Films That Witness Madness

review

THE AZTEC MUMMY

The Universal monster flicks are generally regarded as classics of the horror genre. Truth be told, I don't necessarily agree. There are a few of them - FRANKENSTEIN, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, THE INVISIBLE MAN and THE WOLFMAN - that I consider to be flawless masterpieces but I find the majority of them to be somewhat lacking. Tod Browning's DRACULA, for example, might have been a regular thrill-a-thon back in the day but I can barely get through it in a single viewing. THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON is watchable only for the beautiful Julie Adams and THE MUMMY is decent but ultimately dull. As blasphemous as it may sound to many of you, I find the Hammer variations on these characters to be much more engaging, in part because they manage a level of perversion and viscera that simply couldn't be done in the Universal days. The grue and sexual intrigue in the Hammer DRACULA series in particular adds a level of excitement to the proceedings, something I find sorely lacking in their American counterpart.

I've recently starting watching yet another variation on these classic monsters. This time, the country of origin is Mexico. So far, so unimpressed. A few of the films I've seen so far definitely make the grade in terms of visuals - some of these films had budgets much lower than their Universal counterparts but managed to match them in both scope and realism - but their underlying stories seem to be confused.

Take THE AZTEC MUMMY for example. While the Universal flick was a strangely romantic and tragic film, the Mexican variation is a confused mix of crime and science fiction flick with just a smidgen of mummy action thrown in during the last twenty minutes. The plot goes something like this:

Doctor Almada is close to a breakthrough in past life regression hypnosis. His peers don't believe him. To test his theories, his fiance willingly undergoes the hypnosis. To everyone's surprise, the Doctor's fiance, Flora, turns out to be the reincarnation of an Aztec maiden. While under hypnosis, she remembers falling in love with a great warrior named Popoca. Their love is short-lived however as Flora has been chosen to be a virgin sacrifice to a great god. The Aztec mystics don't take too kindly with someone messing with their virgin sacrifice so they pour a madness-inducing brew down his throat and entomb him alive before sacrificing Flora on the altar.

Knowing this is his chance to present solid evidence for the validity of his work, Doctor Almada takes off with Flora, her father and a few hangers-on to an Aztec temple. Using Flora as their guide, they find the final resting place of Popoca. They promptly steal a breastplate, one of two pieces of precious Aztec treasure that could lead them to a wealth of priceless goodies. Little do they know, a masked criminal who calls himself The Bat has been tailing them the whole time, looking to steal the breastplate so he can snag the riches for himself.

Oh and they woke up Popoca from his eternal slumber.

The first hour of this hour and twenty minute melodrama is given over to endless scenes of Flora sitting in the hypnosis chair and our adventurers wandering through Styrofoam tombs. The film seems so unconcerned with the actual Aztec Mummy that when Popoca shows up you're almost taken by surprise - you would be forgiven if you thought the Aztec Mummy of the title was just a metaphor for something completely unrelated to the walking dead. The big reveal of Popoca is the best scene of the film, a creepy little piece where all our characters are standing silently in the tomb as the quiet shuffling of Mummy's feet grows louder and louder. This is the only scene of the film that even approaches horror. Unfortunately, strange plot elements turn the rest of the mummy action into unintentional comedy. For example, Popoca has an aversion to flashlight beams - maybe they hurt his eyes? - and is afraid of a crucifix - would an Aztec Mummy even know what a Catholic crucifix signifies or even what one looks like? These little oddities, small as they may be, suck all the tension out of a film that has very little to begin with.

Then there's The Bat, our masked villain. I'm not quite sure why every other Mexican horror film has to have a masked man of some sort in the plot but the inclusion of this character adds positively nothing to the film. His eventual unmasking and arrest is so out of place and trivial that it almost feels left over from an earlier draft of the film - one that didn't have a Aztec Mummy at all perhaps? The whole film feels like this, disjointed, rambling, reaching, confused and cluttered.

However, this is a good looking film and Popoca is a creepy looking creation. That is what seemed to matter the most to the filmmakers. It was as if they thought that making a good looking flick somehow meant that they were making a good flick. Well, that isn't the case. What they forgot to do was add all the really important things into the mix such as tension, scares, drama, believable characters with actual personalities, etc. The end result of their creative process is a pretty film that goes nowhere and does nothing.

Just like a real Aztec Mummy.

Not recommended.

DISCUSS THIS FILM IN THE FORUM! JUST CLICK HERE TO VISIT!