original production:

LAS LUCHADORAS
VS. EL MEDICO ASESINO

Cast: Lorena Velazquez (Gloria Venus), Elizabeth Campbell (Golden Rubi), Sonia Infante (Alice Fontaine), Armando Silvestre (Mike Henderson), Roberto Canedo (Professor Wright), Chucho Salinas (Tommy Johnson), Jorge Mondragon (Boris), Jesus Murcielago Velazquez (Harry), Armando Acosta (Inspector Rogers), Gerardo Zepeda ("Gomar"), "with the wrestlers Murcielago Velazquez, Cavernario Galindo, Chabela Romero or Carmela Camacho (as "Vendetta"), Martha 'Guera' Solis, Magdalena Caballero, Tona 'La Tapatia', Irma Gonzalez (as "Irma Rodriguez")"

PLOT OUTLINE:
(from AFI): A scientist's obsession with brain experimentation drives him to transplant a gorilla's brain in a man's head. The doctor then places an ape's brain in the head of an intelligent woman wrestler, whose death is eventually avenged by her sister, also a victim of the doctor's experiments. Other women wrestlers, assisted by several detectives,A locate the doctor's residence. The doctor's laboratory and his victims are destroyed in an explosion. The fiend escapes, only to fall to his death during a struggle with a detective.

presenting... Miss Gloria Venus!

GUEST SYNOPSIS:
by Gomar Douglas
The film opens on a darkened street. A young woman is attacked and abducted by a large hairy hominid. She shrieks in terror as the credits roll . . .

In a crowded sports arena, wrestler Gloria Venus is engaged in a heated tag-team match. Her sister Alice is in attendance, cheering at ringside. After being illegally sucker-punched by an opponent while the referee was distracted (a common wrestling phenomenon, then as now), Gloria recovers quickly, dispatching her rival with a series of snap-mares and a submission hold. Later, in the locker room, she meets up with Alice, and the two agree to go out to dinner later that evening.

At the same time, in an operating room, a doctor and his assistant (their identities concealed by skull caps and surgical masks) are preparing for surgery. A female patient lies on a gurney in front of the doctor, unconscious and hooked up to a variety of tubes and electrodes. While the doctor signals for his assistant to bring in the "other woman," he sketches a circle on the back of his patient's head, which is already shaven. The assistant wheels in another patient on a gurney, also apparently unconscious.

A short while later, the doctor and his assistant are standing vigil over their patient, who is clinging to life while sporting fresh makeup. The patient rolls her head, parts her lips, then dies.

"Another failure," the doctor mourns, "and this makes the fourth one," adding that "he fought for life to the end." (Was the patient in drag?) The doctor explains that he's been trying to transplant a living brain from one human being to another, hence the source of his frustration. The assistant wonders if the doctor is using the proper brains for his experiments, noting that previous donors possessed "extremely low" IQs; perhaps "a superior brain, with a high IQ" would survive the transplant procedure. The doctor agrees.

A series of grunting noises is heard off-screen. The doctor summons his assistant to the basement, reminding him that "Gomar is acting up; he needs to be fed." They descend a flight of stairs leading to a door of thick steel bars. The doctor invites his assistant to behold his "greatest achievement so far": Gomar, a snarling, drooling "half man and half beast" who is confined to a cell in the basement. The doctor explains that Gomar is the result of his successful attempt to transplant a gorilla's brain into a (male) human body, adding that "the only reason he obeys me now is that I have him in a hypnotic state." The doctor tosses a slab of raw meat into Gomar's cell while revealing to his assistant that his man-beast creation is undergoing a "gradual transformation" from human to lesser-primate form, which helps explain the thick hunks of fur that've been glued onto Gomar's face and upper torso. While slowly reverting to herbivorous gorillahood, Gomar hasn't yet lost his taste for carpaccio, and he quickly wolfs down his uncooked meal as the doctor pets him tenderly, reassuring the beast that he means no harm.

The doctor and the assistant leave the basement. The doctor explains that he intends to continue his experiments with human brain transplants anyway, adding that human females make fitter candidates than males, "for a variety of biological reasons." What those might be (considering his past failures and Gomar's survival), he doesn't say.

The next day, while street-corner news hawkers shout out lurid headlines about the gruesome murders committed by a "mad doctor," the students at a nearby medical school are carrying out their experiments in a laboratory. Alice is seated at a table in the lab when her instructor (kindly, bespectacled Professor Wright) enters the room. He asks Alice about her whereabouts the previous night, expressing concern for her safety. Alice recounts her night at the wrestling matches, inviting the professor to attend a match in the future. Professor Wright declines, expressing his aborrhence of "violence of any kind." Alice shrugs off his concerns for her well-being, adding that the "lucky rabbit's foot" she wears on her smock will protect her against evil. The professor hands Alice a vial of fluid and asks her to analyze it before she leaves for the day. (Is it blood? Motor oil? Deadly microbes? He doesn't say.) The professor then exchanges words with his lab assistant, Boris, before taking his leave.

