Movies
How Lucha Libre Birthed Mexico’s Wildest Horror Films
Though schlocky B-horror is often associated with American films of men in cheap rubber monster suits and small casts running around in the desert, past our southern border Mexican pop culture has a strong, storied history of B-horror surrounding luchadores, masked wrestlers. Movies where the kings of the ring beat down on anything demonic or alien that crosses their path. But those films themselves have a wild origin, stemming from a post-war hunt for identity and censorship on the basis of sex. Truly, the luchador films that became the bulk of mexploitation cinema as we know it today didn’t come from a strong desire to uplift lucha but from attempts to suppress it. To understand lucha libre and how it became popular enough to be banned from television, we have to get back to the first half of the 20th century, with the end of the Mexican Revolution.
Today’s story is one of domino effects. Of how cultural moments and political decisions can send out ripples that no one can see coming, to the most unlikely of places sometimes. It’s about the unpredictable and ephemeral nature of life, on and off film. And about how cool it is to see a guy in a silver mask elbow-drop a werewolf. This is the story of how Lucha Libre birthed some of Mexico’s wildest horror films.
Though schlocky B-horror is often associated with American films of men in cheap rubber monster suits and small casts running around in the desert, past our southern border Mexican pop culture has a strong, storied history of B-horror surrounding luchadores, masked wrestlers. Movies where the kings of the ring beat down on anything demonic or alien that crosses their path. But those films themselves have a wild origin, stemming from a post-war hunt for identity and censorship on the basis of sex.
Truly, the luchador films that became the bulk of mexploitation cinema as we know it today didn’t come from a strong desire to uplift lucha but from attempts to suppress it. To understand lucha libre and how it became popular enough to be banned from television, we have to get back to the first half of the 20th century, with the end of the Mexican Revolution.
Mexicanidad and the Rise of Masked Wrestlers
To those unfamiliar with the particulars of the Mexican Revolution, it stands as one of the most violent times of political upheaval in human history. After the deposition of decades-long oligarchical dictator Porfirio Diaz and his regime, multiple parties began to fight for control of the country as its residents sought economic relief, agrarian reform, and the cession of land back to indigenous populations.
The Revolution saw a revolving door of commandants, a cadre of different political groups fighting for a variety of different reasons, and the loss of (by the most conservative estimates) over a million lives in a civil war never before seen in Mexico. Needless to say, the Mexican national identity had been wounded severely by the conflict as doubt and fear filled the populace, and political figures like Lázaro Cárdenas, who found themselves in power following the Revolution, began to try and restore that identity.
From this turning point comes the concept of Mexicanidad, a push for Mexican pride and a reaffirming of the image of the Mexican people that was driven by the tastemakers of Mexican society in politics and media. And for Mexican men, and specifically Mexican working-class men, that evolved into an emphasis on masculinity, virility, athleticism, and what would eventually evolve into our modern conceptions of machismo.
The Television Ban That Birthed Lucha Libre Horror Films
And so came the revitalization of lucha libre, for many reasons. Wrestling as a sport had and still has a fairly low barrier to entry, making it the perfect cheap entertainment for the working class. It had previously captured the hearts of Mexican citizens as far back as the late 1800s when wrestling made its way to the country. It involved masculine displays of strength and agility, which was perfect for the Mexicanidad crowd to endorse. The sport also had a rotating cast of colorful characters, usually the same guys you saw last week but fighting with different masks on, which was the perfect draw for young audiences who soon began to see their favorite luchadors at the comic stands and in wider media.
The craze of professional wrestling spread like wildfire, and more importantly, it spread to a female audience. As female athletes became a point of cultural interest, luchadoras became a very popular element of lucha libre despite being in the minority of performers. There began a melding between the rigid roles of masculine and feminine energy, undesired by many of the political and cultural elites of mid-century Mexico.
The cultural thermometer rapidly cooled due to lucha, and in 1954, federal authorities imposed a 30-year-long ban on lucha libre on Mexican television to prevent the waters from being muddied by such “dangerous” concepts. Soon, lucha had gone from a sport beloved by all people to a brutish, lowbrow event. Which, couldn’t be further from the truth, but cultural hegemony is a hell of a drug!
CDMX’s airwaves had become a no-fly zone for masked wrestlers, and a lost media massacre ensued that caused little to no recordings of those classic matches from the 40s and 50s being kept in circulation. Whole careers had evaporated from record overnight.
