PASSPORT TO DEATH (1968) ** ½

Passport to Death is a sequel to Blue Demon:  Destructor of Spies, which unfortunately I have not seen.  I have to admit:  Grafting a Lucha Libre movie onto a James Bond knockoff is a great idea.  Although the film briefly flirts with achieving awesomeness (the only Bondish gadget is a ring that shoots flames), it never fully realizes its potential.

A spy sneaks into a megalomaniacal villain’s high-tech lair.  His android creation blasts the spy with a deadly ray, severely injuring him.  He then contacts Blue Demon and his team of secret agents to stop the nefarious villain before he can take over the world with his dreaded earthquake machine. 

The villain’s lair is really cool and surprisingly well done, considering the low budget.  Imagine if Dr. Seuss designed a Bond villain’s hideout and that might give you a hint of how badass it is.  I also loved the “android”, who is nothing more than a guy in an astronaut suit that shoots lasers from his silver oven mitts.  The finale, in which Blue Demon goes toe to toe with the evil android, is a blast too.

Unfortunately, the movie is poorly paced in the early going.  Blue Demon turns in a fine performance, but the members of his team just aren’t engaging enough to hold the screen on their own.  Because of that, Passport to Death often falters whenever he isn’t front and center.  Like most of these things, there’s a completely gratuitous nightclub performance smack dab in the middle of the action.  While it totally wasn’t necessary, it’s funnier than the typical musical numbers found in the genre.

The wrestling scenes are more entertaining than the spy stuff, if you can believe it.  The first wrestling contest finds Blue Demon defeating his opponent, who is forced to have his head shaved as a penalty for losing the match.  The disgruntled opponent even takes to beating up the barber and members of the TV crew!  He later shows up interrupting Blue Demon’s second match, causing pandemonium in the process.  This ultimately sets up a rematch between the duo in the third act.

In most of these movies, the wrestling scenes are unrelated affairs that are more or less a bonus attraction as it gives the audience a chance to see their favorite wrestler doing what they do best.  That’s why the wrestling scenes in Passport to Death are such a nice change of pace.  It’s rare you get to see a storyline running throughout the wrestling sequences.  Because of that, Passport to Death earns a slightly higher ranking than your typical Lucha Libre flick, although it’s not quite enough to make it a winner.

AKA:  Blue Demon Faces Death.