Back in the mad doctor's laboratory, the doc and his assistant (now cloaked in Klansman-style white hoods) have convened their gang of five henchmen. The doctor tells the men he wants them to abduct another woman for his experiments. When the henchmen protest, expressing their concern over increased police activity, the doctor silences them, reassuring them that Gomar will accompany them on their next body-snatch. Further, the doc explains, Gomar is to be clad in "special armor," rendering him impervious to police bullets. Harry, the henchman, asks the doctor if he wants anyone in particular kidnapped. The doctor hands him a photo, and Harry studies it. It's supposed to be a picture of Alice, but the glare from the overhead studio lights is so harsh that you can't tell who it is. The henchmen examine the photo and exit the room while the doctor instructs Gomar to obey the henchmen's orders.

While news of the grisly de-brainings fills the airwaves, police are baffled. At headquarters, Inspector Rogers convenes a meeting of his two crack detectives, Mike Henderson and Tommy Johnson. The inspector is at a loss to find a motive, and asks the detectives for assistance and advice. Tommy tells the inspector that he's investigated every doctor in the vicinity, and has even "interviewed several", but has no clues thus far. The detectives vow not to rest until the fiend has been captured. At this point, Tommy decides to telephone his grandmother, warning her to stay indoors. Since "grandma doesn't hear so well," Tommy has to scream into the telephone to make himself heard.

Later that night at the med-school lab, Alice has concluded her work. Professor Wright offers to escort her home, but she politely declines. She removes her smock, hangs it on a coat rack, bids the professor goodbye and departs. The professor then notices something disturbing: Alice has left her lucky rabbit's foot pinned to the lapel of her smock!

Bad luck strikes immediately. Alice is apprehended at once by two of the mad doctor's henchmen, pursuing on foot, and is snatched off the street, kicking and screaming, into a plainly-marked taxicab (!) carrying Gomar and the other henchmen. The way the scene is shot, with extras milling about on the sidewalk, there would appear to be at least a couple of eyewitnesses to the abduction.

Displaying acute navigation skills, the henchmen drive straight into a police roadblock. When the cops call for the men to surrender, Harry orders Gomar to break up the roadblock. Gomar gets out of the cab and lumbers toward the phalanx of armed cops. (Inexplicably, the henchmen also get out of the car and follow Gomar, even though they don't appear the be armed!) The cops begin firing at point-blank range, to no avail: they're powerless against Gomar's special armor, which consists primarily of a chest protector that appears to be wrapped in tin foil and one of those banged-up, dented hockey masks you see Jason wearing in those FRIDAY THE 1TH pictures. The ironclad man-beast attacks the cops, picking them up and tossing them around like clay pigeons. After dispatching the last cop with a full body slam, Harry signals for Gomar to return to the car. The cab speeds away.

The henchmen return to the doctor's lair with Alice, unconscious, in tow. Gomar carries her into the room and places her on a gurney beside the doctor. The henchmen depart, and the doctor prepares for his next transplant. (We know Alice is the donor, but who the recipient is, we're never told.)

After the transplant is completed, the doctor and his assistant hover over the unconscious recipient, watching her struggle for life. Alas, the experiment fails again. While bemoaning another failure, the doctor inadvertently gives away his assistant's identity, calling him Boris by name. Unfazed by the engregious dubbing error, Boris suggests that future brain donors should be women of exceptional physical strength: "perhaps an athlete", in order to survive the operation. The doctor arches his brows and rolls his eyes tellingly . . .

Back at police headquarters, Mike and Tommy tell the Inspector they've learned the identity of the mad doctor's lastest victim: Alice Fontaine. They then depart to inform the deceased's next of kin: her sister Gloria Venus.

Working out at the gym, Gloria is performing sit-ups when Tommy and Mike enter the exercise room, which is filled with her sister luchadoras practicing their wrestling holds. Mike asks Gloria to accompany her downtown, to identify Alice's remains. At the morgue, the sheet is rolled back from the corpse, and Gloria breaks down sobbing in Mike's arms.

Later that night, Gloria and the detectives pay a visit to Professor Wright. The professor recounts his last moments with Alice, confessing to Gloria that he loved her sister "as I would my own daughter." The professor can't think of any other clues that might help solve Alice's murder but offers his assistance in the future. Gloria vows not to rest until her sister's killer is brought to justice.

Back at the mad doctor's lab, the doctor informs his henchmen that future abductions must be of women with "exceptional physical stamina." He then confesses that he doesn't know where to find such women.

Meanwhile, at the gym, Gloria Venus is introduced to Golden Rubi, a veteran wrestler who's new to the local circuit. The promoter asks Gloria to act as Rubi's trainer, and the two get down to work. Shortly thereafter, a male wrestler invades the luchadoras' training room. When he tries to abscond with some barbells, one luchadora tries to stop him, but he pushes her rudely to the floor. Incensed, the other wrestlers gang up on the hapless intruder, stomping the crap out of him before dog-piling themselves five-deep on top of him. Gloria and Rubi, standing on the sidelines, share a tender moment of laughter.

Mike and Tommy return to headquarters, informing Inspector Rogers that they've failed to turn up any leads in Alice's murder. "We know she didn't take a cab," Mike says perceptively. "We checked all the local cab companies; nothing." After Tommy expresses his frustration at the lack of leads, Inspector Rogers counsels patience.

Back at the gym, Gloria and Rubi have concluded their workout. In the locker room, Gloria confesses her grief at her sister's death, and Rubi offers her condolences. Gloria then asks Rubi where she's staying in town. When Rubi says "The Splendid Hotel," Gloria, overwhelmed by loneliness, asks Rubi if she'd like to move into her apartment as a guest. Rubi agrees at once, and the two become fast friends.