But…that didn’t stop luchadors from going to the movies.
Gothic Horror Revival in Mexican Cinema
The film wasn’t just a smash hit at the box office, it was a superkick to the mouth of Mexican cinema that ended up causing a true gothic horror revival. The film’s producer and star, Abel Salazar, found enough success with the film that the Mexican market was soon saturated with gothic horror of his own design, as Hammer Horror took over the British film market.
EL SANTO, BLUE DEMON, AND THE RISE OF LUCHA LIBRE IN HORROR
Despite the television ban, you couldn’t make Mexico forget its masked heroes so easily. The two most significant of which were El Santo y Demonio Azul (more commonly referred to as Blue Demon). Well, technically both of them began as rudos (heels, or bad guys) and later became tecnicos (faces, or heroes). The point is, Santo and Blue Demon’s rivalry was a legendary one, with their masks becoming a piece of indelible Mexican iconography and recollections of their matches being burned into people’s brains.
El Santo was convinced by fellow wrestler, Fernando Osés, to join him on the set of a film he was shooting, as the recent TV ban opened up opportunities in film for wrestlers. Santo was initially signed to star in one of the first lucha films called El Enmascarado De Plata (The Man in the Silver Mask), but backed out last minute because of fears the film would fail and damage his reputation.
Santo’s actual debut pulled him into the world of monster movies that had begun to thrive in Mexico, with his first film being Santo Contra El Cerebro Del Mal (Santo vs. The Brain of Evil) in 1961. From there he went on to do Santo Contra Los Zombies (Santo vs. The Zombies), and by the time he had shot Santo vs. The Men from Hell and Santo in The Hotel of the Dead, he had been locked in as a b-horror icon.
He was of course reunited with Blue Demon throughout his career, and the two often teamed up like superheroes to fight a wide variety of fiends. Ranging from alien spiders to vampire women to Mesoamerican mummies on a rampage, there was nothing they weren’t willing to powerbomb into oblivion. Blue Demon starred in 25 films over his lifetime– Santo starred in more than 50. The two were prolific actors and artists, and despite the often irreverent nature of the films they made and the questionable quality of many of them, the two were horror icons that most of the world is simply unaware of.
Many of their films were not distributed widely, let alone localized to English-speaking territories; only a total of 4 Santo films ever got English language versions. But even if those dubs never came, we can stand and salute the wild history of b-horror that these luchador legends have given us.
Top Lucha Libre Horror Films to Watch Today
Arañas Infernales (Hellish Spiders) is a really fun piece of schlocky, monochrome, nuclear bug horror from the late 60s; the little evil alien spider puppets in this film are so doofy looking, I want ten of them. It’s pure ham and cheese as far as content goes, but it’s impossible to say it isn’t fun.
Santo y Blue Demon Contra Los Monstruos (Santo & Blue Demon vs. The Monster Men) is some oh-so-glorious technicolor nonsense that brings us a six-man grudge match between the heroes, a mummy, a werewolf, a vampire, and a Frankenstein. I don’t even have to say anything else, you know it’s too hype of a concept to turn down.
Santo Contra Las Mujeres Vampiro (Santo vs. The Vampire Women) has some genuinely unparalleled ambiance and set design, with this black and white gothic horror mixing a modernized Mexican aesthetic with the pseudo-Victorian mansion where the finale takes place. Santo dives into a nest of female vampires in white dresses to rescue a damsel in distress, and hilarity ensues. It is probably the most technically competent of all of these when it comes to its directing.
The Mummies of Guanajuato was ultimately one of if not the biggest moneymakers, as it brought the three most famous luchadores together: Santo, Blue Demon y Mil Máscaras united to put the squeeze on some mummies killing Mexican citizens. Those monsters by the way, actually look great thanks to their makeup! All the ring exhibition stuff of them wrestling in the film is impressive as well. This one is my true favorite. If I could only watch one, it would be this.
And that’s all! Well, I’m off to go watch Santo vs The Zombies again, stay chill Horror Press rea–
What’s this?
ITS EDITOR JAMES-MICHAEL WITH THE STEEL CHAIR?
HES COMING IN BECAUSE OF MY HELLBOY ARTICLE BEING TOO LONG?!
LORD HAVE MERCY!
