Las luchadoras contra el médico asesino

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.

"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.

A mad doctor is running amok on the backlot of Azteca Studios. He has successfully transplanted the brain of a gorilla into the body a male human, who has developed an un-gorilla-like taste for raw meat and is sporting thick hunks of glued-on fur on his back and arms. Now the Mad Doctor seeks---for reasons naturally unexplained--to transplant a female human brain into the body of another female human. Along the way, the Mad Doc--accompanied by his evil henchmen and the ape-man--botches several transplant attempts, and earns the wrath of babe-a-licious luchadora champeen Gloria Venus (after he offs her chemist sister in a brain-swap-gone-bad) and her police detective boyfriend.

So why's the Doc goin' to all this trouble? Perhaps he wants a companion for Gorilla Boy? Heck, we don't know, but it's the setup for the rest of the picture, which is one of the most humorous and high-spirited of the Mexican Wrestling genre. As with most K. Gordon Murray Mexi-horror fare, the dubbing is always awkward, and often hilarious, though the actors seem to be enjoying themselves (especially Mad Doc, who gets to chew major scenery for the last half hour), and the direction by Rene Cardona the Elder gets progressively tighter as the film progresses--this is one of the few Mexi-Horror flicks that actually gets better the longer you watch it. There are at least two "trick" endings, a wild plot twist in the last 15 minutes (an evil lady wrestler with a gorilla's brain? Nah), and a predictably ludicrous ending. The only caveat to offer is the tampering with the soundtrack, presumably by Johnny Legend. For a couple of fight scenes---maybe 10 minutes in all--the delightfully cheesy original score is dubbed out in favor of some tepid late-'80s Rockabilly Twang music. It's not too distracting, but you have to wonder the anyone even bothered in the first place. But if you're an aficionado of Mexi-Horror or Wrestling Pictures, you will want to check out this film. It was the first of the "Wrestling Women" series, and one of the most successful. Forty years later, it's easy to see why

(aka: DOCTOR OF DOOM)

Hey, I like this gordida stuff. They don't make 'em like they used to.

Mad doctor kidnaps woman for his brain transplant experiments. He even keeps a creature down in his basement named Gomar who is a man with a gorilla's brain, the result of an earlier experiment.

So far, his transplants of human brains into other humans have failed, so then the doctor then kidnaps the pretty sister of a famous female wrestler Golden Venus (Lorena Velazquez) and winds up killing her on the operating table. Venus finds out about what happened and vows revenge, and herself and fellow wrestler Golden Rubi (Elizabeth Campbell) go after the mad doctor.

They wind up getting captured by the mad doctor and two cops who are assigned to help them, save them. Then later when the two incompetent cops are themselves captured by the doctor, then they are saved by our two brave kick-ass babes. Back & forth, back & forth

The mad doctor then creates a new masculine-looking female monster named Vendetta who disguised as a wrestler, fights Venus and Ruby in the ring. All kinds of babe flesh fly. Not bad. Not bad at all.

The whole thing ends on a water tower where the mad doctor and Vendetta are trapped. They almost kill a cop and are then in turn, shot down. The bodies fall...(thump...)

The Something Weird video is doubled up with WRESTLING WOMEN VS. THE AZTEC MUMMY and has tons of extras including many trailers for other Mexican horror films they have in their library. Although the b/w print shows it's age, it's far better than the old grainy VHS tape. And the print I saw had an AIP logo in the titles instead of K. Gordon Murray's.

Excellent badly-dubbed cheddar cheese. It's funny.

6 out of 10

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.