Just kidding. Actually, I just wanted to get a thread going on our favorite Mexican wrestling films. I recently received my first Neutron movie, and I can't wait to find out if it's as crazy as some of the Santo movies I've watched.

My favorite Santo movie is SANTO AND BLUE DEMON VS. THE MONSTERS, directed by Gilberto Martinez Solares. Yep, this movie has so many monsters that not even Santo could take them all on, so he gained a partner. A mad scientist has a plan to conquer the world from his base beneath a mountain-top castle, and it involves his awesome all-monster army, including a wolfman, the Frankenstein monster, a mummy, a midget, a Cyclops, a vampire, two sexy vampire women and a slew of green-faced zombies. To keep Santo, who moonlights from his regular job as a wrestling champion to take on crime-fighting duties for the government, out of his hair, the scientist kidnaps Santo’s best friend, Blue Demon, and stashes him in a duplicating machine, resulting in an evil Blue Demon twin. People get kidnapped and people escape. The monsters stalk their victims, and Santo beats them up. Seeing Santo and Blue Demon fighting one another is the equivalent of a Silver Age Marvel comic where Spider-Man and Daredevil had to duke it out before resolving their misunderstanding and teaming up to take on the bad guys.

I must admit, my favorite doesn't star Santo at all. CHAMPIONS OF JUSTICE is a “Mexican Wrestler Justice League of America” movie, so Blue Demon teams up with Mil Mascaras, The Killer Doctor, Avenging Shadow and The Giant to battle the evil Black Hand (David Silva) and his super-strong midget army.

What are your favorite lucha libre movies? And any thoughts on Neutron or NEUTRON VS. THE AMAZING CARONTE in particular?

I really enjoyed a SANTO/SAMSON movie I saw recently - I forget the name, but since it involved a waxworks museum I'm going to guess it was SANTO IN THE WAX MUSEUM or something. I'm sure someone can tell me!

My favourite however, and also the only Neutron one I've seen, is NEUTRON VS THE DEATH ROBOTS. It delivers everything the title promises (i.e. neutron and robots) but had the unexpected bonus of an evil midget. Reading back what I've just written and Marty's comments above, I'm wondering if it's actually possible to describe the plot of any Mexican wrestling movie without it sounding insane.

I'll second this. Perhaps Santo was not involved because, if El Santo appeared, the film would actually be TOO perfect, and no one would ever have needed to make a lucha libre film again.

LOS VAMPIROS DE COYOACAN is near the top of the list -- with SANTO Y BLUE DEMON CONTRA LOST MONSTRUOS -- Mil Mascaras vs. midget henchmen who transform into bats when punched in the face! LAS MOMIAS DE GUANAJUATO, SANTO Y BLUE DEMON CONTRA DRACULA Y EL HOMBRE LOBO, are right up there as well.

¡Lucha por vida!

It was SAMSON IN THE WAX MUSEUM and here are the notes I wrote when I first watched it when previewing a bunch of English-dubbed Mexican horror films, including some with wrestling stars:

"NOTE: this seems to be the best of the Mexican horror films in the batch. Wax museum figures include Frankenstein, Stalin, Gandhi and Gary Cooper! But it actually is fairly compelling and well made and acted. Lots of Santo action, too."

"Who would win in a fight?"

CAPTAIN AMERICA.

Personally I'd put my money on Las Luchadoras!