Delirious and sometimes very beautiful Luchadora flick, which has been spectacularly restored by Permanencia Voluntaria, the foundation created by the great-grandaughter of this film's producers, Calderon, in partnership with UCLA and Nicholas Wendig Refn. This is the version to see if you can, and at the movies. The print looks luminous and deep and the shots of the city at night are particularly arresting. Augustin Jimenez was easily the equal of any stateside film noir cameraman, and he really shines here.
The daffy plot involves a family curse and the resurrection of an evil warlock called Eloim (!). The lovely Panther Women of the title are the devoted servants of this black magician, and after pulling off some rather contorted murders which rely basically on the incompetence of the cops and the heroes showing up too late, they finally raise him as a zombie. Foiling their plans are two beautiful wrestlers (Ariane Welter and the stunning Elizabeth Campbell) and a Santo clone called Angel (Geraldo Zepeda, a veteran wrestler with a massive filmography). Manuel Loco Valdez shows up as a kind of Johnnie Walker comic sidekick. Most of the actual wrestling was done by several well-known luchadores of the time: Marina Rey, Maria Delgado, Judith Mercado, etc. It is basically a wrestling version of Lewton's Cat People, with black magic and crime syndicate elements thrown in. Nobody does pastiche quite like these Mexican B films, which are always totally free of the kind of WASPish prudishness found just under the naughty veneer of contemporary Hammer or American exploitation films.
'Panther Women' careens along at an exciting pace, never lingering too long in one place, moving into the ring occasionally for several beautifully edited lucha matches. The end pits the Panther girls against the good guys and degenerates into a rabid, lunatic free for all. There is also a nice Cubano dance number, some atmospheric cult sequences around the warlock's tomb, and plenty of car chases (the dark wet city makes for an exciting ride). All in all, this is a whole lot of fun. Old pro Rene Cardona knows how to keep the leg and horror show rolling and knows that the girls are the true stars of the show. I'll take this inventive populist programmer over any of the inflated and tedious Marvel products anyday.
