Blue Demon Film Festival in Dallas, Texas

The Blue Demon Film Festival will be held May 5th & 8th at the Texas Theatre, in Oak Cliff, Dallas, Texas! I'm so jealous of those within in driving distance of Dallas! I, unfortunately, live in Washington State... It's not exactly a day trip for me, so I will miss the festivities, but I hope to hear from someone how it goes. If you don't already know, Blue Demon happens to be my favorite luchador of the Holy Trinity of lucha-libre. Meeting Blue Demon Jr would be an awesome thing, but oh well. It wasn't written in the stars that I'd be able to go to this event.

The Texas Theatre, Oak Cliff, Dallas, Texas

But for those that can attend, here are the details:

Thursday May 5th
The Film: Santo y Blue Demon contra Drácula y Hombre Lobo
Starts at 7:00pm

Film duration: 90 min

Year: 1973

Sunday May 8th
Las Momias de Guanajuato
Starts at 4pm, and replayed at 7:30pm

Film duration: 85 minutes

Year: 1972

Besides the two films, here is the schedule for Sunday May 8th:

2:00pm - Doors open (view of lucha-libre memorabilia)

2:30pm - Documentary of the History of Blue Demon (half hour)

3:00pm - Questions and Answers with Blue Demon Jr, Richard Dominguez, and Robert Mercado.

4:00pm - Las Momias de Guanajuato

Second Showing-

6:00pm - Doors open (view of lucha-libre memorabilia)

6:30pm - Documentary of the History of Blue Demon (half hour)

7:00pm - Questions and Answers with Blue Demon Jr, Richard Dominguez, and Robert Mercado.

7:30pm - Las Momias de Guanajuato

 

Lastly, the address for the Texas Theatre:

Texas Theatre

(214) 948-1546

231 West Jefferson Boulevard

Oak Cliff, Dallas, TX

PS. If anyone attends, please let me know how it goes. I'd also love it if you recorded it and posted the q&a on Youtube :D

Also, don't forget, I am giving away a copy of the Santo lucha-horror classic "La Venganza de la Momia," check out my previous blog entry for details on how to win the dvd!

Santo en Las Momias de Guanajuato

This is probably my favorite of the films I have seen thus far in the lucha-libre genre–probably due to the Holy Trinity star in this film: Santo, Blue Demon, and Mil Máscaras. I also like the fact that in this film (and others) they suggest that Santo comes from a long lineage of Enmascarados de Plata. Imagine Hernán Cortés arriving in México, and seeing a wrestling ring constructed of jungle vine and wood set within an ancient Aztec temple; two tribal brutes duke it out with masks…too bad real lucha history doesn't extend much further than than the early 20th century!

Guanajuato is very beautiful

This isn't a real mummy...

The film is set in the beautiful colonial city of Guanajuato, known for it's bizarre collection of mummies. Pinguino, the midget tour guide, explains to a group of curious visitors: the unique chemical makeup of the earth in Guanajuato only lets the human body break down to a point, then it begins to harden, turning corpses into twisted looking mummies. He goes on to say that one of the mummies is called Satan, and was once a luchador. (He's even still wearing his one-hundred year old tights). It is revealed that this 7' monster had made a pact with the Lord of shadows to return to life to avenge a humiliating loss in the ring against Santo's ancestor. Pinguino remembers that the curse foretells that our villain should return this very day! Well, the curse is true–the lucha mummy and his cohorts set forth causing all sorts of havoc until they find Santo to settle an ancient score.

This is the real museum of the mummies of Guanajuato

And this is what a true mummy of Guanajuato looks like.

Stats
Length: 95 minutes
Year: 1971


Favorite Quote
Blue Demon: How about we celebrate our meeting?
Mil Máscaras: That sounds like a great idea! How about I make us some big steaks, and a Roquefort salad, and a Valencian paella, and a nice vegetable soup, and...
Lina (Mil's girlfriend): Remember, you're on a diet!
Mil Máscaras looks down and whimpers in disappointment


The Ratings:
My rating system is out of five stars, and consists of six categories, then an overall score.

• Story: This is a pretty basic story, like most lucha films. We have the trope of the adopted child (This time Blue Demon has Julio as an adopted son). We have a midget (Pinguino the mummy tour guide). We have monsters (Guanajuato mummies that look more like zombies). I also like how Santo plays as the Deux ex Machina in this film, coming in out of the blue to save the day. I also like that there was only one tag-team wrestling scene in this film. Most of these lucha films have two to three matches that you have to sit through. Depending on whose wrestling, I sometimes watch. Mil is definitely more skilled, and has some impressive movies in the ring in this film.
• Bizarre Factor:   Honestly, this isn't all that weird compared to others. I do like that the police don't seem to terribly distraught over shooting a mummy disguised as Blue Demon with no effect. They are also pretty chummy with Blue Demon when they apologize for accusing him of the murders without any real clues. Also, the one way to survive a mummy attack is to go to sleep. Lina and Julio always are sleeping, yet Mil and Blue Demon don't seem too afraid they might be eaten or kidnapped by the living dead walking the streets of Guanajuato.

