The Mexican Masked Wrestler And Monster Filmography

Any on-screen schmuck can take down a wolfman with a silver bullet. It takes a certain kind of hero to hoist that wolfman overhead into an airplane spin, follow with a body slam, drop an atomic elbow across his mangy neck, leg-lock him until he howls, and pin his furry back to the mat for a three-count. It takes a Mexican masked wrestler. Add a few half-naked vampire women, Aztec mummies, mad scientists, evil midgets from space, and a goateed Frankenstein monster, and you have just some of the elements of Mexican masked wrestler and monster movies, certainly among the most bizarre, surreal and imaginative films ever produced. This filmography features some of the oddest cinematic showdowns ever concocted—Mexican masked wrestlers battling monsters, evil geniuses and other ne’er-do-wells, be it in caves, cobwebbed castles or in the ring. From the 1950s to the 1970s, these movies were staples of Mexican cinema, combining action, horror, sex, science fiction and comedy into a bizarre amalgam aimed to please the whole family. Chapters examine the roots of the phenomenon, including the hugely popular masked wrestling scene and the classic Universal horror films from which Mexican filmmakers stole without compunction. Subsequent chapters focus on El Santo, Blue Demon, and Mil Mascaras, the three most prominent masked wrestlers; wrestling women; other less prominent masked wrestlers; and the insane mish-mash of monsters pitted against the heroes. Each chapter includes background information and a full filmography, and a wide assortment of striking illustrations—posters, lobby cards and other graphic material, some better than the movies they advertised—accompany the text.

This work traces how Gothic imagination from the literature and culture of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe and twentieth-century US and European film has impacted Latin American literature and film culture. Serrano argues that the Gothic has provided Latin American authors with a way to critique a number of issues, including colonization, authoritarianism, feudalism, and patriarchy. The book includes a literary history of the European Gothic to demonstrate how Latin American authors have incorporated its characteristics but also how they have broken away or inverted some elements, such as traditional plot lines, to suit their work and address a unique set of issues. The book examines both the modernistas of the nineteenth century and the avant-garde writers of the twentieth century, including Huidobro, Bombal, Rulfo, Roa Bastos, and Fuentes. Looking at the Gothic in Latin American literature and film, this book is a groundbreaking study that brings a fresh perspective to Latin American creative culture.

This is a critical overview of monster magazines from the 1950s through the 1970s. "Monster magazine" is a blanket term to describe both magazines that focus primarily on popular horror movies and magazines that contain stories featuring monsters, both of which are illustrated in comic book style and printed in black and white. The book describes the rise and fall of these magazines, examining the contributions of Marvel Comics and several other well-known companies, as well as evaluating the effect of the Comics Code Authority on both present and future efforts in the field. It identifies several sub-genres, including monster movies, zombies, vampires, sword-and-sorcery, and pulp-style fiction. The work includes several indexes and technical credits.

Thanks in large part to an exploitation film producer and distributor named K. Gordon Murray, a unique collection of horror films from Mexico began to appear on American late-night television and drive-in screens in the 1960s. Ranging from monster movies clearly owing to the heyday of Universal Studios to the lucha libre horror films featuring El Santo and the “Wrestling Women,” these low-budget “Mexploitation” films offer plenty of campy fun and still inspire cult devotion, yet they also reward close study in surprising ways. This work places Mexploitation films in their historical and cultural context and provides close textual readings of a representative sample, showing how they can be seen as important documents in the cultural debate over Mexico’s past, present and future. Stills accompany the text, and a selected filmography and bibliography complete the volume.

It's mayhem, murder and masks in the acclaimed genre-bending novel from the "First Lady of Hard Case Crime" Christa Faust (Money Shot, Choke Hold).Hoodtown, ghetto of masked wrestlers, inner-city sanctuary of hooded culture. Evolved from lucha libre, the family gimmick is sacred, and the mask is the sole expression of one's identity.Now, Hood prostitutes are turning-up murdered and worse, unmasked, and the 'Skin' establishment is as much help as a paid-off ref. Enter X, former luchadora with a bruised past, a bum knee and no time to play Santo. She's no hero, but there's nobody else to tag-in, as her hunt for a killer uncovers a conspiracy that could take down all of maskedkind.Like Casablanca with wrestling masks, Hoodtown is vintage pulp noir with a lucha libre pop culture twist.This expanded second print edition of the long-sold out HOODTOWN includes introductory texts by Latina filmmakers Ivy Agregan and Gigi Saul Guerrero, a 12 page "Art of Hoodtown" gallery featuring unused roughs and originals by illustrator Rafael Navarro, and a sample chapter of Matt Wallace's lucha libre novella RENCOR: Life in Grudge City.

Includes, beginning Sept. 15, 1954 (and on the 15th of each month, Sept.-May) a special section: School library journal, ISSN 0000-0035, (called Junior libraries, 1954-May 1961). Also issued separately.