La mujer murciélago

The Batwoman is the campiest movie ever made and I say that with great respect and admiration. Movies that are so bad they are good are hard to find and this one has it all. The well-endowed Maura Monti is Batwoman who wears a very revealing 2-piece bikini and a cape through most of the movie. She is called Batwoman but there is no bat about her - she is ALL woman! Not only is she the crime fighting heroine but she is also a pro wrestler and police agent who fights mad scientists. And what is a mad scientist who does not have a faithful servant name Igor and calls him Master? Well, this film has it all. Our mad scientist has created a fish man who is also a wrestler and now he wants to create a fish woman and that woman shall be none other than our favorite batwoman. He plans on creating an army of fish men/wrestlers to rule the sea! I admire his ambition. But the big question is will he get his woman, er I mean his bat, to create the first fish woman? I highly recommend this movie. It is so bad that it is good and highly entertaining.

From 1950 to 1980, cinema had the world in its grip. The power of film as a tool for political and religious propaganda had been firmly established after World War I and II. In countries like Mexico, Turkey, Iran, and the Balkans, the political and economic climate made it difficult to create a unique cinematic identity from scratch. Instead, they opted to clone the established and widely accepted American/British cinema, building their own film culture upon it. Copyright laws? Tossed out the window. But hey, many of the biggest names in non-English speaking cinema today grew up watching these films and found their passion for filmmaking through them.

LA MUJER MURCIÉLAGO (The Batwoman) is one such film, much like Drakula Istanbul'da (Dracula in Istanbul). While my home country, Turkey, boasts a rich collection of these types of films, Mexico undoubtedly takes the crown. The rise of technology and the blurring of artistic boundaries have made these films more accessible to a wider audience, allowing us to appreciate their cultural significance.

René Cardona is, without a doubt, one of the biggest names in this genre within Mexican cinema. His LA MUJER MURCIÉLAGO, a film that boasts cinematography even better than Adam West's Batman, is now streaming on Mubi in a remastered version.

Looking back from today, these films might seem raw and simplistic, but as I mentioned, their cultural impact is immense. They're a testament to a time when filmmakers in developing countries were finding their footing, experimenting with genre conventions, and creating a unique cinematic language that resonated with their audiences.

Mubi's Turkish subtitles for the film, as usual, leave much to be desired. Hopefully, they've done a better job with the subtitles for other countries. Despite this minor hiccup, LA MUJER MURCIÉLAGO is a must-watch for anyone interested in exploring the rich and diverse world of international cinema. It's a reminder that great films can emerge from unexpected places, and that even the most seemingly derivative works can hold hidden treasures waiting to be discovered.

The Batwoman (1968)

** (out of 4)

Dead wrestlers are turning up in the river and the police are baffled so Batwoman (Maura Monti) is called in to investigate. Before long she discovers a mad scientist who is doing bizarre experiments including making a sea monster.

LA MUJER MURCIELAGO, aka THE BATWOMAN, is a pretty weird Mexican film that mixes action, wrestling and a few horror elements. I've discovered that whenever you watch this type of movie it's best to be either drunk, stoned or suffering from a severe cold. Sadly, when I watched this, I wasn't any of them so perhaps that's why I didn't enjoy this as much as some of the other films in the genre.

I must say that there were a few good things here that kept the film mildly amusing and worth watching to fans of the genre. For starters, I found Monti to be extremely beautiful and I thought she did a good job in the role. She made for a good female superhero and this was a plus. I also liked the monster in the film. It's basically a rip-off of The Gillman from THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON but here the monster is a bright red just like the Devil. The look was cheap and silly but it was at least entertaining.

The biggest problem with the film is like so many other Mexican movies is the fact that there's not too much going on. There are way too many scenes where people are just standing around talking and the dialogue is bad and boring. There are way too many scenes where there's not any action or excitement. You've got a decent monster and a good hero and yet they really aren't on screen enough.

The sad thing is that "Batwoman" has all the ingredients for an entertaining luchador romp -- an alluring protagonist, a series of murders to solve, an exotic location, decent underwater scenes -- but wastes them with glacial pacing and a lack of exciting fight action. The supposedly athletic and clever heroine spends more time socializing than clue-hunting, then becomes all girly and helpless at the climax when she should be kicking butt. The film could be improved immensely by chopping it down to 45 minutes. That would at least progress the plot at a reasonable speed. Unfortunately it is decades too late to bring in one of the heroines from "Wrestling Women vs the Aztec Mummy" to whomp up on some villainous goons. Yvonne Craig's status as Batgirl is safe.

This is one strange little movie.Happened to pick up an english subtitled version of this one.It is known as Batwoman and was released during the Batman craze.Somehow DC comics didn't sue for the use of the name. Maybe because it was never really released in the USA.

Anyway a mad scientist is wanting to create a race of super gill men.He uses the glands of wrestlers because they are "perfect".I don't write them I just watch them.Wrestlers are winding up dead all over Acapulco so the call goes out for that mysterious crime fighter BATWOMAN!

She has the Batman cape, cowl and boots. Only Batman doesn't wear a bikini.I kept waiting for her to pop out of it during all of the violent fight scenes.No such luck guys.

The doctor succeeds in creating a gill man. Batwoman tosses acid in the scientist's face.He wants revenge and wants to make her into a gill woman.Will he accomplish the dastardly deed?Tune in tomorrow!Same bat time, same bat channel.

This is an average movie.Best thing to do is just turn your brain off, enjoy the local Acapulco scenery and while away 90 minutes watching this.