THE ROBBERY OF THE MUMMIES OF GUANAJUATO (1972)

 

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

Since Santo, Blue Demon and Mil Mascaras had teamed up to fight some Guanajuato-mummies in a 1970 flick, apparently some producer decided to repeat the formula. This time Mil Mascaras gets to be the Big Cheese, while two lesser lights, Blue Angel and Rayo de Jalisco, follow him around. All three are pretty interchangeable though.

The title refers to the fact that some evil schemers "steal" the long dead mummies by bringing them back to life, so that they desert their musuem exhibitions in Guanajuato. However, I don't quite get why the filmmakers thought it important for the title stress the "robbery," which is over as soon as the mummies get up and leave. How about more time-approved terms like "RETURN OF" or "CURSE OF?"

As for the schemers, they are two guys who mostly stand around their HQ talking to each other about how commonplace people don't understand their sort of visionaries. One, Doctor Raymond, is a modern-day evil scientist, but his more flamboyant ally is an ancient, possibly mystic known as Count Cagliostro. The latter is played by Tito Novaro, who directed this film, also the only luchador flick in his directorial catalog, and he gives himself all the film's best lines. Two of the writers who worked on this film also essayed two related  vampire films of the sixties, BLOODY VAMPIRE and INVASION OF THE VAMPIRES, and the writers give those earlier flicks a shout-out by having Cagliostro mention Count Frankenhausen.

ROBBERY doesn't include nearly enough mummy-fighting scenes, though the few present are decent enough. Oddly, the evildoers also sic a bunch of killer dwarves on one of the wrestlers, who gets totally trashed by the mini-menaces. The oddest touch is that while the wrestler-heroes are tooling around trying to figure out what's going on with the stolen mummies, they're accompanied by four hot babes who aren't really explained. Are they girlfriends? Fellow members of the wrestling-gym? Camp-followers? The ladies aren't involved in any of the action, but they do spruce some of the duller scenes, which may be the only reason they were added.