As Latino Heritage Month comes to a close today, I take a look at two Indicator Series Limited Edition blu-ray sets of Mexican cult films, both starring female wrestlers.

THE PANTHER WOMEN – LE

Indicator has done it again! Creating a beautiful presentation out of schlocky entertainment, the disc set for The Panther Women gives you everything you’d want and then some. As for the movie itself, the story about a Satanic cult killing off an entire bloodline in order to resurrect one of their ancient wizard lords only to cross paths with two of the most badass female wrestlers you’ve ever seen, makes for a very fun watch. Ariadne Welter and Elizabeth Campbell are fantastic as the lead wrestling women, kicking ass and taking names while looking good as they do it. Elizabeth Campbell was really cute to watch, learning that she stars in a series of these types of movies gets me excited to track them down. I really loved her accented Spanish that was slightly distracting but surprisingly decent. One complaint about the movie is that there is also a male luchador, El Angel, that’s there to also help save the day when we have perfectly capable heroines on hand to do the same thing. Exactly in the mold of El Santo, El Angel is labeled as a man as faceless as justice whose sole purpose is to stop evil. He wears a cool, bullet/fire-proof cape that I’m assuming he developed in his awesome Batcave like lab. The movie feels inspired by the Val Lewton classic Cat People, even having a man engaged to a woman that can turn into a jungle cat. I’d recommend seeking this out for its fun fight scenes and monster make-up, the main villain Eloim’s face was very well done, looking genuinely creepy nearly 60 years later. I’m definitely going to seek out the rest of the films in this series, hopefully Indicator puts those out as well.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

2K restoration from the original negative
Original Spanish mono audio
Audio commentary with the publisher of From Parts Unknown and screenwriter of Los campeones de la lucha libre, Keith J Rainville (2024)
Let Them Fight! (2024, 15 mins): the Killer Film, el critico enmascarado (the masked critic), lucha libre specialist, and filmmaker behind the Monterrey female wrestlers documentary La femenil, discusses the protagonists of the film, the cine de luchadoras, and the controversial history of Mexican female wrestling
Cat Fight (2024, 24 mins): academic and Latin American horror specialist Valeria Villegas Lindvall, also known as Morena de Fuego, examines the struggle for empowerment and the subversive representation of the female characters in the film
Original theatrical trailer
Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
New and improved English translation subtitles
Limited edition exclusive 80-page book with a new essay by Iain Robert Smith, archival essays by Janina Möbius and Ricardo Cárdenas Pérez, an archival interview with Guillermo Calderón, and full film credits
UK premiere on Blu-ray
Limited edition of 8,000 individually numbered units for the UK and US

Available for purchase here.

THE BAT WOMAN – LE

A Batman knock-off that uses a Mexican wrestler that is as famous for wrestling as they are for crime fighting with the twist being that Bruce Wayne is a woman which works very well in its own schlocky way. I had no idea what the story was going to be, then in the opening credits I saw a special credit for underwater photography and another one for sea monster effects, my interest was piqued. It’s a pretty simple tale of a mad scientist typically playing God by trying to build his own army of fish-men, as one does, until he is forced to face off with the world’s pre-eminent hero, the mysterious Bat Woman (not affiliated with DC Comics btw). I loved the color cinematography that looked stunning in this Indicator limited edition. The transfer was spectacular, looking crisp and sounding great. Speaking of sounding great, I loved the swinging 60s soundtrack that only enhanced the already prevalent James Bond vibes. The Bat Woman even has many underwater battles, not as impressive as Thunderball but also Thunderball didn’t have a sea monster. The sea monster costume has some great details, including a design that seems to hide the oxygen tank for underwater scenes. This movie does incorporate wrestling, as that’s used as the cover for Bat Woman when she arrived in town even if the press seems to know that she’s also investigating a recent spate of murders of local luchadores that have had their pineal glands drained. Oh well, they’ll never figure out who she is, although she seems to hang out with the same dudes all the time in public in and out of costume. The movie also has a bit of a love triangle with two fellow agents vying for the Bat Woman’s affections, it’s not really explored at all and mostly just used for a couple of moments of levity. Indicator has once again put out a wonderful edition of a cult Mexican film that deserves to be seen by a wider audience. You couldn’t ask for a better presentation than this one.

INDICATOR LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

4K restoration from the original negative
Original Spanish mono audio
Audio commentary with film historian and Mexican cinema specialist David Wilt (2024)
Bat of Nine Lives (2024, 20 mins): Maura Monti, the Bat Woman herself, discusses her life and short but prolific career in Mexican genre cinema
Adventures in Mexicolour (2024, 21 mins): Mauricio Matamoros Durán, journalist, writer, and indie editor of Belcebú, and formerly DC Comics, examines the position of The Bat Woman within Mexican and international pop and comic-book culture
Fantastique Creatures (2024, 14 mins): José Luis Ortega Torres, film critic, teacher, and author of the book Mostrología del cine mexicano, explores the monstrous creations of early Mexican genre cinema
Original theatrical trailer
Image gallery: promotional and publicity material
New and improved English translation subtitles
Limited edition exclusive 80-page book with a new essay by Dolores Tierney, archival essays by Doyle Greene and Andrew Coe, archival interviews with Maura Monti, and full film credits
UK premiere on Blu-ray
Limited edition of 8,000 individually numbered units for the UK and US

Available for purchase here.

Both these films are very fun and restored beautifully, I’d highly recommend them for fans of cult film or the Lucha Libre genre. These are high quality releases that would make an excellent addition to any collection.