ARANAS INFERNALES (1968)
aka Hellish Spiders
Article 2552 by Dave Sindelar
Viewing Date: 3-31-2008
Posting Date: 8-7-2008
Directed by Federico Curiel
Featuring Bianca Sanchez, Marta Elena Cervantes, Alejandro Munoz Moreno
Country: Mexico

Spiders from outer space threaten the world with zombie minions. However, Mexican wrestler Blue Demon is out to defeat their evil scheme.

I can understand a little the concept of borrowing footage from other movies to pad out a film; it’s useful if you want to make your movie look a little classier than you can afford or if you want to save time. However, if you go lifting footage from PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE and TEENAGERS FROM OUTER SPACE (as this movie does copiously), it’s obvious that it’s time you’re trying to save. Other than that, it’s business as usual for the Mexican wrestler genre, at least as far as I can tell from the undubbed and unsubtitled copy in Spanish that I watched. The cheesy giant spider (smaller than the one in TARANTULA, bigger than the one in A TERRIBLE NIGHT) is laughable, but it does look better than the flying saucer footage from PLAN 9. The movie has way too much wrestling; only the match that is essential to the plot (in which Blue Demon takes on a seemingly indestructible zombie wrestler) is worth catching, as it features the moment when Blue Demon discovers his opponents Achilles heel (his right arm) and witnesses a truly memorable monster transformation.

You know, as many of the Mexican wrestler movies as I’ve done, I still have the feeling I’ve only scratched the surface…