***
Major thanks to Marjolein Van Bavel, a professor of Modern Cultural History at Radboud University, whose writing formed most of the research on the historical part of this article. She discusses luchadoras in much more detail in her article “Morbo, lucha libre, and Television: The Ban of Women Wrestlers from Mexico City in the 1950s”, which I highly recommend you check out. Her writing was one of the major resources used for this article, and as such, deserves a shoutout.
And another shoutout to Brian Schuck of Films From Beyond, who pointed me towards Doyle Green and his book Mexploitation Cinema, which is a huge resource on lucha libre in horror. Both of them are incredible, please show them some love!
And as always, good luck, and happy watching horror fans!
Movies
Menstruation Meets Mayhem: 5 Horror Films That Bleed Terror
While periods are not quite trending in horror, there are more movies than one would suspect in this niche subgenre. Obviously, Carrie’s shower scene is historical for a reason. However, using a soaked tampon as zombie bait in It Stains the Sands Red is fantastic. Even finding a gruesome murder while using a truck stop bathroom to change a tampon in Candy Land felt like relatable cinema for me as a Midwesterner. So, I thought I would pull five bloody horror movies about “Aunt Flo” going to the “Red Wedding”. These titles know that being “on the rag” is great for the genre. This is why I am cordially inviting you to step into the restroom with me so I can show you some pretty wild shit. Here are five movies that will make you hesitate the next time someone asks you what your favorite period film is.
I hate having a period. I know that is a cold take for many people who menstruate. No one enjoys the cramps, migraines, or a three to seven-day disruption from certain fun activities. Who among us is giddy when Aunt Flo arrives unless we are having a pregnancy scare? However, the thing that salts my tines the most about this painful and bloody part of life is the stigma surrounding it. Many places still charge the tampon tax. Tons of Republicans take office without understanding basic anatomy but want to regulate AFAB bodies anyway. This pisses me off, and that is why I love horror films that shove periods right in the audience’s faces. After all, menstruation is a goldmine for body horror and the perfect excuse to add buckets of blood to any movie.
While periods are not quite trending in horror, there are more movies than one would suspect in this niche subgenre. Obviously, Carrie‘s shower scene is historical for a reason. However, using a soaked tampon as zombie bait in It Stains the Sands Red is fantastic. Even finding a gruesome murder while using a truck stop bathroom to change a tampon in Candy Land felt like relatable cinema for me as a Midwesterner. So, I thought I would pull five bloody period horror movies with a visit from “Aunt Flo” or going to the “Red Wedding”. These titles know that being “on the rag” is great for the genre. This is why I am cordially inviting you to step into the restroom with me so I can show you some pretty wild shit. Here are five movies that will make you hesitate the next time someone asks you what your favorite period film is.
5 Must-Watch Horror Films That Turn Periods Into Terrifying Tales
Blue My Mind (2018)
Where You Can Watch: Prime Video and Tubi
A teen gets her period and begins to experience radical body transformations. Director and co-writer Lisa Brühlmann crafted a moody world, uninterested in playing by the rulebook. While Mia (Luna Wedler) has much bigger fish to fry than her period, I do not think we should overlook that moment in the film. It is easy to forget it in the grand scheme of things. However, nothing ushers in frightening bodily changes quite like menstruating. That moment also firmly plants this body horror movie as a unique coming-of-age tale.
Excision (2012)
Where You Can Watch: Fandango at Home, Plex, and Tubi
A high-school outcast with medical career aspirations concocts a wild plan to save her ailing sister. So much happens in this movie! There are plenty of cameos in front of this bloody backdrop, which is Pauline’s (AnnaLynne McCord) canvas. While she spends a lot of time fantasizing about blood and worrying about her sister, she does not let that stop her from cashing in her V-card. She is very upfront about her plan to lose her virginity while on her period, and she gets her bloody way. If you are looking for a movie with a period sex scene, Excision is your girl.
Ginger Snaps (2000)
Where You Can Watch: AMC+, Peacock, and Shudder
Two sisters who are loners in their suburban neighborhood find their relationship changing when one gets bitten by a werewolf. No list of period films is complete without Ginger Snaps. Both Brigitte (Emily Perkins) and Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) are teens who are so late to get their period it has become a household concern. So, it is pretty awful timing for Ginger to get hers right when her life is about to be changed forever. We love when periods are the beginning of the horror story because that is all too relatable.
Read our review of Ginger Snaps here.
