After sitting through a couple dozen El Santo movies, I decided to give the films of Mexican luchador Hurricane Ramirez a try. His self-titled debut picture is notable for being the first lucha libre movie ever made. It’s also notable for the fact that an actor, David Silva, plays the unmasked secret identity while the real Hurricane Ramirez does the wrestling.
This sequel, which was released nine years later, finds Hurricane in hot water with a gangster known as El Principe (Carlos Agosti) who is obsessed with uncovering his true identity. He even goes so far as to performing an assassination attempt on him while he’s wrestling in an arena! It’s then up to Hurricane to stay one step ahead of the gangster and his trigger-happy goons.
Since The Mystery of Hurricane Ramirez was made at a time when the genre was still in its infancy, it’s easy to overlook some of the stumbling blocks that prevent it from being a first-rate lucha libre flick. Some of the dialogue scenes are a bit of a slog (especially when you consider the version I saw didn’t have subtitles) and the gangster villain is kind of boring too. Future lucha libre movies would rectify this by featuring monsters as villains, but since there are appearances by heel wrestlers with names like “Frankenstein” and “Lobo Negro”, you get a sense the filmmakers were already sort of testing the waters.
The B plot about Hurricane’s family struggling to keep their diner afloat is actually sort of snappy, thanks to the completely random musical number in which the harried waitress breaks out into song while at work. The shots of her and her boyfriend twisting like there’s no tomorrow is definitely good for a chuckle or two. I also enjoyed the scene where the little boy (who is also a junior judo expert and aspiring luchador) sang a lullaby to his siblings.
The wrestling scenes themselves are kind of hit-and-miss. That’s mostly due to the fact that one long scene involves the little kid donning a mask in an attempt to become a real wrestler. I did like the scene though when Silva’s buddy wears the Hurricane Ramirez mask to impress a girl. Naturally, he winds up getting jumped by El Principe and his men and the real Hurricane has to come and save his bacon.
While a little spotty in places, The Mystery of Hurricane Ramirez is a better-than-fair attempt. It put a silly smile on my face, which is about the best one can hope for in these trying times. It’s just good enough for me to want to check out the rest of Hurricane Ramirez’s filmography, which I hope to do ASAP.
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