Suddenly, it's Saturday night at the wrestling matches. The arena is packed as Rubi and Gloria are paired as a tag team in the feature bout, squaring off against La Gacela (The Gazelle) and Bertha Galindo. Shortly after the start of the match, Tommy and Mike show up, and take their seats at ringside. Also at ringside is kindly Professor Wright, acting fidgety and nervous. The match is long and grueling (nearly five minutes of film) but in the end, Rubi and Gloria (more accurately, Gloria's burly stunt double) emerge victorious.

In the locker room afterwards, Professor Wright pays a visit to Gloria and Rubi. A moment later, Mike and Tommy show up as well. The professor announces a potential clue to Alice's murder, remembering that the deceased had mentioned dating a young man after her work at the lab. While the professor doesn't remember the man's name, Mike thanks him for the information and promises to investigate in the morning. The professor departs, and Tommy, Mike, Gloria and Rubi depart on an impromptu double-date.

Later that night, Gloria and Rubi are asleep in Gloria's apartment. Rubi, awakening, sees a man's shadow looming ominously outside the bedroom window. Rubi alerts Gloria to the danger, then the pair pretend to be asleep as the intruder enters the darkened room. But it's not a single intruder: it's Harry and the henchmen! Undaunted, Rubi and Gloria (er, stunt double) spring from their beds and give the henchmen a thrashing before they flee for their lives. Returning to their lair, the henchmen are chastised by the mad doctor for botching the abduction.

Mike and Tommy arrive at Gloria's apartment. Mike advises Gloria and Rubi to allow themselves to be kidnapped if the henchmen return, promising that he and Tommy will follow them to the mad doctor's lair. The women agree.

The next evening, Gloria and Rubi depart the gym after their daily workout. Finding themselves alone on a darkened street, they fear they're about to be attacked. They see a car in the distance flashing its headlights: unbeknownst to them, it's Harry and the henchmen (sitting in the same taxicab as before!) flashing a signal for Gomar, whoís lurking in the shadows. In a moment, Gloria and Rubi are blind-sided by Gomar, who's once again clad in special armor. Gomar picks up the women and hustles them to Harry's car. Mike and Tommy, surveilling the scene in a nearby police car, follow the cab.

At the mad doctor's lab, the unconscious bodies of Gloria and Rubi are laid out on gurneys. The doctor congratulates Gomar on a job well done . . . when suddenly, a warning alarm buzzes. Harry opens a small porthole, peers outside, and sees Mike and Tommy climbing through an open window, into an adjacent room filled with (what else?) stacks of empty boxes. The hooded doctor and his henchmen attempt to ambush the intrepid cops. A brawl ensues, with fists flying and bodies hurtling into piles of empty boxes.

In the lab, Gloria regains consciousness and awakens Rubi. The women leap from their gurneys and join the brawl in the next room. The henchmen are finally subdued as Gloria and Rubi seize the mad doctor. Ripping off his hood, they discover his identity: it's Boris!

Inspector Rogers and the cops burst in, and Boris and the henchmen are led away.

Boris is interrogated by the police the next day. Standing behind him in the interrogation room, lined up against the wall, are four of the mad doctor's henchmen (but Harry is missing!). Also in the room are Mike, Tommy, Gloria, Rubi, Inspector Rogers, and Professor Wright (?), who's oddly clutching an umbrella. Boris explains to the cops that he's not the mad doctor, and that his life is in danger because he knows the mad doctor's identity. When Inspector Rogers promises police protection, Boris stands up and, gesturing towards the professor, announces, "The mad doctor is . . . is . . ." Suddenly he clutches his chest, groans, and collapses in a heap. Professor Wright declares him dead on the spot.

The next day, the autopsy results come back. Inspector Rogers explains that Boris was killed by a lethal heart injection: a tiny needle-and-cylinder mechanism filled with deadly poison which was launched via a powerful spring engaged by the killerís teeth. Unfortunately, because the poison took at least a second to kill Boris, the killer would have had time to relocate after spitting his fatal dart. Because of this, the inspector says, the killer could have been anyone present in the room. Once again, the police are baffled.

Back at the mad doctor's lab, the doctor shares a laugh with Harry, mocking the baffled cops. He confesses to killing Boris, warning Harry not to betray him lest he meet a similar fate. He instructs Harry to reorganize another gang; this time, to eliminate Mike and Tommy.

At the gym, Mike and Tommy pay a visit to Gloria and Rubi. Mike gives a wristwatch to each of the women, informing them that the watches contain tiny police transmitter/receivers that can be activated if they (or the detectives) find themselves in danger. The women put on the watches as the detectives depart.

Meanwhile, Professor Wright is trying to hail Mike by telephone from his home. As the camera pulls back, we see the professor is being held at gunpoint by two men wearing black hoods. Mike is summoned to the phone, and the professor explains that heís been attacked by the mad doctor's henchmen. He asks Mike to come to his house at once.

Arriving at the professor's house, Mike and Tommy are ambushed by the hooded henchmen, now four strong. Professor Wright apologizes to the detectives ("don't you see they made me do this!") as the henchmen tie up and blindfold Mike and Tommy, then hustle them out of the house into a waiting car. Professor Wright returns to the phone and makes a call . . .

