The Bat Woman

To wrestle she uses a Bat-suit. Only to save the world she wears the smallest bikini...

A mad scientist (who else?) tries to breed a mutant being between fish and wrestlers!!! To see how it works drops a Ken doll in a fish tank where a goldfish swims happily and nothing happens. Of course nothing will happen, he need to use real people in his experiments, not dolls!

As more and more experiments fail, mutant dead bodies are found on the beach and this is the time for the bat-signal! Bat-woman with her statuesque body, brief bikini and lethal karate moves will take care of that crazy Doctor Frankenfish...

Mr. René Cardona only wanted to take advantage of the Bat-craze during the Batman high peak, with his version of the hero in the shape of a beautiful woman, Maura Monti... and he got it.

"The Batwoman" ("La Mujer Murcielago") is a very strange film. It's part luchador film (a VERY popular genre in Mexican films of the era) and part knockoff of Batman (which was VERY popular on American TV at the time). I suppose DC Comics could have tried to sue, but why bother?

The film begins with yet another dead luchador (Mexican wrestler) being discovered in the water off of Acapulco. It seems it's the fifth such dead wrestler and each had their 'pineal juices' removed....if there is such a thing. I know there's the pineal gland in the skull. At a loss as to what to do next, the Mexican official contact the FBI and the FBI call in their secret weapon...Batwoman! Batwoman is a rich sexy lady who excels in nearly everything...including crime fighting and wrestling!

Seeing gorgeous Maura Monti running about in skimpy bikinis throughout the film is nicer than seeing the more rotund Santo or Blue Demon (popular luchadors in films in the 60s and 70s)....though it's just as utterly ridiculous. What also is utterly ridiculous is the mad scientist's creation using these pineal juices....a half-man/half-goldfish who is the scientist's personal killing machine!

So is this any good? No....though a I said before, Monti is quite lovely to look at (hence a score as high as I gave the film), but the story itself is weird and silly. It's good for a laugh or two but otherwise is an utterly ridiculous superheroine film.

The Batwoman (1968)

** (out of 4)

Dead wrestlers are turning up in the river and the police are baffled so Batwoman (Maura Monti) is called in to investigate. Before long she discovers a mad scientist who is doing bizarre experiments including making a sea monster.

LA MUJER MURCIELAGO, aka THE BATWOMAN, is a pretty weird Mexican film that mixes action, wrestling and a few horror elements. I've discovered that whenever you watch this type of movie it's best to be either drunk, stoned or suffering from a severe cold. Sadly, when I watched this, I wasn't any of them so perhaps that's why I didn't enjoy this as much as some of the other films in the genre.

I must say that there were a few good things here that kept the film mildly amusing and worth watching to fans of the genre. For starters, I found Monti to be extremely beautiful and I thought she did a good job in the role. She made for a good female superhero and this was a plus. I also liked the monster in the film. It's basically a rip-off of The Gillman from THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON but here the monster is a bright red just like the Devil. The look was cheap and silly but it was at least entertaining.

The biggest problem with the film is like so many other Mexican movies is the fact that there's not too much going on. There are way too many scenes where people are just standing around talking and the dialogue is bad and boring. There are way too many scenes where there's not any action or excitement. You've got a decent monster and a good hero and yet they really aren't on screen enough.

From 1950 to 1980, cinema had the world in its grip. The power of film as a tool for political and religious propaganda had been firmly established after World War I and II. In countries like Mexico, Turkey, Iran, and the Balkans, the political and economic climate made it difficult to create a unique cinematic identity from scratch. Instead, they opted to clone the established and widely accepted American/British cinema, building their own film culture upon it. Copyright laws? Tossed out the window. But hey, many of the biggest names in non-English speaking cinema today grew up watching these films and found their passion for filmmaking through them.

LA MUJER MURCIÉLAGO (The Batwoman) is one such film, much like Drakula Istanbul'da (Dracula in Istanbul). While my home country, Turkey, boasts a rich collection of these types of films, Mexico undoubtedly takes the crown. The rise of technology and the blurring of artistic boundaries have made these films more accessible to a wider audience, allowing us to appreciate their cultural significance.

René Cardona is, without a doubt, one of the biggest names in this genre within Mexican cinema. His LA MUJER MURCIÉLAGO, a film that boasts cinematography even better than Adam West's Batman, is now streaming on Mubi in a remastered version.

Looking back from today, these films might seem raw and simplistic, but as I mentioned, their cultural impact is immense. They're a testament to a time when filmmakers in developing countries were finding their footing, experimenting with genre conventions, and creating a unique cinematic language that resonated with their audiences.

Mubi's Turkish subtitles for the film, as usual, leave much to be desired. Hopefully, they've done a better job with the subtitles for other countries. Despite this minor hiccup, LA MUJER MURCIÉLAGO is a must-watch for anyone interested in exploring the rich and diverse world of international cinema. It's a reminder that great films can emerge from unexpected places, and that even the most seemingly derivative works can hold hidden treasures waiting to be discovered.

This is one strange little movie.Happened to pick up an english subtitled version of this one.It is known as Batwoman and was released during the Batman craze.Somehow DC comics didn't sue for the use of the name. Maybe because it was never really released in the USA.

Anyway a mad scientist is wanting to create a race of super gill men.He uses the glands of wrestlers because they are "perfect".I don't write them I just watch them.Wrestlers are winding up dead all over Acapulco so the call goes out for that mysterious crime fighter BATWOMAN!

She has the Batman cape, cowl and boots. Only Batman doesn't wear a bikini.I kept waiting for her to pop out of it during all of the violent fight scenes.No such luck guys.

The doctor succeeds in creating a gill man. Batwoman tosses acid in the scientist's face.He wants revenge and wants to make her into a gill woman.Will he accomplish the dastardly deed?Tune in tomorrow!Same bat time, same bat channel.

This is an average movie.Best thing to do is just turn your brain off, enjoy the local Acapulco scenery and while away 90 minutes watching this.