EL ASESINO INVISIBLE (1965)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *poor*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *cosmological*

As I've said elsewhere, I almost never review foreign films that don't have some English-language translation. But since I just watched CONQUEST, which features Jorge Rivero in a co-starring role, I became curious as to whether Rivero had ever been the main star of a "superhero opera" film. 

And so he did, emulating the popular superhero-wrestler Santo, but with a gold-colored mask in place of a silver one, thus leading to his sole billing as "The Golden Mask." Golden Mask is certainly the star of the story, though it's hard to say if anyone really expected him to earn his own series, particularly since three other actors are billed ahead of "Jorge Rive." 

Since I didn't actually follow the dialogue, my labeling of the film's mythicity as "poor" is just a placeholder based on the general performance of most luchador films. And in every way, EL ASESINO INVISIBLE seems a straightforward formula film. Two scientists summon the Golden Mask to their laboratory to tell him that they've come up with a method of making humans invisible. Quick as a bunny, someone steals the secret of the process after killing the head scientist, and in no time an invisible thief is robbing banks and what not. (It actually might've been more interesting if the thief had turned into a literal assassin, using his powers to knock off high placed dignitaries-- but then, that sort of international intrigue would have dragged the hero away from his comfy Mexican town.)

There are a lot of wrestling-bouts and musical numbers, with the latter mostly performed by top billed Ana Bertha Lupe, and they serve as filler while Golden Mask tries to track down the invisible man. As directed by prolific journeyman Rene Cardona, the film zips along in a pleasing visual manner even without following dialogue, so it's painless to watch. The best scene shows Golden Mask getting the stuffing knocked out of him by his invisible opponent. Of course, one can be sure that the bad guy gets his in the end, but this was the only outing for Golden Mask, even though there's said to be a dubbed version out there that re-titled the film as part of the "Neutron" luchador series. The two luchadores don't resemble each other in the least, but I guess the title might've encouraged a few American viewers to pony up for some enmascarado action.