At Gloria's apartment, the phone rings. The professor tells Gloria of the abduction. Gloria wants to depart immediately for the professor's house, but Rubi reminds her about the special wristwatches Mike gave them. The women decide to sit tight and wait for a distress call from the detectives.

At the mad doctor's lair, Mike and Tommy have their blindfolds removed. The mad doctor announces he intends to kill them, ordering his henchmen to take the hapless detectives to the "death chamber." The henchmen lead Mike and Tommy down to the basement and shove them into a room adjacent to Gomar's cell. The wall facing Gomarís cell is riddled with sharp steel spikes and it's collapsing inward on our heros! Mike and Tommy hail Gloria and Rubi by wristwatch, asking for help. Mike promises to leave his watch turned on so the women can follow his signal.

The women commence their pursuit by car. Meanwhile, Mike and Tommy are trying to dodge steel spikes and a groping Gomar (who appears hungry) as the room is gradually collapsing in on them . . .

Gloria and Rubi arrive at the doctor's lair and pry open the door with a crowbar. Following their wristwatch signals, they stroll past the doctor's laboratory (now covered with cobwebs), down the stairs and into the basement. Making voice contact with Mike and Tommy, the women are about to rescue them when they're ambushed by the hooded hechmen. Gloria and Rubi give the men a senseless beating, hurling them into more piles of empty boxes before reaching the door to the death chamber. Mike and Tommy escape with their lives. Meanwhile, Harry (now unmasked) flees up the stairs in search of the doctor.

As Gloria and Rubi lead the detectives upstairs, they run into the mad doctor, who's come to see what's going on in the basement. A chase ensues. The doctor tries to ambush Mike in the lab, but is is blind-sided by Rubi, who tosses a bottle of acid into the doctor's face. The doctor, writhing and screaming in pain, accidentally knocks over a jar of chemicals, and a fire breaks out. Mike, Tommy, Gloria, Rubi and the henchmen (now tied up) hustle out of the burning building. "This must be the end of the mad doctor," Gloria muses wistfully . . .

Suddenly, Gomar breaks out of his cage, bounds up the stairs and grabs the doctor, who's calling for him. Hoisting the doctor over his shoulder, he carries his creator out of the burning lab.

Sometime in the future, Gloria and Rubi are met at the gym by their promoter. He asks the women of they've heard from Mary Carmichael, a sister luchadora who's been missing for two days. Gloria and Rubi wonder if the mad doctor could still be at large . . .

At the same time, the mad doctor is revealing his true identity (off-screen) to Harry, who is flabbergasted at what he sees. The doctor vows to take revenge on Gloria Venus, "for what she did to me."

At the gym, Gloria receives a phone call from Professor Wright. He asks if she's planning on wrestling abroad. She says she'll be wrestling locally for the near future. The professor promises to attend one of her matches soon.

Hanging up the phone in his lab, Professor Wright finally reveals his identity (to the audience), baring his fire-scarred face and reveling at his plans to kill Gloria Venus. He instructs Harry to assist immediately in his next transplant: he's going to put Gomar's brain into the body of Mary the missing luchadora!

Later, the doctor is hovering over his latest brain recipient. She twitches her fingers, then opens her eyes. "She made it!" the doctor exclaims. Shortly thereafter, the doctor hypnotizes the beast-woman (now dressed in wrestling tights and wearing a black mask) and orders her to obey all his commands. The doctor intends to use his creation (dubbed "Vendetta") to kill Gloria Venus in the wrestling ring!

Gloria accepts a challenge to wrestle Vendetta. Meeting in the promoter's office to sign the contract, she offers her handshake to Vendetta, who is accompanied by her masked manager, but is refused coldly. When the time comes to sign the contract, the manager (it's the mad doctor in disguise!) uses telepathy to command Vendetta to sign her name.

It's Saturday Night at the Fights: Gloria Venus versus Vendetta in the main event. Gloria enters the ring first, followed by Vendetta, who stomps a couple of fans at ringside while ascending the ropes. While Mike and Tommy watch from ringside, the doctor commands Vendetta to attack. Vendetta chokes Gloria as the doctor eggs her on: "Make her suffer, make her suffer!"

Rubi strolls into the arena to watch the match. Suddenly she spies Harry sitting in the gallery. When he tries to escape, she pursues and captures him. Torturing him with an armlock, she demands to know what's going on. Under duress, Harry spills the beans, revealing Vendetta’s and the doctor’s identities. Rubi calls for the police.

Meanwhile, Vendetta is giving Gloria a savage beating . . . when Rubi leaps into the ring. No matter: Vendetta dispatches her with a body slam before admistering further punishment to Gloria. For good measure, she body-slams the referee, too. The mad doctor, hearing police sirens and screeching tires outside the building, flees the arena. Rubi hollers to Mike and Tommy to grab him before he gets away.

Outside the arena, with police in hot pursuit, the doctor calls for Vendetta to leave the ring: "Come to me, I need you!" Vendetta abruptly abandons the fight and joins the doctor outside the arena. They try to escape but are cornered by oncoming police cars. Finding a nearby water tower, Vendetta and the doctor climb to the top if it. Using floodlights to blind Vendetta and the doctor, Mike ascends the tower to apprehend the criminals. Under orders from the doctor, Vendetta stomps at Mike's hands, trying to push him off the tower as he nears the top. Mike momentarily loses his grip, then recovers. Using a high-powered rifle, Tommy takes aim at the water tower and fells Vendetta with a single shot. Tommy then blows away the doctor, too, as he struggles with Mike. Both victims come hurtling down to the street to the horror of onlookers.

Mike descends the water tower. "It's all over now, don't worry," he assures Gloria, "and your sister has been avenged."

THE END.

GUEST REVIEW:
by Gomar Douglas
The first of the "Wrestling Women" pictures, DOCTOR OF DOOM is arguably the freshest (and funniest) of the subgenre. For aficionados of the Murray Mexi-Horror canon, DOD sports all of the classic Murray trademarks in spades: ultra-low-buck production values (check out the lighting for the exterior shots!), laugh-out-loud dialogue, an incongruous patchwork music score (I especially dug the bossa nova riffs during the adbuction of Gloria and Rubi!) and plot holes large enough to accommodate a fleet of Hummers.

DOD distinguishes itself from other Murray Mexi-Horror titles in a couple of areas, the first being its accelerando pacing. I take a back seat to no man in my appreciation of EL BARON DEL TERROR, but how many times do you have to watch Abel Salazar turn into the Brainiac before you throw up your arms and say "Alright already, I get it!" It's a great picture, to be sure, but it really drags for the last 15 to 20 minutes as the same predictable Revenge Fantasy is played out over and over ad nauseum. DOD, however, operates inversely, starting slowly with a series of slow-moving operating-room scenes and line after line of plot exposition before exploding in the last 30 minutes with a flurry of car chases, fight scenes, death-defying escapes, and two trick endings leading up to its Cagneyesque climax.

The other area of differentiation is in DOD's self-conscious sense of fun. Unlike other Mexi-Horror classics such as CURSE OF THE CRYING WOMAN or THE WITCH'S MIRROR, which are meant to be genuinely creepy, DOD has virtually no Fright Factor to speak of. The only "monster," Gomar, is only remotely scary for a few brief moments in the beginning of the film, and after the mad doctor strokes him gently while he’s munching a beef bone, Gomar is essentially de-fanged in the eyes of the viewer; he's no longer a menace, just a big shaggy mongrel-man in need of a little affection, like a two-legged Rottweiler with a bad case of mange.

In the absence of Fear, then, DOD relies on a quasi-campy, tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, reveling in all manner of American action cliches to propel itself along. It certainly dredges up plenty of cornball plot devices reminiscent of other films: The radio wristwatches the luchadoras wear (Dick Tracy), the collapsing Wall of Spikes (Republic serials of the 1930s and ‘40s), the Water Tower scene (White Heat), the obligatory fistfights in the "Acme Empty-Box Factory" (a magnificently witless concept that continues to thrive into the present day. Just about every episode of The A-Team featured one of these, didn’t it?). I’m sure there’s also some cinematic precedent for the "Death of Boris" Scene, as ludicrous as it is, but in case you haven't seen it yet, the closest modern-day equivalent I can think of would be the scene in MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL where Arthur and his knights discover the cave inscription telling them that the grail is kept in the castle at . . . . augghhhhh!

There are also some overt (and mostly lame) attempts at laugh-inducement, notably Tommy's phone call to his grandmother, and the screwball comedy-type romantic banter between pint-size Tommy and Amazonian Rubi. Either way, if you like some laughs with your horror (beyond bad dialogue, that is), DOD delivers the goods.

For those who care about the wrestling, itís a Mixed Bag: The first lengthy tag-team match, featuring Rubi and Gloria in mid-picture is, in a word, pointless: Interminably long, poorly edited, indifferently wrestled and dull beyond words. The finale, though, between Gloria and Vendetta, is very well shot, crisply edited, chock full of body slams and bang-up fun. Much of the credit, I suspect, belongs to Vendetta, whoís built like a high-school fullback and seems possessed of an athleticism far superior to those of the other wrestlers in the film. Also noteworthy in the wrestling sequences is the stock footage of crowd scenes shot in various Mexican sports arenas of the day. Cardona loops them repeatedly for all they're worth, but most of them are quite atmospheric, evocative and (in a few cases) artfully rendered.

One caveat: Most prints of DOD now extant come with, er, a doctored original score. About seven minutes of fight scenes in the second half of the film have been given the "Johnny Legend" treatment, i.e., the original soundtrack has been dubbed out and replaced by some tepid modern-day rockabilly/surf music. Fortunately, these intrusions don't last long, and the music is somewhat buried in the mix. But you still have to wonder why anyone would've even bothered in the first place. It's also kinda jarring to hear bursts of cold, clean stereophonic sound midway through a film with a warm and grainy monaural soundtrack.

SYNOPSIS:
Late at night on a lonely city street, two thugs watch as a woman is attacked and murdered by a horrible monster!

Elsewhere in the city, a professional women's wrestling match is in progress. Our heroine, Gloria Venus, is the victor.

Gloria's sister, Alice Fontaine, congratulates her after the match, and the two make dinner plans.

Meanwhile, in a secret lab on the other side of town, two mad doctors perform an illegal operation on a woman, who dies shortly.

The doctors, who are involved in brain transplants, ponder this failure, their fourth. It is suggested that they need the brain of a more intelligent woman.

The doctors go to the basement, and visit their only successful creation, a horrible half man, half beast monstrosity: Gomar, the Ape Man! Gomar growls in his cage. The doctors feed him, and discuss their next victim.

The next day, Alice works at the lab. She asks an assistant to fetch a newspaper. Alice's boss, Professor Wright, walks in. Everyone discusses the latest murder. Alice asks Wright if he's ever seen a wrestling match, but alas, he hates violence! Wright is concerned about Alice walking home late alone, but Alice is confident she is safe: she has a rabbit's foot for protection!

A television report reveals that the killer, known as "the Mad Doctor," has claimed his fourth victim. In addition, all of the victim's brains have been removed!

At the police station, detectives Mike Henderson and Tommy Johnson tell police Inspector Rogers that there is no new information which would reveal the killer's hideout, or motivation.

Later, the Mad Doctor and his assistant, both now wearing full hoods to conceal their identity, hold a meeting with a group of petty hoods, who apparently are the loyal gang of the lunatic surgeon.

The doctor orders his gang to go out and fetch a new woman victim. He enlists the aid of a hypnotized Gomar, who will help in the abduction.

The gang leader asks the Mad Doctor who the next victim will be, and the doctor produces a photograph of her: it is Alice, sweet Alice!

Back at Wright's lab, everyone leaves for the evening except for Alice. Wright offers to escort her, but Alice is a big girl; she'll take a cab home.

Alice leaves. Wright notices with concern that Alice left her rabbit's foot behind.

As Alice walks down the street, she is suddenly surrounded by the Mad Doctor's gang, who capture and thrust her into a waiting taxi cab.

The cab drives right into the path of two cop cars. The gang leader orders Gomar, who is now wearing a bizarre tribal mask, to attack the cops, and he easily kills them all.

Meanwhile, back at the lab, the gang and Gomar place poor Alice on the operating table.

Later, the Mad Doctors finish the operation. This one, too, looks to be a failure. They try to save Alice's life, but she dies on the operating table, as have all the others.

The Mad Doctors discuss the feasibility of trying to next abduct a strong woman, one of unusual physical strength, who might be more apt to withstand the grueling ordeal of the bogus medical procedure.

The next day, the newspaper headlines reveal the worst: the killer has struck again, and the police are clueless!

Mike and Tommy visit Gloria, and tell her the bad news; Alice is dead!

Gloria is taken to the morgue, where she tearfully identifies her beloved sister.

The next day, Professor Wright is grief-stricken by the death of his beloved colleague and friend. He feels somehow responsible for Alice's death. Gloria and the cops ask if he recalls anything which may be of help, but he cannot.

Later, the Mad Doctor has a meeting with his gang, telling them that his next Subject must be a woman of exceptional strength.

Meanwhile, at Gloria's gym, a new female wrestler is introduced: the golden Rubi, also known as "The American Cyclone"!

Back at the police station, Rogers and his men discuss their situation, and share their frustration.

At the gym, Gloria tells Rubi of her recent tragedy. Rubi is horrified. The two beautiful wrestlers become fast friends, and decide to bunk together(!).

That night, Gloria and Rubi have their first match together. The two detectives are in the audience.

The wrestling match is close, with Gloria and Rubi emerging the clear winners.

After the match, Wright visits Gloria back stage. Mike and Tommy also arrive. Tommy is quite taken with the statuesque Rubi, and Rubi thinks the short, funny man is cute as well.

Wright reveals some facts to the detectives which he hopes may be of help: Alice had a part-time boyfriend, but Wright doesn't recall his name.

Wright leaves. Mike and Tommy invite the girls out for dinner and dancing.

That night, as Gloria and Rubi sleep in their skimpy nighties, Gloria sees an intruder preparing to enter the apartment through a window. She warns Rubi, and the two pretend to sleep.

As the thugs enter, the two female athletes leap out of bed, and beat the crap out of their would-be abductors, who retreat in horror.

Meanwhile, back at the lab, the gang try to defend their cowardly retreat, but the Mad Doctor is furious with his imbecilic cowards.

Later, Mike tells Gloria that he feels the kidnappers will surely return.

Mike asks Gloria if she would be willing to help set a trap for the madman. His plan is to let the girls be kidnapped, and Mike and Tommy will follow close behind. The girls reluctantly agree.

Later that night, Gloria and Rubi leave the gym, and walk together down a dark, lonely dark street.

Sure enough, the Mad Doctor’s gang waits in a nearby car. The girls become apprehensive.

From behind a column, a masked Gomar stalks the women.

He runs up behind the women, and knocks them both out. Gomar then drags the women to the gang’s car. Mike and Tommy watch nervously from the shadows. They follow the car.

Meanwhile, back at the lab, the Mad Doctor congratulates Gomar on his successful abduction. Gloria and Rubi are comatose, laid out on operating tables.

Suddenly, the doorbell rings. One of the thugs tells the doctor that two men who look like cops are snooping around outside.

As Mike and Tommy look around, the thugs sneak up on them. A struggle ensues.

As the men battle, Gloria and Rubi come to, and join in the free-for-all.

Gloria unmasks the Mad Doctor's sidekick: it is Boris, Professor Wright’s assistant!

Police reinforcements arrive at the secret lab, and arrest the whole bunch.

Later, the cops grill Boris, who they think he is the Mad Doctor. Professor Wright is there, and thinks that Boris is too stupid to be the mastermind of these heinous murders.

Under interrogation, Boris confesses that the Mad Doctor and Gomar the Ape Man escaped through a secret tunnel, and are still at large.

The cops demand to know the identity of the Mad Doctor, but Boris is afraid for his life. When he finally agrees to reveal his boss’ name, he is stricken with a sudden, fatal heart attack.

Later, lab inquiry reveals that Boris did not die a natural death; he was killed by an injection of poison! In addition, the poison projectile was apparently launched by one of the Mad Doctor’s gang members, and fired by his teeth!

Meanwhile, back at the lab, the Mad Doctor revels in his victory over justice. He orders his gang leader to acquire three or four trustworthy new gang members.

Elsewhere, Mike and Tommy visit Gloria and Rubi at the gym, where the girls are sparring.

The detectives give the girls radio wristwatches, with which they can communicate with the cops, if necessary.

Later, Professor Wright calls Mike and Tommy at work, and tell them to come immediately, for he has information regarding the Mad Doctor! Unbeknownst to the two detectives, however, Wright was forced to call the cops, for he is being held at gunpoint by two black-hooded thugs; it is a trap!

Mike and Tommy arrive at Wright’s house, and are promptly kidnapped by the thugs.

As soon as Mike, Tommy and the thugs leave, Wright calls Gloria, and tells her the bad news.

Gloria and Rubi decide to wait for a message from Mike and Tommy on their two-way radios.

Meanwhile, back at the lab, the Mad Doctor tells Mike and Tommy they are to be murdered, for they have become a threat to their ongoing research. They are dragged to "the death chamber".

Meanwhile, Gloria and Rubi wait for their men to call.

Mike and Tommy finally manage to send a message, and tell the girls to locate them via their radio wristwatches, which have a triangulation function.

Gloria and Rubi hop into their sports car, and locate their men’s’ whereabouts. Meanwhile, Mike and Tommy try to avoid the crude advances of Gomar the Ape Man, who joins them in the death chamber. In addition, the walls are closing in on them, studded with steel spikes!

The girls arrive at the secret lab. They crowbar their way into the front door.

The girls search the apparently vacant warehouse where the Boris and the gang had been captured earlier.

They finally reach the basement, and call for Mike and Tommy, who answer from behind an iron door.

As the girls prepare to free the detective, some thugs enter, and a struggle ensues.

The girls fight the thugs, find the entrance just in time, and rescue their men.

Everyone enters the operating room. Gloria fights the Mad Doctor.

Gloria throws acid in the doctor’s masked face. Suddenly, the lab bursts into flames.

Our four heroes leave the lab as it goes up in flames, but Gomar escapes, and rescues the Mad Doctor just before he is swallowed up by the inferno.

The next day, Gloria’s manager, Dick, tells her that a fellow wrestler, Mary Carmichael, has turned up missing! They all fear thee worst.

Meanwhile, the mad doctor reveals his face to his main thug, who is shocked to discover his boss's real identity.

Professor Wright calls Gloria, and asks her about her future plans. He hangs up the phone, and turns towards the camera, revealing a hideously disfigured face: Wright is the Mad Doctor!

Wright tells his thug and Gomar that they will help him kidnap and operate on Gloria, who will be his next and final victim!

That night, Wright transplants the brain of Gomar into Mary Carmichael, the missing wrestler. To Wright’s joy, the experiment is a success!

Wright tells the resurrected Mary Carmichael that her new name is "Vendetta", a masked wrestling woman from France!

Wright tells Vendetta that her mission is to defeat his enemy, Gloria Venus! Wright tells Vendetta to break a table, which she does easily.

The next day, Vendetta presents a fighting challenge to Gloria Venus, who naively accepts.

We see that Vendetta’s manager is also a masked mystery person, actually Wright, who tells Vendetta telepathically to sign the wrestling contract. The entranced she-monster does so.

That night, Gloria and Rubi prepare for the match. Rubi warns Gloria to be careful; there is something unearthly about Vendetta.

Gloria and Vendetta enter the ring, to the cheers of a wildly enthusiastic audience.

The match begins. It is soon apparent that Vendetta is a strange fighter. Under orders from Wright, she attacks Gloria viciously, almost strangling her in the first round.

Gloria appears to gains the upper hand.

Rubi sees Wright’s henchman in the audience, and catches him, twisting his arm and forcing to reveal why he is here. The thug tells Rubi that Vendetta is a Super-wrestling robot, completely under Wright’s control, and ordered are to kill Gloria Venus!

Meanwhile, the fight continues, with Vendetta using brute strength to overpower her opponent.

Wright orders Vendetta to strangle Gloria again, but Rubi jumps into the ring to defend her friend.

Wright tries to order Vendetta to attack Rubi, but she starts to go out of control, even attacking the referee, kicking him clear out of the ring!

Rubi sees Mike and Tommy, and tells them that Wright is the Mad Doctor, as well as Vendetta’s masked manager!

Wright runs out of the arena, with Mike and Tommy in hot pursuit.

The detectives tell the arena cops to surround the building.

Wright sneaks out of the arena unseen, and commands Vendetta telepathically to leave the ring and join him.

Vendetta obeys Wright’s orders, and walks out of the ring, joining Wright.

The two masked monsters run down the street, cops cars in pursuit.

The two climb to the top of a nearby water tower. The cops spot the two villains climbing the ladder.

Gloria and Rubi arrive, and ask Mike and Tommy what is the situation. They all look up, and see the villains at the top of the water tower.

