The Aztec Mummy
| La Momia Azteca | |
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Mexican original release poster
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| La Momia Azteca | |
| Directed by | Rafel Lopez Portillo |
| Produced by | Guillermo Calderon |
| Written by |
Alfredo Salazar Guillermo Calderon |
| Starring |
Ramón Gay Rosa Arenas Crox Alvarado Luis Aceves Castañeda Jorge Mondragón Arturo Martínez Ángel Di Stefani Jesús Murcielago Velázquez |
| Music by | Antonio Díaz Conde |
| Cinematography | Enrique Wallace |
| Edited by | Jorge Bustos |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Azteca Films Inc. |
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Release date
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Running time
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80 minutes |
| Country | Mexico |
| Language | Spanish |
La Momia Azteca (lit. trans. "The Aztec Mummy") is a 1957 Mexican black-and-white horror film produced by Guillermo Calderon from his story idea, scripted by Alfredo Salazar and directed by Rafael Lopez Portillo. It is the first in a series of four other films starring the title character and is clearly inspired by the mummy films of Universal Pictures.
In ancient times, Aztec warrior Popoca is buried alive after being caught having an affair with maiden Xochitl who is killed outright. Popoca is cursed with immortality in order to forever guard the Great Pyramid of Yucatán where his lover and the treasures of the Aztec are kept. In the present day, Dr. Eduardo Almada decides to experiment with hypnotic regression on his fiancée Flor Sepúlveda. Through hypnosis, Eduaro discovers that Flor is in fact a reincarnation of Xochitl, using her past memories to find Xochitl's remains. Taking the remains along with Xochitl's golden breastplate (which contains a map to the location of the treasure), they attempt to leave the cave. However, before they are able to leave they are intercepted by the now reanimated Popoca. Managing to elude the immortal warrior, the group flees to Mexico City with Popoca in pursuit. Meanwhile, Dr. Krupp (Almada's colleague who is also the villainous thief known as The Bat) discovers the existence of the treasure and sends his thugs after Almada in order to retrieve the breastplate. Krupp's men converge on Flor's house in order to retrieve the breastplate. Little do they know that Popoca is not far behind...
At this point in Mexican Cinema, there was a wide range of films being released that were similar in plots to earlier horror films made by Universal Pictures, but differed enough to avoid any copyright lawsuits. Variations on Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, and other monsters, were especially popular. So it is not surprising that Guillermo Calderon and Alfredo Salazar wrote a story and screenplay similar to that of Universal's horror films The Mummy, and The Mummy's Hand and its sequels.
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