• Horror: These mummies are pretty cool looking, but not ragged enough for being 100+ years old. I also like the ring leader's droopy eyeball. Too bad they couldn't be a little more rotten, or even hungry for flesh. They were only good for snapping necks. 

• Action: As per usual lucha film, lots of fights, matches, and throw downs. My favorite scene is when Blue chucks a mummy out of the second story window. I am curious though, are the undead forced to watch Bruce Lee films in the afterlife? I ask because these mummies have only one battle tactic: karate chop. No closed fist punches, no kicks, just hand chops. Not even biting! I guess not all zombies were created equal. 
• Camp: Oh man are there some plot holes in this film. My favorite plot hole is the scene where the mummies knock out Blue Demon and steal his clothes to impersonate him and cause chaos downtown. For one, how did Blue get home? They don't even mention it, and he never tells anyone what happened. Perhaps he was too ashamed to have been stripped by a 7' mummy? Also, why are these mummies only interested in knocking out the heroes? You'd think they would just feast on them instead. 
• Nudity: No nudity, or even suggestion of real sex. Well, Pinguino does ask one of the night club girls to stay the night in her room, but that might be 50% because the little guy is scared of the mummy murders. 
• Overall: This is a really great introduction into the lucha genre of films for anyone. There is only one lucha match to undergo (or fastforward for the weak), the action is pretty quick, not many slow dialogue moments, there are scenes of comedy, and it has all the fun tropes. I would go to this film for new recruits.
  
  

The Plight of a lucha dvd collector...

Like any lucha collector, we run into the difficulty of finding a vendor who has these sacred films. Lord knows I've used eBay, Half.com, Amazon.com, iOffer, and Santoandfriends.com to find the best prices, and specific editions of the dvds (some films are in color, while other companies have a copy in black and white, many don't come with subtitles). It's a long, arduous journey to get these sacred relics of lucha film.

This brings me to my latest purchase, through a third party seller on Amazon.com. Remember, make sure your orders are through Amazon specifically, or you know people who have had good experiences with the third party seller. Check ratings and reviews always.

So, I've been looking for Santo en La Venganza de las Mujeres Vampiro (Santo in the Vengeance of the Vampire Women). The company I dealt (LATINOS DISCOS MOI) with on Amazon sent me Santo en La Venganza de la Momia (Santo in the Vengeance of the Mummy). That's fine, simple mistake, I imagine they have an organized wall of films, and these of course are alphabetized next to each other. So I email him back, telling them of the mistake. I also refunded the order, and asked if they had the correct dvd in their stock. They took a week to respond to me, a big no no. He stated it was "lost" in his inbox. Annoying. He still hasn't mentioned if he had the movie I wanted or not. That's fine, in the week long wait I not only requested a refund through Amazon, but I also ordered the correct dvd through Santo And Friends.

Now, since I'm a little annoyed at the moment due to the recent email stirring up this week long brew of unresolved issues, I want to play a game with you all. Can you see a difference between these two movies?

 

Mujeres Vampiros and Momias... Two very distinct differences in these creatures of the night. Vampire women are sexy, and seductive. Mummies are generally oatmeal faced zombies who played way too much with the toilet paper.

*update 4/11/11 noon* He emailed me back saying "So, you want the momias movie?" How much more explicit do I have to be with you? Here's what I said back lastly, since this seemed to be going in circles:

This is getting confusing, I ordered mujeres vampires, but I received momias....  Prefieres español? Yo compré la película con las mujeres vampiro, pero me mandaste la película con las momias. Ahora, quiero saber si tienes la película con las mujeres vampiro en mano. Avisame.

I'm hoping the Spanish might help this situation. Either way, this email exchange has lasted too long. Save yourself some headache and avoid DISCOS LATINOS MOI on Amazon.com at all cost.

Anyway, I'm done using my blog to vent. Back to the regularly scheduled programming.

Mummies a la Mexicana

This is the last documentary I'll post tonight. This is a documentary made at home by some film professor on Youtube. It's really interesting, and a tad slow. He lets a lot of the film clips do the talking for him. I really need to talk to this guy, and check out more of his work:

Episode 1 Part 1 "The Aztec Mummy"


Episode 1 Part 2 "More Aztec Mummies"


Mummies a la Mexicana: Episode 2 Part 1 "From Egypt to Mexico"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DN8ZHQb7DXU&feature=fvwrel
Not sure why, but this guy didn't allow embedding with the second episode part 1. So, just follow the link above.

Mummies a la Mexicana: Episode 2 Part 2 "Guanajuato to Guatemala"


Again, I must say, great documentary! Lastly, I leave you with this really amazingly great trailer for a double feature of The Vampire's Coffin and The Aztec Mummy: