THE REVENGE OF HURRICANE RAMIREZ (1969) ** ½

The Revenge of Hurricane Ramirez was an attempt by the series to copy the success of the El Santo movies.  Sure, you still get the family drama (and comedy) you’d expect from a Hurricane Ramirez picture.  Only this time, you have the added pleasure of a mad scientist villain. 

Right from the get-go, the villain works tirelessly in his mad scientist lab performing illicit experiments on animals.  Soon, he perfects a formula to turn his two simpleton henchmen into luchadores!  After Hurricane, who is once again played outside the ring by David Silva, hands them a crushing defeat, the villain uses the formula on himself and goes after Hurricane in the ring.

The wrestling action is great this time around.  The tag team match with Hurricane and his father (Tonino Jackson) against the two henchman is a lot of fun.  One henchman uses chloroform to subdue Jackson while the other has the power to engulf his hand in flames like The Human Torch!  The best scene though is when the mad scientist is unmasked in the ring as a Mr. Hyde-type monster.  These gimmicks only enhance what were already stellar fight sequences to begin with and help set them apart from the other more traditional wrestling scenes in the previous installments. 

The music isn’t bad either.  I liked the impromptu concert at a record store, and the number that occurs at a TV station has a lot of energy.  The camerawork during the pool party song is also very good.

Like most Hurricane Ramirez films, the problem is the ho-hum family drama.  The scenes that take place in the family’s diner are easily the weakest parts of the movie.  The multiple romantic subplots (including Tonino contending with an overzealous female fan) slow down the pacing considerably and get in the way of the Lucha Libre hijinks.  The comedy fails to elicit any laughs too.  (There is a pie fight.)

Like Son of Hurricane Ramirez, this was projected in a half-assed version of post-conversion 3-D.  Overall, the effects were much better than the ones found in Son.  Early on, there’s a shot of a lizard’s head emerging out of the screen that works quite nice.  There’s also a musical performance in which a couple of guitar necks poke out at the viewer a bit, as does the singer’s beehive hairdo.  That’s about it in terms of 3-D effects though.  For the most part, the flatly projected scenes look a bit blurry.  I’d say if you have a choice over seeing it this way or the 2-D, I’d go with the 2-D.

AKA:  The Vengeance of Hurricane Ramirez.