Keith J. Rainville / FROM PARTS UNKNOWN

Transcription

1 Anoter fine publication J. / F foreign zombie movies of te 70s you never knew existed, and wy KEITH J. AIVILLE

2 Sunny, beautiful GUAAJUATO, were THE DEAD DO T T! J. a woman wo was very sorry se was dead and in suc a place as tis. A rater necessary pronunciation sson for most of us: J. Guanajuato Gwa-na-wa-toe And later: Peraps te tongue-twisting name of te zombie capital of exico played a part in keeping tese films conted to te Spanis-speaking world? Tey were screaming. Tey looked as if tey ad aped, snapped uprigt in teir graves, clutced ands over teir srived bosoms and screamed, jaws wide, tongues out, nostrils flared. And been frozen tat way.1 Guanajuato is a Spanis Colonial city known for prolific silver mines, being te birtplace of Diego ivera, o... and over 100 accidentally preserved corpses on display in one of te world s most macabre museums. But in a country were sketal imagery is as common a oliday teme as Santa Claus, and deat isn t someting to ide your ead in te sand from, suc oterwise terrifying ements are fair game, even for te likes of a super-ero action film. So in 1970, producer ogelio Agrasáncez set out for Guanajuato wit tree gendary masked wrestrs and sparked an entire sub-genre of te zombie film. Wrestrs? Super-eroes? ead on, I ll expl... From Te ext in Line as reprinted in Arcie Lieberman s Te ummies of Guanajuato, Harry. Abrams, Bradbury was really on target wit te true orror of te mummified. Between rigor mortis and te stretcing of dry skin and musc, many of te dead ave gaping open mouts as if caugt in a deat sriek. Tere was an embarrassment of orror. You started wit te first man on your rigt, ooked and wired uprigt agst te wall, and e was not good to look upon, and you went on to te woman next to im wo was unbelievab and ten to a man wo was orrendous and ten to ay Bradbury brougt te grisliness of Guanajuato to ligt wit is 1947 sort story Te ext in Line. A dysfunctional vacationing American coup drive to Guanajuato and take in te taboo momia display wit some devastating psycological results. Bradbury described te catacombs wit a poetry of personal fear equal to tat felt by is caracters: An embarrassment of orror Te naturally mummified dead, said to be exumed for reasons of space, or non-payment of burial taxes imposed by te local government, ave been a curiosity on display to te public in one way or anoter since teir discovery. A modern museum wit bodies under glass as replaced te old open catacombs were te dead were propped up like wall flowers at a scool dance. Beginning in te 1860s, remarkably unrotted rems ave been unearted from te San Sebastian cemetery. Conflicting teories credit te ig-alkali soil, or te lack of umidity spoiling above-ground tombs, but er way a percentage of te city s long-buried dead ave not turned to ases or dust.

3 J. / F ansión de la siete momias ASIO OF THE SEVE UIES (Cinematográfica Tikal-Producciones Fílmicas Agrasáncez, 1975) Assoc Prod: ogelio Agrasáncez; Dir-Scr: afael Lanuza; Poto: Armando Castillón; usic: Luis Hernández Bretón; Prod. ngr: Carlos Lanuza; Assy Dir: José Luis Urquieta; Ed: José W. Bustos; ake-up: Antonio Castañeda; Sound & Special FX: oberto uñoz; Cief of Tec: Febronio Tepozte; Sound Ed: José Li-Ho Cast: Blue Demon, Superzán, aría Cardinal (Sofía de la Garza), Claudio Lanuza (uncback), Laura Fierro (Isabel Calzadilla), anuel Palacios anolín, Enrique Bremermann, Edgar Eceverría, Julio Santos, Alfonso ilián (lawyer Jiménez), afael Lanuza (tourist guide); wrestrs: olando Clausmann, Fulvio Eceverría, Carlos Álvarez, aúl Vancia, Guilrmo Camero, Carlos Valdéz, ario A. eyes Poor Sofia de la Garza buxom, gorgeous, womanof-te-autor s-dreams but se s also te last descendant of a cursed family. In order to break tat curse and inerit te clan treasure se must compte a series of daunting and grisly tasks. Sceming ancestors from beyond te grave, Lucifer imself and teir seven magnificent zombies are in er way, but wit self-appointed protectors Blue Demon, Superzan and witering golden age comedian anolín to elp er, ow can se fail? I adore tis film... Filmed around colonial ruins in Antigua, Guatemala, te mansion is question is more of an estate grounds. Her initial task is retrieving a jewed scepter from te lair of te momias, a familiar camber wit arced doorways tat ouse te dead. Blue and Superzan run interference, slapping te zombies around long enoug for er to grab te scepter. Te momias are indestructib, owever te second se comptes a task, tey go dormant. A nice gimmick. Sofia s second penitence sequence is te absolute eigt of te film, and a ig point in te entire subgenre. Se must retrieve te skull of an ancestor and give it a proper burial, but te skull (wic looks like it was sculpted wit cewing gum arvested from under a scool desk) is living, as a totally bad attitude and rests at te end of a rickety wooden bridge over a swamp infested by zombies! It s te only time any of te momias saw action in water, and is by far te best conventional orror scene in te series ranking wit anyting contemporary from Italy, Sp or te U.S. Te film s climax is a bit clunky, alas. Sofia is waldup wit te e troubmakers, now revead as driedup animated corpses. A creepy uncback wo s been stalking er since te film s beginning turns out to be possessed by te spirit of er fater, and sacrifices imself to save er. eanwi, te luca-eroes ave peraps te most viont and crisply executed figt of any of tese films. Te action is good, and Sofia s predicament is indeed dire, wit a nice touc in te tragic uncback saving te beautiful girl deal. All te pieces are tere, but my kingdom for a better editing job. Te cast ere is all good. I m positively smitten wit te rater Claudia Cardina-like aría Cardinal as J. / F Sofia a perfect combination of big air, giant fake eyelases and oter tants tat, say, a uss eyer would ave loved to soot imself. Te side caracters are rater outré, from te ancestors still dressed in colonial garb to te orned Satan, wit Sofia s lummox boyfriend odrigo making troub too. Demon is is standard eroic self, but Superzan must ave been on acid wen e packed is suitcase for Guatemala because is wardrobe is a oot. Te music is an odd mix of traditional instruments (te bowed saw figures prominently) and experimental ectronics, wit a ligt-motif tat arkens to Emerson, Lake and Palmer s Te Gnome. Te zombies are in te familiar masks, and in some kilr scenes of clawing at te screaming damsel, teir ands ave actually been made-up nicely too. I salute te poor S.O.B.s wo ad to submerge in te really gunky-looking swamp water in full momia gear. See tis film for tis scene alone. Swamp zombies! Tragic fasions Has muc of te Italo-Spanis zombie flavor of te 80s Two words - AíA CADIAL Cinematográfica Tikal-Producciones Fílmicas Agrasáncez, 1975

4 J. J. Below: Te dirty dozen dead were compmented by a cadre of litt peop as encmen. Several Agrasáncez classics used litt peop in gang ros, sometimes wit superpowers, sometimes as rat men, you name it. Once ag, te simp face masks and crude appliances end up being remarkably effective. Tese are on par wit anyting seen in Burial Ground or Zombie Holocaust. Above: Te luca-ero genre is mostly greasy kids stuff and tis set is Saturday morning Sid and arty Kroft quality, so wen zombies start torturing screaming, bloody ced-up innocents wit ectrical burners it s a real socker.

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