Mexploitation Cinema: A Critical History of Mexican Vampire, Wrestler, Ape-Man and Similar Films, 1957-1977

by Doyle Greene

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786422012
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	08/29/2005
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	202
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.41(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Independent scholar Doyle Greene is the author of several books and serves on the editorial board of Film Criticism. He lives in Tucson Arizona.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     
Introduction: Why Mexploitation?     

1. Mexploitation: Horror, Mexican Style     
Mexican Horror Cinema in Social Context     
The Birth of Mexploitation     
2. Mexploitation: A Critical Inquiry     
Camp, Cheese, and Counter-Cinema     
Mexploitation as Counter-Cinema     
Mexicanidad and Modernity: Visions of Mexico in Mexploitation     
The Chica Moderna and the Countermacho: Sex, Gender and Patriarchy in Mexploitation     
3. El barón del terror (The Brainiac, 1961)     
4. El Santo, el Enmascarado de Plata     
Santo and the Lucha Libre Film: A Brief History     
Lucha Libre and the Semiotics of Wrestling     
Santo as “National Allegory”     
Santo contra las mujeres vampiro (Santo vs. the Vampire Women, 1962)     
Santo, el Enmascarado de Plata vs. la invasión de los marcianos (Santo, the Silver Masked-Man vs. the Invasion of the Martians, 1966)     
Santo y Blue Demon contra Drácula y el Hombre Lobo (Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and the Wolf Man, 1972)     
5. Las Luchadoras     
From Chica Modernas to Wrestling Women     
Las luchadoras vs. el médico asesino (Doctor of Doom, 1962)     
Las luchadoras contra la momia (Wrestling Women vs. the Aztec Mummy, 1964)     
6. El horripilante bestia humana (Night of the Bloody Apes, 1968)     

Conclusion: The End of Mexploitation     
Selected Filmography     
Chapter Notes     
Bibliography     
Index     

Editorial Reviews

very worthwhile book”—Classic Images; “will be a well-worn reference guide for years to come”—Bookgasm; “eye-opening and thought provoking”—Monsters from the Vault.

From the Publisher

"eye-opening and thought provoking"

Monsters from the Vault

will be a well-worn reference guide for years to come

Bookgasm

very worthwhile book

Classic Images