6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Batwoman is called to investigate a whacked-out scientist that is capturing wrestlers and using their spinal fluid to create a Gill Man.
Starring: Maura Monti, Roberto Cañedo, Héctor Godoy, David Silva (I), Crox AlvaradoHorror | 100% |
Foreign | 99% |
Comic book | Insignificant |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Adventure | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
English: LPCM 2.0 Mono
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Batwoman / The Panther Women.
Years (decades, actually) before North American wrestling stars like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and John Cena started to forge rather successful
film
careers for themselves, Mexican cinema was awash in so-called luchador outings, patently gonzo films which featured members of
Lucha libre, an aggregation of professional wrestlers who wore masks (and often capes). Lucha libre as a term has matriculated to
English in a number of variants, with one of them being the title of the Jack Black feature ostensibly about a luchador star, Nacho Libre, and another being the older animated series
¡Mucha Lucha!. A Mexican actor and wrestler named Rodolfo Guzman Huerta
adopted the stage (ring?) name El Santo and appeared in a staggering array of luchador films, including 1968’s Santo in The Treasure of Dracula,
evidently
due soon on Blu-ray from VCI. VCI has been releasing a number of Mexican films on Blu-ray (the first screeners the label sent wouldn’t play in any
of
my players for some reason, hence no reviews), and has now combined two kinda sorta luchador (or at the very least luchador
adjacent) outings into one totally bizarre double
feature.
The Batwoman is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of VCI Entertainment and MVD Visual with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Kind of incredibly, the press sheet accompanying this release touts a "4K restoration" without providing information on whatever source element was utilized. Both of the films in this set seem to have rejiggered credits sequences done by VCI, I'm assuming so that things would be in English. The presentation here has the same kind of processed look that has often accompanied other VCI Blu-ray releases. While there is something approaching grain on display, it never really resolves naturally and it's often largely missing in action. The palette is decently suffused, but often skews toward blues, which at least helps it match Batwoman's outfit. There are several moments that seem sourced from an element that is inferior to the bulk of the presentation, where things are decidedly fuzzier and more brown looking (see screenshot 9).
The Batwoman features an LPCM 2.0 mono track in English which, if I'm understanding some of the credits added to this release, was done for this version. Voice work is often kind of campily hyperbolic, but the film does have a rather engaging jazz inflected score that sounds fine. Optional English subtitles are available (actual voiceover on the track "translates" Spanish text at various times).
Both films included with this release are offered on one BD-50, with a brief assortment of (newly done?) trailers included as supplements.
This is one of those films that is simply so ridiculous you just have to surrender to its weird charms and enjoy it for what it is. Video encounters some obstacles, but audio is fine, for those who are considering a purchase.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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1965
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1970
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1970
1969
Primitif | Savage Terror | Standard Edition
1978
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1958
Night of the Howling Beast / La maldición de la bestia
1975
1967
2017
Alien from the Deep / Alien degli abissi
1989
La horripilante bestia humana
1969
Incubo sulla città contaminata
1980
Ein Toter hing im Netz / Body in the Web
1960
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie / Non si deve profanare il sonno dei morti
1974
Virus / Apocalipsis Caníbal / Zombie Creeping Flesh / Night of the Zombies
1980
1972
1973
Último deseo
1976
Error 4444 Exclusive | Standard Edition | 限界人口係数 | Genkai jinkô keisû
1995