During the 1960 until even today, Mexican luchador (wrestler) movies have been huge business and many hundred of them have been made...perhaps even more. In these films, these masked wrestlers are usually heroes who battle the forces of evil...often in the form of aliens, monsters, zombies or just the run of the mill evil megalomaniacs bent on world domination! Seeing the masked wrestlers taking on these characters is definitely a sight to see and those unfamiliar with these odd films are in for a surprise when they see their first!
"Macabre Legends of the Colony" ("Leyendas Macabras de la Colonia") is a most unusual luchador film. While the do end up fighting against an evil witch, everything else about this film is unfamiliar territory for lovers of the genre.
The story begins with Tinieblas ('Darkness') finding a creepy painting in an antique shop and buying it...even after the owner says it's haunted and the last few who bought it promptly returned it! But apparently Tinieblas is an idiot and so he gets it anyway.
After a LONG wrestling match by luchador film standards (and they almost always feature one or two such matches), Tinieblas brings home a couple women as well as his luchador pals, El Fantasma Blanco ('The White Ghost') and Mil Máscaras ('Thousand Masks'....by far the most prolific of the three in films). During their party, the painting begins emitting smoke and soon they find themselves in 16th century Mexico! What's next? Well, apart from the witch, you'll just have to watch it yourself to find out for yourself.
The production values of this film are actually a bit better than usual for the genre as is the story. By luchador film standards, it's actually a bit sophisticated and clever....and suffers less from crappy make-up and masks than usual. Now I am NOT saying it's a great film...but it is better than usual and not laughable like most of the movies. Overall, silly but enjoyable and unique...and I like unique.