Tiger Stripes (2023)
Where You Can Watch: AMC+ and Shudder
An 11-year-old girl’s world is changed when she gets her first period and begins to change into something ferocious. Writer-director Amanda Nell Eu definitely has the cutest movie on this list. I enjoyed watching Zaffan (Zafreen Zairizal) learn that it is okay to be different. More importantly, she learns that sometimes you need to rip a guy’s head off to get peace. This coming-of-age body horror movie has a lot of heart, and I am so glad it is finally streaming. Please insert this into your watch list to break up your steady diet of nightmare fuel.
Read our review of Tiger Strips here.
Verónica (2017)
Where You Can Watch: Netflix and Pluto TV
An evil entity attaches itself to a teen girl who made contact with a Ouija board. This Spanish film is inspired by true events and is possibly the most sinister period film on the list. Poor Verónica gets her first period while battling the demonic spirits invading her body. That is a lot for anyone to deal with at any age, and I am not surprised this movie lives rent-free in so many of our minds. If you enjoy this movie, you might want to watch the prequel Sister Death, also available on Netflix. However, in my opinion, Verónica is the better film.
Hopefully, some of these period films will leave you wanting more. If so, I suggest checking out what Alter has to add to the conversation. I also encourage you to boost filmmakers who know the real meaning of period horror.
Movies
The Woman Behind the Creature from the Black Lagoon
Who Was Milicent Patrick? The Unsung Hero of Universal Monsters
Before the first female special effects artist at Universal took charge of designing the Gill-man, things were looking dismal for the picture. The props department had previously been responsible for creating the Creature from the Black Lagoon, but early looks for the monster were not received well.
Director William Alland reportedly loved these initial designs, derisively known as The Pollywog – but he was the only one.
After a test screening, actor Ricou Browning remembers that the higher-ups at Universal Studios, James Pratt and Edward Muhl, said the costume “sucked.”
Meanwhile, Frank Westmore, (the brother of the head of the makeup department, Bud Westmore) recalled: “Instead of projecting menace, he looked like a man swimming around in long rubber underwear…”
Chris Mueller, in charge of sculpting, is the one who named him The Pollywog, a fitting name for what looks reminiscent of a 1960s Batman villain.
Before Milicent Patrick got to work on the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Gill-man was far from the Universal monster we know him as today.
Who Was Milicent Patrick? The Unsung Hero of Universal Monsters
Before the first female special effects artist at Universal took charge of designing the Gill-man, things were looking dismal for the picture. The props department had previously been responsible for creating the Creature from the Black Lagoon, but early looks for the monster were not received well.
Director William Alland reportedly loved these initial designs, derisively known as The Pollywog – but he was the only one.
After a test screening, actor Ricou Browning remembers that the higher-ups at Universal Studios, James Pratt and Edward Muhl, said the costume “sucked.”
Meanwhile, Frank Westmore, (the brother of the head of the makeup department, Bud Westmore) recalled: “Instead of projecting menace, he looked like a man swimming around in long rubber underwear…”
Eight years earlier, studio chief William Goetz had ordered that no more “B” monster movies be made. After all, at that point, Universal Pictures already had Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Wolf-man (among many others) under its belt. Each with groundbreaking effects for its time. A made-for-TV villain was far below the par of what had come to be expected from the studio.
It was at that point a redesign was in order. The makeup department took over, and with it, came Universal Studios’ first female special effects artist.
Milicent Patrick’s Artistic Journey: From Disney to Universal
By the age of 25, she had worked on Fantasia, including the skit “A Night on Bald Mountain”, designing the winged Chernabog. This was more than likely the first monster she ever worked on for a wide audience.
After being laid off by Disney following a strike, she worked in modeling for a short while.
Then, she shifted her work to acting, where she worked small parts in front of the camera, such as the “Tavern Girl” in Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd, and an uncredited role in Bride of Vengeance. It was in 1952 that she met the head of the makeup department Bud Westmore who offered her a job behind the scenes immediately after seeing her designs.
She did uncredited special effects work on It Came from Outer Space, Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, This Island Earth, Against All Flags, and Sign of the Pagan. But it’s her work on Creature from the Black Lagoon that brings us here today.
After the prop department’s Pollywog was laughed out of existence, Milicent Patrick spent six weeks painstakingly designing the creature that would come to be known as the Gill-man.
I’d say the rest is history but unfortunately, Bud Westmore attempted to erase much of this history – and it’s all because Universal’s publicity department loved Milicent Patrick.
