Wrestling Women vs. the Killer Robot
Entry updated 19 May 2025. Tagged: Film.
Mexican film (1969; original title Las Luchadoras Vs El Robot Asesino). Cinematográfica Calderón S.A.. Directed by René Cardona. Written by Alfredo Salazar. Cast includes Carlos Agostí, Gloria Chávez, Joaquín Cordero, Héctor Lechuga, Genaro Moreno, Malú Reyes, Regina Torné and Gerardo Zepeda. 80 minutes. Colour.
A Robot in sunglasses abducts a tramp, taking him to Dr Orlak (Agostí): surgery is performed but the tramp dies and Orlak curses another in a long line of failures. The laboratory's basement holds his only success to date, and that only partial: Carfax (Zepeda), a man with hideous facial scarring who is "part man, part Zombie". Orlak had grafted a "small controller" into Carfax's brain but that turned him into a "beast, driven by instincts, who suffers sudden attacks of madness": assistant Waldo (Moreno) suggests this is caused by the controller exerting pressure on the brain, then tries to cheer him up by pointing out how successful his robot has been. Orlak is not comforted: it "is only a machine" and the cost and time it took to build makes it unfeasible to mass produce (see Economics); thus his plan to use something "cheaper and more abundant ... the human race! To turn them into humanoid robots! Puppets I can control at my will!" For he plans to conquer the world. Waldo suggests seeking the advice of other Scientists, though worries that they might not be willing. Orlak thinks that will be no problem; the robot will kidnap them, identifying and locating its victims from their cardiograms, which are inserted into its chest.
Three scientists are abducted; two are cowed, but one refuses to help and is murdered: he was the uncle of female wrestler Gaby Reyner (Torné). Later Orlak, as a colleague of the dead professor, is commiserating with Gaby and her friend Gemma Nelson (Reyes) when the detectives investigating the case, Arturo Campos (Cordero) and Chava Lopez (Lechuga), arrive: the latter is mainly comic relief (see Humour), but does suggest a robot might be responsible, so they decide to visit a local cybernetics expert. Not unsurprisingly, on arrival they discover he has just been killed by the robot. Meanwhile, one of the surviving scientists invents a bracelet which turns the wearer into the puppet of whoever holds the remote control: when this proves to work Orlak gives a Mad Scientist laugh. However, Arturo has made the obvious deduction about the recent murder, so the detectives and wrestlers visit Orlak, who tries to hold them hostage – but Gaby fights back: the detectives join in and in the resulting melee Waldo dies, the robot explodes and the laboratory is set afire.
It is assumed that Orlak died in the flames, but he escaped with Carfax and plots vengeance on Gaby. Female wrestler Berthe Reyes (Chávez) is abducted and Carfax's "brain and physical strength" are transferred into her body, with a bracelet attached to her wrist. Now masked and renamed Elektra, she wins bout after bout, leading to a match between her and Gaby in which the latter is outfought and seems about to die; but Gemma recognizes one of Orlak's minions in the crowd and forces him to reveal the plot. She informs the detectives then leaps into the ring to save her friend: Orlak flees with Elektra but has to ascend the stadium's interior stairway. When Arturo attempts to persuade them to surrender Elektra is set on him: Chava fires at her, but she wears a wire mesh. Gaby tells him to fire at Orlak. His first shots hit the controller, causing Elektra to fall to her death, then Orlak is hit and he also plummets.
The plot is a reworking of the Luchador film Doctor of Doom (1963), but with a robot added to the mix (this element seems to have been inspired by The Avengers episode "Return of the Cybernauts" (1967); the respective robots have remarkably similar tastes in fashion). Whilst Doctor of Doom has the two women wrestlers centre stage, beating up villains and regularly rescuing the detectives, here they mostly take a back seat (see Women in SF) – though both are given a moment to shine. The female scientist is also absent (see Feminism). As so often with remote control devices, a box with a couple of knobs and a dial can make the subject perform complex manoeuvres (see Clichés): how an entire army would be controlled is unclear. Overall, Wrestling Women vs. the Killer Robot is a mildly enjoyable Horror film which, though its ending is a little more exciting, is much inferior to Doctor of Doom. [SP]
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