DOCTOR OF DOOM

(Las Luchadoras Contra el Médico Asesino)

1963/Director: René Cardona/Writer: Alfredo Salazar

Cast: Lorena Velázquez, Armando Silvestre, Elizabeth Campbell, Roberto Canedo, Sonia Infante, Chucho Salinas, Chabela Romero

Also Known As:

Rock ‘N Roll Wrestling Women vs. the Aztec Ape

Sex Monster

I Tigris Tou Catch (Greece)

Doctor of Doom (Las Luchadoras vs el Médico Asesino/The Wrestling Women vs. the Murderous Doctor) was one of six lachaodra (wrestling women) films produced by Guillermo Calderon that were directed by Rene Cardona and written by Alfredo Salazar. The last two films, Las Luchadoras vs. el Robot Asesino and El Horripilante Bestia Humana (both from 1968) were loose remakes of Doctor of Doom. El Horripilante Bestia Humana is also known as Night of the Bloody Apes and was reviewed only a few posts ago here at the Café. Of the six films three would be translated into English by the legendary K. Gordon Murray, those being Doctor of Doom, Night of the Bloody Apes and the second of this post’s double feature Wrestling Women vs the Aztec Mummy. Lately I have managed to get my little hands on quite a few Mexican horror films and a small number of luchalibre (wrestling) films with Santos (or Samson as his name is translated by K. Gordon Murray and crew) and have to admit that for the most part these are all entertaining little films. I think about a 3rd of the films though are not subtitled or dubbed and that can be a hassle for me. While I can watch a film in another language and get some pleasure from it I really cannot review or the film or comment on it. At the most I could get some screen captures and promote the film that way but how can I comment on a story that I really do not understand except on a most basic level. I will say, as I have said before, that these films do not suffer from being dubbed into English unless you are a purist. I find the dubbing to be fun really and all the colloquial errors only add to the enjoyment.

MORE LUCIDORA ACTION IN DOCTOR OF DOOM AND WRESTLING WOMEN vs THE AZTEC MUMMY >>

NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES

(LA TERRIFICANTE BESTIA HUMANA)

1969/Director: René Cardona/Writer: René Cardona, René Cardona Jr.

Cast: Armando Silvestre, Norma Lazareno, José Elías Moreno, Carlos López Moctezuma,  Agustín Martínez Solares

Also Known As:

Gomar: The Human Gorilla
Horror and Sex
Horror y sexo (racier version)

Before finally getting around to seeing Night of the Bloody Apes aka La Horripilante/Terricante Bestia Humana/The Horrible Man Beast, Horror y Sexo/Horror and Sex and Gomar: the Human Gorilla,  I was only aware of Rene Cardona’s work as the director of genre Mexican Wrestling films. Those type of films are built around the lucha libre culture of Mexico where wrestling is pretty serious business. Usually the wrestlers appear in some sort of mask though not all of the time. Cardona directed some of the better Santos films (redubbed and released in the States as Samson by K. Gordon Murray) and some Wrestling women films. In fact Night of the Bloody Apes is a loose remake of one of his earlier films Doctor of Doom (Las Luchadoras Contra el Médico Asesino) which is also known as Rock ‘N Roll Wrestling Women vs. the Aztec Ape.  Actually the ape creature in Doctor of Doom was called Gomar but I do not recall the creature being called that in Night of the Bloody Apes so I am not sure why the film is also called Gomar: The Human Gorilla. Seems Doctor of Doom would have also been known under that title. So anyway, if you have not gathered Night of the Bloody Apes is a horror film, but is also a wrestling film and the star wrestler is the cute and shapely luchadoras (female wrestler) Lucy who wears a bright red devil girl outfit and for some reasons when she appears in the ring looks twenty or thirty pounds heavier. (more…)

DANIEL GRIFFITH Says:

Greetings Uranium Willy and K. Gordon Murray fans,

An ALL-NEW, ten minute promo trailer for THE WONDER WORLD OF K. GORDON MURRAY entitled, “Citizen Murray”, will be available online December 19, 2008 (at kgordonmurraymovie.com). There will also be more information regarding the documentary on the ‘official’ website… as well as Rob Craig’s own kgordonmurray.com website!!!

The feature-length documentary will be completed and released in the fall of 2009, which marks the 50th Anniversary of K. Gordon Murray’s most successful Kiddie Matinee release, the 1959 mexican fantasy “SANTA CLAUS”.

The documentary features ALL-NEW interviews with Murray’s family, childhood friends, business associates, actors, directors, and a few surprise guests. I have spent the past two years traveling the US collecting interviews and other visual material to help shed some light on this obscure subject. This includes the discovery of ‘lost’ film footage, as well as the use of more than 250 ‘rare’ photographs covering every year of Murray’s life (and behind the scenes photos from his films). More to come…

And remember…. THE WONDER WORLD IS COMING!!!!!

Best,
DANIEL GRIFFITH
Director/Producer
BALLYHOO MOTION PICTURES

Kenneth Gordon Murray was born in the American heartland of Bloomington Indiana in 1922. His father was a funeral home director and young Ken,or Kagey, spent much of his time in the company of local carnival and circus workers who camped in the Bloomington area during the cold winters. By the time he was a teenager he was running bingo parlors and getting the knack for smooth talking the authorities. By the end of the thirties Murray was getting his circus pals small roles in films through casting directors he knew. His first big show business break was  helping to cast several height impaired persons (midgets, dwarves or whatever they are called) in 1939’s The Wizard of Oz. This would lead to him helping to cast circus folk for Cecil B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth. By this time Murray had moved to Hollywood with his wife Irene and learned some of the ropes of film production. While hardly worthy to tie the boot straps of someone like DeMille this did not stop Murray from heading to Miami Florida to set up his own production company humbly called K. Gordon Murray Productions. (more…)