What is the worst movie ever made? Some says its Ed Wood’s infamous Plan 9 from Outer Space or his earlier film Glen or Glenda. There is even a whole Wikipedia page devoted to listing the possible contenders. However, there is one film missing from this list, one that we are going to offer as the rightful owner of this dubious distinction. From the depths of Lou DiCrescenzo’s vault we are happy to present The Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy, the third in a series of Mexican horror films featuring the mummy Popoca.
The sequel to The Aztec Mummy and The Curse of the Aztec Mummy, both released earlier the same year, Robot tells the tale of the evil Dr. Krupp and his plot to steal a valuable Aztec treasure from the tomb of a centuries-old living mummy. Krupp builds a robot to defeat the mummy. Krupp’s former colleague Dr. Eduardo Almada and associates work to stop the mad scientist. (Of course we just have to ignore the fact that the Aztecs never practiced mummification…)
What makes this Mexican horror film even greater is that it was one of the films brought to the US and dubbed by K. Gordon Murray – the King of the Kiddie Matinée. K. Gordon Murray was a Florida-based film producer who is best known for distributing countless low budget exploitation and kiddie films imported from other countries. Aficionados will know his name from 30 or so Mexican horror titles produced at Azteca Studios in the 50s and 60s, that he had dubbed and distributed straight to TV.
Why would we play such a film? Simply for the sheer thrill of seeing this lost “treasure” in 35mm and to bring the glory of the B-Horror film experience back to the Ambler. We have also decided to add some special features to the event as well: a real Robot and Mummy will duel before the film and some special instructions to make certain scenes in the film a bit more interactive.
We are excited to bring this lost piece of film history to the Ambler Theater, but the experience really needs a packed house to work properly. So, please join us on Wednesday, February 24th at 7:30 for this unique event. You can judge for yourself if it is truly the worst film ever made, but we can promise you it will be an unforgettable movie-going experience.
Podcast Feature: Director of Special Film Programs, Chris Collier discusses The Robot and the Aztec Mummy with preservationist Lou DiCrescenzo.
This is great! These movies are so “bad”, they’re actually “good”. With all the rotten stuff going on in the world, this show will provide some laughs, nostalgia and just plain “good clean fun”. However, it’s not the “worst” of this genre. That distinction belongs to “Robot Monster”; so badly received by movie critics its director attempted suicide!