The three Mexican Aztec Mummy films were made back-to-back in 1957 and it is best to think of them as an old, â40s-style serial rather than three movies. The pacing works better that way, as does some of the cheapness and fanciful elements. Just consider the endings of the first two films as cliff hangers.
Besides borrowing from the Universal mummy films, the Aztec Mummy sticks in a popular Mexican pop culture item from the time: a lucha libre (a masked professional wrestler). And no, there is no good reason for that addition. A string of later films with a strained connection to the trilogy move male and female wrestlers into the staring roles.
The Aztec Mummy Trilogy canât be described as good. It is exceptionally silly, but if you are in the right mood, it is fun.
The films have not been well preserved, with the first in particularly bad shapeâit was thought lost for a time. But worse things can happen to a film. In the mid â60s, an American distributer dubbed it and chopped it up to make Attack of the Mayan Mummy as well as taking the sliced off bits and grafting them on to pieces ripped from other films to create Face of the Screaming Werewolf.
The Aztec Mummy (1957)
Dr. Eduardo Almada (RamĂłn Gay) did not take the criticism of his theory of past life regression well. So with the help of his mentor (Jorge MondragĂłn) and his cowardly comic relief (Crox Alvarado), he hypnotizes his fiancĂ©eâwho also happens to be his mentorâs daughterâFlor (Rosita Arenas). Luck would have it she used to be an Aztec virgin destined to be sacrificed to their god. Popoca, a brave warrior, was none too keen on this and wanted to snuggle with the hot virgin, but they got caught, so he was buried alive, forever to watch over a breastplate and armband that holds the secret to where the Aztecs hid their treasure. As for Past-Life-Flor, she got sacrificed, which is what was going to happen anyway, so no foul. Realizing all those uptight members of the Euro Psychiatric Congress werenât going to take his word for it that his theory is true, he ignores Florâs ranting about an ancient curse and heads out with his entourage to the in-town Aztec pyramid to find the breastplate. Unbeknownst to him, heâs been observed by the masked master criminal, The Bat (Luis Aceves Castañeda), who wants to get his hands on that breastplate.
Well, thatâs some plot. And I have to say, Doc Eduardo is kind of an ass. After going on about how dangerous his experiment is and how the trauma of a past life could permanently damage the subject, the first thing he does to his girlfriend when heâs got her recalling her Aztec days is to zip her up to her sacrifice. Isnât her death the kind of thing that might be traumatic? Couldn’t he have had her recall that nice day when she was gathering flowers? Oh well.
Itâs all as silly as it sounds. Itâs also cheap looking, generally. But having an actual Aztec ruin to use for the exterior shots goes a long way in making up for other shoddy sets. A real pyramid beats any CGI one, although director Rafael Portillo realized that and took it a bit too far. He had his camera set up on those ruins and damn if he wasnât going to get a shot of each and every person slowly walking up and down the side.
I was amused by the things the film doesnât explain but just presents as the charactersâ normal lives. Eduardo has a young daughter. Whereâs the mother? Who knows? He also lives with his under-aged brother. Why? Who knows? Neither of these kids affect the story. Since the brother keeps sneaking around to peep in at the experiment and stowaway on their temple visit I assumed heâd get into some kind of mummy problem, but nope. The Bat doesnât do much of anything either, but he gets his chance in the sequels.
The titular character has only a few minutes of screen time. Heâs not scary, but then anything this silly was never going to be frightening. Iâve seen worse looking cinematic mummies.
Thereâs a lot going on thatâs just wacky. How much you enjoy The Aztec Mummy is directly related to your feelings about long, foggy, temple song and dance routines. Oh, and those ancient Aztecs liked opera. Really.
The Curse of the Aztec Mummy (1957)
The Bat is back with a new plan to get that Aztec treasure so that he can continue his cruel animal experiments. Well, maybe it is the same old plan. He kidnaps Flor, and drugging her, uses hypnosis to learn the location of the breastplate and armband. Luckily our heroes have the aid of a mysterious lucha libre.
Why does The Bat have to hypnotize Flor? Everyone knows the room where the breastplate and armband were last seen within the temple. The Bat followed our âheroesâ on their first excursion into the pyrimid. She canât tell him anything he doesnât already know. Well, it does give a chance for a recap of the beginning of the previous film, so thatâs good I suppose.
If youâve seen the first (and you really should before watching this), you know what you are in for. Itâs a little less tense and a little sillier, but it is basically the same low budget strangeness. While the filmmakers had a juvenile audience in mind all along, that is clearer in The Curse of the Aztec Mummy, with the masked wrestler acting as a kind of superhero, and the âyoung brotherâ getting a bit more action. We even have a scene with the wrestler dangling over a snake pit.
Yes, it is a pretty stupid film, but it is easy to laugh at.
The Robot vs The Aztec Mummy (1958)
Five years have passed (even though the film was released seven months later). After an exceptionally long synopsis of the events so far, we find out that The Bat is still at large, and still has hypnotic power over Flor. His plan isâŠwell, the same as always. He wants the breastplate and armband again. And thereâs a robot, because why wouldnât there be a robot?
I hope you like recaps. Hey, who doesnât. If you like being told what youâve already seen you will be in paradise. The film is only 65 minutes long, and 25 minutes of it is Eduardo presenting a run down of the previous movies.
But after that overlong synopsis (just fast forward though it), things get really bizarre. The Bat goes full out mad scientist, laughing wildly to the skies and announcing his plan to take over the world. Edward and his sidekick go to investigate on their own for no good reason. And weâve got a mummy fighting a robot. In the funniest scene of the trilogy, The Bat and his sidekick have Flor lead them to the sleeping mummy and all they do is stand there and insult him. They really hate that mummy.
For a five year gap, Flor looks as good as ever, but that’s not a huge surprise. Five years aren’t that many for a woman in her twenties. And Eduardo looked old in the first film. It is odd, however, that the two children haven’t aged.
The Robot vs The Aztec Mummy is the best of the three, provided you skip over most of the first half. MST3K did an episode with it but their jokes are unnecessary. It is gloriously ridiculous all on its own.