Arañas Infernales
Entry updated 12 May 2025. Tagged: Film.
["Hellish Spiders"] Mexican film (1968; vt Hellish Spiders; vt Cerebros diabolicos; vt Blue Demon vs. the Hellish Spiders). Filmica Vergara S.A. Directed by Federico Curiel. Written by Adolfo Torres Portillo from an idea by Luis Enrique Vergara. Cast includes Martha Elena Cervantes, Alejandro Moreno, Fernando Osés, Blanca Sánchez and Sergio Virel. 85 minutes. Black and white.
A narrator informs us that other planets are inhabited by "beings of the most horrible physical sort and bone-chilling psychological nature" (see Life on Other Worlds). One such is the Queen of Arachnea (see Aliens) who feeds on the brains of creatures from other worlds; her usual prey species have been wiped out and she is dying, so her subjects, the cruel and bloodthirsty Arachnids, search for a new source of brains and find it on Earth.
As the masked Mexican wrestler Blue Demon (Moreno) drives home he sees lights in the sky, then comes across a car whose driver's flesh has been incinerated, leaving a smoking skeleton: he wonders if the cause was spontaneous combustion. We discover Arachnids have been on Earth for some years and have taken human form (see Shapeshifters) – the burnt corpse had been one, punished by Arianek (Cervantes), the leader of the Earth team, whilst the lights in the sky were flying saucers (see UFOs) marking the arrival of Queen Arachnea. A woman is now fed to her.
The victim has been reported missing; the police ask for Blue Demon's assistance in finding her and discovering what happened to the dead driver. Scouting the area where he found the car, he is attacked with a paralysing Ray but overcomes its effect and defeats the Arachnids sent to capture him. Though Arianek recognizes him as a threat and wants to kill him right away, the Queen overrules her: such a wonderful specimen must be devoured. She orders Prince Arak (Osés) to be called from the home planet to capture the Blue Demon alive. When he arrives Arak takes the form of a wrestler, demonstrating his prowess to a promoter by defeating three wrestlers at once: a bout with the Blue Demon is promptly arranged. At the pre-fight medical check-up the Doctor cannot find Arak's heart; he scornfully responds that he does not have one.
During the fight (see Games and Sports) Arak dominates early on, but the Blue Demon recovers and the alien begins to feel the strain – so much so that his right hand turns into a spider which tries to bite Blue Demon. Eventually Arak is forced to flee; but in the audience's panic caused by the sight of the spider hand, his Arachnid henchmen are able to abduct two of Blue Demon's friends, Hilda (Sánchez) and Jose (Virel). Arak is pursued to the aliens' hiding place by our hero, who is able to rescue Hilda before she is eaten (Jose is having his blood tested – it seems the Queen is a fussy eater and her meals are graded). After a final fight between Arak and Blue Demon, resulting in the former's defeat, the queen departs in her Spaceship; this is destroyed by one of her own Weapons as it leaves Earth's atmosphere.
Aside from the paralysing ray, the Arachnids use distance viewers, Teleportation and memory wipes (see Memory Edit). Some special effects are lifted from Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957) and Teenagers from Outer Space (1959). The film's original effects are adequate; the Queen and her lair are wisely kept in shadow, so most of the time we only see glowing eyes and brief views of her spider body. The control panel in Arianek's headquarters consists of a mass of variously-sized inflated spheres which are moved up or down, giving a nice sense of alien Technology. Blue Demon is effectively a Superhero and, this being a Luchador film, there are plenty of wresting scenes, probably too many for the non-aficionado. The first one and Blue Demon's fight in the ring with Arak are exciting; their final confrontation in the Arachnid base, with Arak making jabbing motions at his opponent with what is clearly a spider-shaped glove, is less convincing. Moreno is a better wrestler than he is an actor, but Arañas Infernales, though its middle stretch sags (and it is unclear why the Queen of Arachnea's spaceship should be destroyed by her own weapon), is moderate fun. [SP]
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