La mansión de las 7 momias

The exciting, Blue Demon-starring 'La Mansión de las 7 Momias' is a riotously entertaining Luchador feature, abounding lustily with ancient demonic curses, buried gold treasure, scheming Satanic minions and menacing, propah brillo crusty attack zombies! Beautiful heiress, Sofia (María Cardinal ) must bravely complete three increasingly ominous tasks in order to break the family curse, and inherit the sizable golden bounty! The voluptuous Sofia's dauntingly zombie-infested ordeal is robustly aided by heroic duo, Superzan & Blue Demon. With plentiful bouts of zesty Blue Demon/Superzan scrappage, beautiful Guatemalan locations, moody photography by, Armando Castillion, Rafael Lanuza's rumbustious zombie rumble remains a total joy to watch! Luiz Hernandez Breton's grievously groovy, spook-a-delic score, plus the memorably eerie Blind Dead vibes give 'La Mansión de las 7 Momias an additionally unique flavour!

MANSION OF THE SEVEN MUMMIES (1977, original title La mansion de las 7 momias) is another Mexican wrestling/horror combo. No Santo this time around, but Blue Demon's here and he teams up with the golden Superzan for some more diabolical action. The main plot is about an heiress inheriting a typical 'old dark house' and hunting for some treasure, but to her dismay it seems to be guarded by a squad of living mummies...

The budget might be lower than ever, but this is a film that still packs in plenty of action with our brawny twosome taking the fight to the Italian-style zombie mummies. The makeup is pretty great actually and it's quite striking to see the undead brawling away like some boozers outside a Friday-night pub. The gothic sets add atmosphere, the devil appears in support (!) and there's a great little sequence involving a levitating skull that spooked me out. Not the greatest of its kind, but fun enough for a watch.

Following the death of her father, a woman finds that his death may have been connected to a devilish pact which enacted a curse on a massive treasure and a group of zombified mummies and brings her friends Blue Demon and Superzan to help her put an end to it all.

This is one of the finest and most enjoyable of the luchador efforts. What really makes this one work is the fact that there's a decided feel towards the serious side rather than the cheesy. Dropping a big cliché featured here, the continuous wrestling matches that interrupt the action, this one plays far more like a traditional horror effort that just so happens to feature the masked wrestlers who can use their skills in the situation. Even moreso is the fact that there's a lot to like here with the somewhat complex storyline involving ancient curses and the tribulation she has to undergo in order to finally put an end to it all which is rather fun since it makes for a really intriguing offering mixing it together with the creepy location. That comes into play rather nicely here with the film offering up plenty of solid action scenes from the start, from the brawl in the crypt that features the two battling with the mummies while she gathers the sacred dagger, a spirited fight against a traitorous accomplice in the middle of the woods while the mummies gather around while the highlight sequence forces them to battle against the creatures in the middle of a swamp riddled with corpses while the target gathers up a floating, still- alive head to end the test. These set the stage for a fun final battle with the creatures in the family crypt, which is where we finally get the answer to the curse and its impact after all this time but also manages to feature some stellar visuals in the Gothic- filled lair while the action is given a wide berth. From the Satanic ceremony down in the altar to the final mummy battle that takes place outside and spills into the cathedral within where they finally are forced to free her, this one offers up a strong and wholly enjoyable mixture of Gothic set-pieces and luchador-styled brawling as the final confrontation with the Devil takes place. Given that this allows for plenty of chances to showcase the mummies in utterly glorious fashion with their freaky appearance looking far more like zombies than expected considering their rotten, blank features and tattered clothing which leaves a strong impression, this one has a lot to really like about it which holds it up over its minor flaws. The film's biggest problem is the fact that there's not a real reason for the Devil to sit around waiting for something to happen, as he comes off very lackadaisical in the whole affair plotting and scheming without really being involved in anything. As well, there's the decision to keep the comic relief alive here by actively avoiding him during the encounters instead of attacking him during all the fighting, but otherwise, this one has a lot to like.

Rated Unrated/PG-13: Violence.

I watched this one on a Sunday morning. I had a hang over and Blue Demon made by day better.

The movie is ambitious. I mean, it does offer some decent camera angles (like before entering the mansion), some moments that were intended to be creepy and some old fashion action.

The "spooky" music is catchy and cheesy but we can always forget the production values when Blue Demon enters the mansion.

The mummies are actually creepy and add some old fashion spook to the movie's tone. The acting is just well, not that terrible.

This is a prime example of a cheesy but decent Mexican Wrestlers movie that tries to be creepy.

Recommended for fans of these kind of movies.