she doesn't hurry, he says, they'll never walk down the aisle together. "Don't talk like that, small hero!" she responds, "I'll be there like white lightning!" I felt like I'd been drinking white lightning while I watched this. Check it out!

Doctor of Doom (1963)

** (out of 4)

Very silly but entertaining Mexican horror film about a mad scientist who is putting the hearts of apes into the bodies of females. When all of the females keep dying the doctor decides to use a stronger body, that of a female wrestler, and by doing so he plans on using her to kill a couple other female wrestlers who blew up his laboratory. If you're wanting some sort of art picture then I'd recommend several films by Luis Bunuel because that's not what you're going to be getting out of this picture. DOCTOR OF DOOM makes very little sense, the special effects aren't that special and the performances rank just above a middle-school production but all of this just adds to the charm. I think what makes the film work so well is that the pacing is pretty fast and there's always something crazy going on. It's funny hearing dialogue early on talking about how women are "too weak" to be experimented on and yet the doctor just keeps using them. He blames women for not being strong enough to live through his operations but then he sends his men out to get another woman. We also have an accident of the doctors, which is a half man, half ape creation who does the majority of the dirty work. You can tell that didn't have too much money to fix him us as he's just got a few patches of hair scattered around his body. In the English dubbed version we get some hilarious heavy breathing from the creature, which makes him more charming than scary. Then, of course, you have the downright silly wrestling scenes that add nothing and I'm still trying to figure out why they were so important in the first place. Naturally these must have been very popular in the day but today it just comes off rather silly and childish. While there's no tension or drama, the director at least keeps the pace rather fast and it's funny seeing the various ways that the story changes for no reason or watching things happen, which couldn't have possibly happened. Just check out the highlight when a couple cops are about to be smashed to death in a secret room (think THE RAVEN torture trap) and the wall is just a foot or so away from them. They use their watches to call out for help and the female wrestlers, in a different location, have time to drive to them, walk around the house slowly and then finally track them down. Seeing this scene play out is a non-stop laugh and one of the reasons the film remains entertaining.

While not a film of any real significance or importance in the overall history of horror film, this is still an enjoyable treat, presenting the cinematic debut of the two lovely amazon wrestling women, Gloria Venus and Golden Rubi, who would then be re-united in the 1964 film, Wrestling Women vs Aztec Mummy.

These two girls are good examples of the kind of girlfriend a guy ought to have - buxom, beautiful, tough yet feminine, and they have jobs too.

The best thing about these Mexican horror films is not that they are frightening, for they aren't, but that they are fast-paced and adventurous fantasy, if silly at times, with good character humor. Always enjoyable and never too gruesome for the kids.