In short, these three movies are legitimately fascinating. The Aztec Mummy? A traditional horror movie, full-on Mexicanized, of cinematic significance to its mother nation. Curse of the Aztec Mummy? A TRUE GEM OF 1950'S CINEMA that (if you're a fan of camp action horror) I FORBID you to gloss over - more on that movie later, but if you take nothing else from this review, I stake my reputation on that film. Finally, The Aztec Mummy vs. the Human Robot? Well...... Mystery Science Theater 3000 lampooned that movie better than I ever could, so let's just leave it at that for now.
But I digress...
Though familiar in theme at a glance to U.S. movie afficionados, these three films, known as the Aztec Mummy Trilogy, are of historical-cultural significance to the nation of Mexico and own some marked differences from what we might expect from 1950's camp horror. All the usual suspects are there - the mad scientist; the beautiful damsel; and the straight-laced hero with a conveniently lucky trigger finger and a moustache to make women's knees weak.
And, of course, the invincible monster of supernatural origin, forged of the greed and sin of man, the embodiment of an ancient curse - the Aztec Mummy. Unlike the more familiar (to American audiences) Egyptian mummy, the Aztec mummy eschews the whole "toilet paper" look in favor of the much scarier decrepid walking corpse and, more than that, actually grows to become somewhat of a sympathetic figure, depicted as an angry but lonely soul, doing only what it was condemned to do for the rest of its unlife - protect the ancient breastplate and bracelet, which together serve as a map to the site of a great cache of an unimaginable wealth of Aztec treasures. The trick is in the delivery; the mummy really only shows up when needed - he has few if any aspirations of his own and is mostly pissed off at being continually pestered by this guy.
Yeah, he totally gets his comeuppance, but more on this brilliant performance later.
Elements less common in American, European and Asian cinema but iconic to Mexico include the masked luchadores - whether good or evil, these bold characters truly seem to embody their ideals more fully once they don their masks and capes. Heroes and villains such as these are among the most identifiable in cinema (and professional wrestling), and their pension for flair is unrivaled in American culture except by only the campiest of superheroes.
But before delving fully into the world of the Aztec Mummy, a quick history lesson in classic Mexican horror. The film most often credited as the grandfather of Mexican horror is El Vampiro, the 1957 Fernando Méndez film that established the vampire genre in Mexico (and, notably, was one of, if not the, first movies to show a vampire with his now-mandatory elongated teeth). The film and its sequel (El Ataúd del Vampiro) are celebrated pieces of Mexican cinematic history - but a little known fact is that director Rafael Portillo and his La Momia Azteca (The Aztec Mummy) came just one short month late to the Mexican horror party. More than that, the film and its two sequels (La Maldición de la Momia Azteca / The Curse of the Aztec Mummy; and La Momia Azteca Contra El Robot Humano / The Aztec Mummy vs. the Human Robot) were shot back-to-back-to-back over the span of two months and were released almost as quickly, between 1957-1958, making a huge impact on the world of Mexican film in a very short time.
Inspired of course by the original The Mummy (with the legendary Boris Karloff as Imhotep), La Momia Azteca adds copious amounts of Mexican flavor to the familiar plotline.
The closest of the trilogy to a traditional horror flick, this first film was not without its flaws. Pacing was an issue, and parts of the story weren't thought through very well. For the positives, this film had a decent budget and looked very pretty - the costuming and special effects were fantastic for its time, and all of the major characters were played by respected and prolific actors. Notably, this film bears some pretty suspicious similarities to the modern-day "Mummy" series starring Brendan Fraser (at one point, Popoca, the mummified Aztec warrior, kidnaps and attempts to sacrifice a woman who was his forbidden lover in a past life; he believes this sacrificial ritual will raise his lover, Xochitl, from the dead. Popoca and Xochitl were put to death for their unlawful affair, and Popoca was cursed with eternal undeath - the very premise for this trilogy.) Also, it had this guy:
"The Bat."
It's easy to turn a blind eye to the film's flaws given the infancy of Mexican horror (and most film) of the day, and this is a very watchable movie - but be prepared for scenes that drag on 10-20 seconds too long as the characters awkwardly shuffle off into the background while intense atmospheric music slowly builds - and, most infamously, a 10 minute Aztec ritual scene, which appears in a flashback, is accompanied by some pretty unusual singing and dance moves, and in which some of the actors appear obviously uncomfortable as they stand there for seconds to minutes beating drums and such. Watch this movie for the historical significance - it's pretty bad, all things considered, but not nearly as bad as you'll think it's going to be. And it's required watching for Part 2...