The cops throw spotlights on the tower.

Mike starts to climb the tower. He reaches Wright, and tries to convince him to give up, but Wright will have none of it; he tells Vendetta to push Mike off the tower!

Vendetta pushes Mike, who almost falls off the ladder to his death.

Gloria wand Rubi watch, horrified.

Tommy grabs a rifle and shoots Vendetta, who falls to the ground. He then shoots Wright, who falls also.

Vendetta and Wright lay on the ground, dead. Wright is finally unmasked, for all the world to see.

Mike and Tommy tell the girls that all will be well. Gloria is relieved that her sister's untimely death has now been avenged.

THE END

presenting... the Golden Rubi!

REVIEW:
This wonderful film is the closest thing to an all-out (unintentional?) comedy that Murray and Company ever mounted. We start with an amazing source film, and add some incredible dialog and cartoony voices, adding up to a true psychotronic gem.

In addition, the Mad Doctor’s brutal experimentation on innocent female victims is akin to serial sex killings, and is probably the closest that the Murray horror films ever came to addressing "adult subject matter". This is, in its own goofy way, very strong stuff.

We know we’re in trouble when we open with a great, very short teaser: a woman is strangled by a hairy ape man as two goons watch. Then we cut to women wrestling over the credits, and we wonder: are we in cult film heaven, or what?

Our lovely Amazon heroines, Gloria Venus and the Golden Rubi, are strangely beautiful comic book protagonists straight out of a lost era, and are wonderful to watch.

When Gloria and Rubi instantly move in together upon first meeting, our first thought is: butch lesbians? This delicious sideline is left unexplored, but for a marvelous scene in which the two girls sleep in the same room (separate beds) in filmy nighties. Pretty intimate, I’d say...

The doofy Professor Wright is an hilarious character, dubbed like a cross between a wheezy Ronald Coleman and a drunken James Mason. Of course, when we realize he is also the Mad Doctor, we find we've been tricked twice, for the dubbed voice of the Mad Doc is completely different! This makes sense only in Murray land, for what villain would use a different voice when he's alone with his comrades-in-crime! Silly stuff indeed!

And then there’s "Gomar, the Ape Man", an amazing sexual brute who is both funny and genuinely menacing, in a sweaty sort of way.

The dubbing in this film is priceless, and enigmatic as well. A news boy yells something which sounds suspiciously like "Aztec Ape Strikes Again! Son of a Bitch!" Whaa? Also, Tommy the cop shouting at his deaf grandmother over the phone is a purely perfect psychotronic moment.

As is often the case in these great films, logic takes a seat WAY in the back of the bus. Wright as the Mad Doctor is hard enough to believe, but why would he orchestrate his own hold-up at gunpoint to get Mike and Tommy into trouble? Schizo, to say the least. Makes NO sense, and we LOVE it that way!

The music score in the film is fantastic, a real eclectic mix of evocative mood music, dramatic cues, cool jazzy music, strange "boom-chicka-boom" riffs, and some bonafide rock-n-roll instrumentals! Dizzying and delightful.

The wrestling finale, with Gloria and French Super-Robot Mary Carm -- uh, I mean VENDETTA, is stunning, both exciting and absurd in equal measure, a real jaw-dropper and a real crowd-pleaser. Vintage stock shots of a real-life Mexican fight audience are very cool as well.

Overall, DOCTOR OF DOOM (which was blessed with a poetic retitling, as opposed to the usual straightforward translation) may be Murray’s most entertaining horror film, for many reasons, some even intentional!

COMMENTS:
* Prolific director Rene Cardona remade this genre classic a few years later, in color and with alot of gore, as LA HORRIPLANTE BESTIA HUMANA (aka NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES). It featured open heart surgery, liberal nudity, and a monster strikingly similar to Gomar the Ape Man! It was released to US drive-ins in the mid-70's, on a groovy double-bill with the wacky Argentinian horror gem, FEAST OF FLESH (aka DEADLY ORGAN), by Murray colleague Jerald Intrator.

COMMENTS:
* (updated 02-14-06) Thanks to a terrific new book we just received, "Ghouls, Gimmicks and Gold" by Kevin Heffernan, (2004, Duke University Press), we have been able to update the U.S. television release date for this Murray horror title to 1965. The appendices to this study of the horror film in America, circa 1955-1968, include complete listings of syndication feature film packages from many distributors, including American International Television, who subleased the K. Gordon Murray film catalog under the title THRILLERS FROM ANOTHER WORLD. It seems that 1965 was the watershed year for genre film sold to television, with a veritable flood of titles released by both domestic and foreign distribs.

* (effective 05-01-03) After a very brief window of availability, this long-sought K. Gordon Murray title is once again out of print, due to international copyright issues. Used video tapes of this title may be found on online video dealers and auction sites. Stay tuned for further developments!

* "Armando Silvestre, who plays the handsome detective Mike Henderson, also appeared in the final film in the Luchadoras series: LA HORRIPLANTE BESTIA HUMANA (NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES, 1968), also directed by Cardona. Ironically, in the latter picture Silvestre portrays the mad doctor who, this time around, transplants a gorilla’s heart into the body of his own son, who’s dying of leukemia." - Gomar Douglas

* For an excellent and informative online review of DOCTOR OF DOOM, visit David Wilt's Mexican Film Pages.

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