La Momia Azteca (Attack Of The Aztec Mummy)

1957; b&w

Directed by Rafael Portillo

Starring: Ramon Gay, Rosita Arenas, Crox Alvarado, Luis Aceves Castaneda, Jorge Mondragon & Arturo Martinez

La Maldicion De La Momia Azteca (Curse Of The Aztec Mummy)

1957; b&w

Directed by Rafael Portillo

Starring: Ramon Gay, Rosita Arenas, Crox Alvarado, Luis Aceves Castaneda, Jorge Mondragon & Arturo Martinez

La Momia Azteca Contra El Robot Humano (The Robot VS. The Aztec Mummy)

1958; b&w

Directed by Rafael Portillo

Starring: Ramon Gay, Rosita Arenas, Crox Alvarado, Luis Aceves Castaneda, Jorge Mondragon & Arturo Martinez

For some reason 1957-60 was a great time for mummy movies, with no less than five films revolving around an undead guy in bandages with a big chip on his shoulder. Preceding the far more well-known Hammer mummy flick by at least a year, La Momia Azteca takes the basic elements of the classic 1932 version, starring Boris Karloff, adds in a few uniquely Mexican twists and winds up a fun slice of '50s schlock-o-rama. The story revolves around a doctor, Dr. Almada, who has a theory about hypnosis and past-life regression that is deemed medically impossible or unsound (or something) by his fellow doctors. Knowing he's right about his theory, Almada sets out to prove it and his fiancee, Flora, volunteers to be put under in order to help his cause. As some of this has been going on, a mysterious figure shrouded in black hovers outside windows, monitoring conversations, and in the back of the doctor's lab, watching the experiment. During said experiment Flora goes back to her previous life as an Aztec princess named Xochi. Xochi's entire raison d'être is to live to the age of 25 so she can be a virginal sacrifice for some Aztec god. Trouble is, she's got the hots for a warrior named Popoca who doesn't mind risking pissing off the gods by loving her back. Once their secret love is uncovered, as a penalty, she's sacrificed and buried wearing a gold breastplate and armband that are covered in hieroglyphics detailing the location of the treasure of the Aztecs. Popoca is then forced to drink some elixir and sentenced to an eternity spent as the undead guardian of the princess' tomb. Centuries later, when all of this is dismissed as silly ancient folklore and legend, Almada figures that if he can retrieve the breastplate of Xochi then his theory will be proven. He succeeds in this, winning the acclaim and acceptance of his colleagues, but he's also unaware that the mysterious figure in black continues to shadow him. Turns out he's "The Bat", a local super-villain of sorts who's determined to get the Aztec treasure. He sends his men to Almada's to get the armband and breastplate but they run into Popoca, who's found his way to Almada's house to reclaim the trinkets. The mummy spies Flora, thinks she's Xochi, and kidnaps her. Almada quickly figures out what's going on and he, along with Flora's father (who's also a professor), rush to the tomb. By now The Bat's men have told him about their encounter with the mummy and he tells them they're crazy. They then go to Almada's in hopes of grabbing the trinkets and end up in a car chase with Almada's crew and the police. The cops pulls everyone over and it's revealed that The Bat is one of Almada's colleagues, Dr. Krupp; he gets a ride to the pokey, his goons escape, and Almada and company go to the tomb. Once they get there, they see the mummy is about to recreate the ancient sacrifice with Flora subbing for Xochi. The professor distracts the mummy while the others free Flora and get her out of the tomb. He then causes an explosion (I think he throws his revolver into a fire) that buries them both (along with the breastplate and armband) but insures everyone else's freedom… and completely paves the way for the next two installments in this franchise.
—the Kommandant

La Maldicion De La Momia Azteca (Curse Of The Aztec Mummy)