Tender, Lobo and friends were having a good old-fashioned stock footage shootout... WHEN SUDDENLY...!
Cheese lovers rejoice - this movie is chock full of it. "Curse" contains incredibly entertaining performances from the two best actors in the trilogy, Luis Aceves Castañeda as the stereotypical mad scientist Dr. Krupp, and character actor Crox Alvarado as the perpetually awkward Pinacate, a bumbling coward but good-natured and loyal friend who delivered his best lines when justifying his fear of confrontation, notably, "I am an observer in all things", "It is better that they say, 'Pinacate ran from here' than, 'Pinacate died here'", and, uh...
(Some things just get lost in translation.)
Don't watch this movie expecting a plot that makes sense. The very premise of Part 2 is one big endless hole; the villain, having physically been to the Aztec tomb at the end of Part 1, hatches an elaborate scheme involving kidnapping, mind control, wacky experimentations and the like in order to, uh, discover the location of that same tomb from before. He even has the audacity to reassure us with lines like, "I'm not stupid."
DO expect some of the very best in campy 1950's cheese horror. The performances are over-the-top, it doesn't drag like the first movie (expect for the "recap" scene, which is, no lie, just that same 10 minute ritual song and dance number from the first one), and it's pretty much hilarious (sometimes intentionally, sometimes not so much). There were better movies released that decade, sure, but this is a diamond in the rough, one you probably haven't heard of or, if you did, one that got glossed over.
Probably the biggest reason you haven't watched this movie is...
Just what is this thing supposed to be?
In Part 3 of the trilogy, the now completely insane Dr. Krupp has decided that he needs to kill this mummy if it's the last thing he does. Finding the mummy sleeping soundly in its tomb, he ponders the logistics, apparently completely rules out anything logical like setting it on fire or chopping its head off while it slumbers, and skips straight to grave robbing, grand theft of radioactive materials, and creating some kind of nuclear android with a human head, a robot exoskeleton, radium-powered claws and no knees.
For some reason, the police are never involved in stopping Dr. Krupp's madness, as the power players from Parts 1 and 2 take it upon themselves to try and convince Krupp to take a chill pill. The thing is, Krupp isn't even necessarily doing anything blatantly evil this time. He built a robot with the intention of using it to kill an undead monster. Why exactly is this a bad thing? In any case, Krupp has a goatee, crazy eyes, a black cape and a world class evil laugh, so we're pretty sure he has some kind of ulterior motive (and he does, but his machinations are already convoluted enough, so I won't get into it).
Anyway, inevitably this film ends in a showdown between Popoca (the titular Aztec Mummy), and Krupp's "human robot"..... thing. It lasts all of one minute, and it's pretty much as stupid as you would expect. Even so, it was probably the most satisfying part of the film, which - unforgivably - begins with 20-25 minutes of poorly-edited recaps from the first two movies (including, yes, that same 5-10 minute ritual scene, so if you're watching this trilogy in one big marathon viewing like I did, you'll find yourself somewhere between hysterical laughter and wishing yourself dead) and really only contains about 40 minutes of "new" footage.
It's no wonder this film is regularly cited as one of the worst movies of the 50's and has gained some infamy for its incomprehensible plot - they just tried too hard to fit the entire story of the trilogy into one movie, and never did that plan approach anything close to working. Unfortunately, the legendary badness of this film scares too many viewers away from the trilogy on the whole, and it's a shame, because readers, you are missing out.
On the whole, "Robot" is the least watchable film of the trilogy, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a chance. Here's your homework, readers:
- Watch "Aztec Mummy" - it's an important film in Mexican cinematic history, and it sets the stage well for the rest of the trilogy (and the mummy genre in general).
- Even if you can't get through the first movie, give "Curse of the Aztec Mummy" a chance. I watched this twice, and I plan on introducing it to as many of my friends as possible. It is some of the best and the worst of 1950's monster movie cinema.
- Only if you're already a fan of the series should you bother watching "Aztec Mummy vs. the Human Robot" - and if so, don't pay much attention to the recap. Just do something else while this film is on in the background, laugh at it with friends, or even just put it on fast-forward until the "real movie" starts. The payoff isn't as good as in "Curse", but it's still worth a laugh, and hey - it's called "The Aztec Mummy vs. the Human Robot" - you get exactly what it says on the tin, friends.
GGGRRRRRR!!!!!
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