The black-masked crimefighter Neutron returns for his fourth big-screen adventure. A masked maniac is going around kidnapping women. He then takes them back to his lair, ties them up, and films himself butchering his victims. Afterwards, he sends the footage to the cops to further confuse and enrage them. Neutron volunteers to help find the killer and winds up going undercover in a shady mental institution to flush out the murderer.
Neutron vs. the Maniac has a nastier edge than the other entries in the Neutron series. While the murder sequences are brief and/or infrequent, they are nevertheless quite effective. The film noir-inspired cinematography, along with Alfredo Crevanna’s tight direction, helps accentuate the overall seedy atmosphere.
Although the movie starts off in fine fashion, things sort of bog down once Neutron finds himself behind the walls of the sketchy clinic. This stretch of the film isn’t bad (it might’ve been more engrossing if I had seen a version that had English subtitles), but it certainly lacks the inspired zaniness that hallmarks the best entries of the Neutron series. There are also a few too many extraneous characters and unnecessary red herrings that get in the way of Neutron doing his thing, which further hampers the pacing in the middle act. However, whenever he is on screen, masked-up, and ready to brawl, it’s a lot of fun. The finale is solid too as the reveal of the killer is rather fun, and Neutron’s final tussle with the villain and his henchmen wraps things up on a high note.
Unlike most masked men in Mexican horror movies, Neutron does not wrestle in the ring. We do get one wrestling sequence though, and although he doesn’t take part in it, it’s pretty good. There are also three musical numbers (two of which feature the sexy Gina Romand) that help to pad out the running time.
AKA: Neutron vs. the Sadistic Criminal.
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