The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy

The Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy
Original Mexican poster
Directed by Rafael Portillo
Produced by Guillermo Calderón
Written by Guillermo Calderón (story) and
Alfredo Salazar (story/ screenplay)[1]
Starring Ramon Gay
Rosita Arenas
Luis Aceves Castaneda[2]
Music by Antonio Díaz Conde
Cinematography Enrique Wallace
Edited by Jorge Bustos, Jose Li-ho, Jack R. Remy
Distributed by Cinematografica Calderon S.A
Release date
  • 1958 (1958)
Running time
 65 minutes
Country Mexico
Language Spanish

The Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy (originally La Momia Azteca contra el Robot Humano) is a Mexican horror film, the third in a trilogy, directed by Rafael Portillo, starring Ramón Gay and Rosa Arenas. It blends elements of science fiction and horror. The film is the sequel to The Aztec Mummy and The Curse of the Aztec Mummy, and a large portion of it consists of an extended recap of the events from the first two films in the series. The three films were all shot in 1957, one after another without a break in the production schedule[3].

Plot

The evil Dr. Krupp (Luis Aceves Castañeda), a mad scientist known as "The Bat", managed to escape the snake pit into which he was thrown at the end of The Curse of the Aztec Mummy and continues his efforts in this film to steal a valuable Aztec treasure from the tomb of a centuries-old living mummy, Popoca (Angel di Stefani). Krupp builds a robot with a human brain in it, planning to use it to destroy the mummy, should he return to thwart his efforts. Krupp's former colleague and original finder of the mummy, Dr. Eduardo Almada (Ramón Gay), and associates Flor and Pinacate, work to stop the mad scientist from completing his plans. Almada and Flor are married in this third film in the series, and Pinacate has given up his masked superhero career as the Angel.

Dr. Krupp gets inside the mummy's tomb and once again steals the gold breastplate from its resting place on the mummy's chest. When Popoca wakes up in a rage, Krupp orders his human robot to fight him. The two monsters engage in a fierce struggle to the death, but the robot's ability to deliver burns and electrical shocks from his hands quickly begin to wear the mummy down. Just as it seems the robot is winning, Dr. Almada bursts into the tomb and knocks the remote control from Dr. Krupp's hands, effectively shutting off the robot's brain. In a wild rage, Popoca tears into the robot, literally tearing him into scrap metal. Popoca strangles Dr. Krupp and his henchman, then stumbles off to another tomb where hopefully no one will ever disturb his sleep again.

Cast

Production and Distribution

The film was actually released in 1958 by Azteca Films Inc. in its original Spanish language for Spanish-speaking American community audiences. English-language dubbing rights were subsequently acquired by entrepreneur K. Gordon Murray, who distributed the film nationally in 1964, on a programmed double bill with The Vampire's Coffin (El Ataud del Vampiro), as Young America Productions Inc. Subsequently, he syndicated it to TV, as one in a package of dubbed Mexican horror films which eventually gained a following in the US by their appearance on the USA Cable Network.

The film made its debut on DVD on Jul 30, 2002 where it was released by Alpha Video. It was re-released again on Mar 12, 2003 by Beverly Wilshire. It was later released in The Aztec Mummy Collection, a 3-disc set which included the rest of the films in the series. It was last released in 2013 and 2014 by Willette Acquisition Corp. and VCI Video, respectively.[4]

Critical Reception

Contemporary reviews of the film, or other articles concerning it, have not been located.

In post-modern times, the TV program Mystery Science Theater 3000 riffed the film in the second episode of the first season, which aired for the first time in 1989. The Canadian comedy series This Movie Sucks! featured an edited version of the film in its second season.

Cultural Inaccuracies

The movie shows a notable lack of awareness of Mesoamerican civilizations, as it suggests the Aztecs practiced mummification and used hieroglyphics. In reality, they used pictographs and practiced cremation and simple burial. It was the Inca civilization that practiced mummification, and the Maya who had a system of hieroglyphics. Also, the mummy is depicted in the Egyptian style (upright or lying on its back) rather than in the Inca style (hunched into a ball with its feet pulled to the body and its knees close to the face).

Other films in The Aztec Mummy series

References

  1. ↑ Weldon, Michael (1983). "The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film". Ballantine Books. ISBN 345-34345-5. Page 592
  2. ↑ O'Neill, James (1994). "Terror on Tape". Billboard Books. ISBN 0-8230-7612-1. Page 299
  3. ↑ Hardy, Phil (1995). "The Overlook Film Encyclopedia Horror. Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-624-0. Page 109
  4. ↑ "The Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy (1957) - Rafael Lopez Portillo". AllMovie.com. AllMovie. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  5. ↑ Hardy, Phil (1995). "The Overlook Film Encyclopedia Horror. Overlook Press. ISBN 0-87951-624-0. Page 164
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