Filmed at essentially the same time as the first installment (and the third; all three were made during a two month period in 1957) this sequel picks up literally where the last movie left off, with Dr. Krupp's main goons reading about their boss' arrest in the next morning's newspaper. You'd think maybe these two would seize this opportunity to move their criminal ranking up a bit but, as they're not even hip enough to the details Krupp's evil scheme in order to carry it out without him, they vow to free their leader in order to carry on business as usual. Meanwhile, back at the station, the cops "interrogate" the doctor in a well appointed office by asking him questions he never responds to; opting instead to stroke his hat and look smug. They learn nothing, and send the evil doctor back to his cell while the good doctor, his fiancee, the good doctor's son and their bumbling friend all return to their home. After sending the boy and the bumbling friend off to bed, Dr. Almada and Flora retell the story of the curse of the Aztec Mummy at length and briefly discuss their impending nuptials. The following day the police pack Dr. Krupp into the back of a bus and prepare to move him to… well, I don't know where. It's not important, I guess. (They would have mentioned it if it was, right?) Hot on the heels of this departing bus is a car full of crooks led by lead henchmen Lilac & Bear; and hot on the heels of the departure of both vehicles is the surprising arrival of a stylishly attired masked hero. (No, it's not Santo. This masked hero is called The Angel - although the viewer doesn't know that yet, unless he or she has read the back of the DVD.) After learning that the bus is "headed a few miles North" from some random people on the street, he quickly heads off in the same direction. When the police bus pulls up to wherever it was they were going, they are immediately accosted by gun toting mobsters. One by one, cops go down and Dr. Krupp escapes out the back door of the bus. Shortly after, The Angel shows up and starts whooping on the bad guys. Since he uses his fists, not a gun, the bad guys recover in a minute. Then they beat him up and take off with the evil doctor. A headline confirms the flight of The Bat. Back at the good doctor's house, the Angel appears at the top of the family's staircase. He bounds into the room, warns Almada, Flora and the boy to Krupp's escape and briefly explains his nonsensical role in this story. Before he leaves, he entrusts a radio watch to the group, telling them they can use it to contact him in the future, should they need to. And, of course, they will as it's only a matter of time before Krupp heads up another expedition to steal the Aztec treasure. (Now housed in Dr. Almada's house, along with the Aztec Mummy himself, for safe keeping.) But, first, they kill a whole bunch of time by having Dr. Krupp retell the whole damn story of Xochi and Popoca all over again, complete with footage from the first film. (How Friday The 13th Part 2!) What will happen to the good doctor, his fiancee, the good doctor's son, the bumbling friend, the evil doctor, the evil doctor's henchmen, The Angel and as yet unseen Aztec Mummy when we eventually leave this extended flashback and get back to the story of this sequel? (Assuming we do.) You'll have to watch for yourself to find out.
—Bunny

La Momia Azteca Contra El Robot Humano (The Robot VS. The Aztec Mummy)

The third and final entry in the Aztec Mummy Collection is actually my favorite of the three films, but for all the wrong reasons. The total running time of this one is only 66 minutes, and they still spent no less than 35 of those minutes recapping the first two movies, but this time around it actually worked for me because they got rid of nearly all the extemporaneous junk and whittled it down to basic plot. (Had you not actually seen the first two, this would be essential knowledge.) La Momia Azteca Contra El Robot Humano picks up an unspecified length of time after the end of the second movie, and starts with Dr. Almada giving the already mentioned recap to a group of colleagues he's invited to his home. Through this we also learn that not only is Dr. Krupp still on the loose, the whereabouts of the mummy, the breastplate and the armband are unknown. Almada is concerned that Krupp somehow has a hypno hold on Flora and is using her to locate the mummy, which is exactly what has happened. It seems old Popoca is resting in a crypt in an old cemetery, but Krupp can't retrieve the golden goodies because he knows he (or anyone trying to) will be immediately killed by the mummy. He decides the best way to sidestep this problem is by creating a "human robot" that will be impervious to the mummy's extra-worldly powers. He also loads him up with some kinda radioactive device that, when the power's turned up, can burn or incinerate any living thing the robot touches. The robot is one of the cheapest, cheesiest looking things I've ever seen in a movie—and that's sayin' something. Not only that, it can't even beat a mummy in a one-on-one match. One bearhug and the robot is nothing more than a pile of tin waiting for the recycling bin. In the end, just like in the first two movies, Popoca succeeds in getting his bling back before shuffling off to his eternal rest… or so we assume.
—the Kommandant