Bud Westmore’s Role in Erasing Milicent Patrick’s Legacy
But Bud Westmore was reportedly furious and tried to have the whole tour canceled. He was the head of the makeup department after all, and felt that saying someone else created the creature didn’t give him credit for heading the project.
Bud insisted Milicent Patrick be called “The Beauty Who Lives With the Beast” instead.
He made other demands for Milicent Patrick’s tour, eventually including that she must tell interviewers that Bud Westmore himself created the Gill-man from start to finish.
This – of course – was far from true, as Milicent Patrick did the design, Chris Mueller sculpted the head, and Jack Kevan oversaw the project. But Milicent was so happy to be on tour, that she tried to oblige Bud Westmore’s outrageous demands.
But, the press loved Milicent Patrick too. Any comments she made about Bud Westmore were dismissed because they only wanted to know more about Milicent. The tour was extended and Milicent Patrick did more than forty interviews.
Unfortunately, by the time the tour ended, she was ultimately fired from the project by Bud Westmore.
Bud Westmore Takes Credit for Milicent’s Work
As was customary, Bud Westmore’s name would be the only one to show up in the credits for makeup design in the movie. But the credit for Milicent’s creation was largely stolen after that, with Bud Westmore publicly refuting any claims that he wasn’t responsible for the design.
To give a brief overview of Bud Westmore’s character, enjoy this quote a columnist named Mike Molony made in 1950:
“Hollywood is highly amused at the slip makeup artist Bud Westmore made when he related in an interview how he was responsible for that classic cosmetic creation, the Frankenstein monster. This, of course, is pure foopypoop. Ace makeup artist Jack Pierce made Boris Karloff into the monster back in 1931, when Bud hadn’t long been graduated from diapers, and his older brothers were busy learning the makeup business, working at Max Factor’s.”
The publicity department at Universal tried to great avail to convince Bud Westmore to let Milicent Patrick come back, up to a week after Creature from the Black Lagoon was released, but he refused to relent.
Milicent Patrick kept her career in front of the camera after that but unfortunately, most of those parts went on to also be uncredited.
After Bud Westmore died in 1973, Milicent tried to come out with the truth. Despite being featured in a “Queen of the Monster Makers” piece by Famous Monsters in 1978, many remained skeptical for years about the depth of Milicent’s involvement until a producer/screenwriter changed everything.
Mallory O’Meara’s Mission to Restore Milicent Patrick’s Legacy
Few people know of the injustice Milicent Patrick was dealt, and the woman is owed her flowers. Unfortunately, she is no longer here to claim them as she passed away in 1998; never living to see the credit her work was owed.
To Milicent Patrick, The Beauty Who Created the Beast.
For more about the making of Creature From the Black Lagoon, see our Horror Trivia Tuesday video on Instagram or TikTok!
[REVIEW] The Prophecy Calls For Faith In ‘End of Days’ (1999)
[REVIEW] ‘Fear Street: Prom Queen’ It’s Not Great…
[Review] ‘Bring Her Back’ A Gut-Wrenching Horror Masterpiece
[INTERVIEW] Talking Tremors with Levi Dylan Burzlaff-Luett
How Lucha Libre Birthed Mexico’s Wildest Horror Films
Why Max’s ‘Velma’ Failed: A Lesson for Hollywood’s IP Revivals
What’s in a Look? The Jason Voorhees Redesign Controversy
[REVIEW] ‘Shocker’ (1989) Is Finger-Lickin’ Good
[REVIEW] ‘Final Destination: Bloodlines’ Death Makes a Return
Menstruation Meets Mayhem: 5 Horror Films That Bleed Terror
‘The People Under the Stairs’ Review: A Brilliantly Bizarre Undercover Horror Classic
Glen and Glenda: Don Mancini’s Reverence for Queerness in ‘Seed of Chucky’ (2004)
Slappy Was the Blueprint: How the Dummy from Goosebumps Became A Horror Icon
‘Truth or Dare’: Who Did it Best?
HORROR 101: Five Nights at Freddy’s and The Story of William Afton Explained
[REVIEW] ‘Cherry Falls’ (1999) Brittany Murphy Shines in This Cult Classic Slasher
Mia from ‘Evil Dead’ – A New Kind of Final Girl
This Is What Makes Sue Ann from ‘Ma’ a Terrifying Yet Loveable Horror Villain
Is ‘Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker’ Too Problematic for 2022?
