12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting but has Major flaws, March 12, 2007
This review is from: Mexploitation Cinema: A Critical History Of Mexican Vampire, Wrestler, Ape-man And Similar Films, 1957-1977 (Paperback)
Doyle Greene's examination of the social themes in the "Mexploitation" flicks of the sixties and seventies is interesting, but has a major flaw that none of the reviews I've read have mentioned. The book is a fairly good overview of the K. Gordan Murray versions of the original films, but it is not the "scholarly" work it purports to be. You can't claim to be writing a serious examination of the social themes of a film genre, as Greene claims to be doing in this book, when you've only seen a few of the films! If you pay close attention while reading the book, it becomes obvious that the only films from this genre that Greene has seen are the ones that were dubbed into English and released in the States, and then subsequently released on home video here! In other words, his research on an entire genre of films came solely on what he could find at Blockbuster or the local Wal Mart bargain bin! This limitation is made even more clear when you begin to realize that Greene doesn't even know what the original Spanish dialog in the films was--he always referrs to the English translations when discussing the films. That kind of shallow digging is not what being a true film historian or theoratician is about. That's like writing a "scholarly" book on the social implications of Bollywood films when all you've seen is "Bride and Prejudice" and "Monsoon Wedding."
Now if this was just about "The Mexploitation Films Brought to the USA by K. Gordan Murray" that would be a different thing. But Greene pretends it's more, which is more than a bit disingenuous. Especially when you're paying top dollar like you are for this one.
But, if you want to get a good overview of the Mexploits that were released in the USA, this is still a fun book to check out at the library.
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8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
What exactly are the socioeconomic implications of Lucha Libre?, August 24, 2006
This review is from: Mexploitation Cinema: A Critical History Of Mexican Vampire, Wrestler, Ape-man And Similar Films, 1957-1977 (Paperback)
This scholarly work examines in great detail the social implications of Lucha Libre movies for Mexican society and their greater influence on world pop culture and art. Although his use of academic jargon occasionally makes for slow reading, Greene obviously loves classic Mexican horror cinema and it shows. He has also done a great deal of research not only into the history of the south-of-the-boarder film industry but into almost every conceivable aspect of Mexican culture at the time: political, social, economic, and artistic. A solid scholastic, he substantiates his conclusions with exclusive footnotes referencing a bewildering number of academic sources.
With all of this said, as a work Mexploitation has two serious problems. The first is that it is a deadly serious, highbrow examination of a fun loving, lowbrow genre. The lighthearted tone Bobb Cotter uses in his seminal Mexican Masked Wrestler Filmography seems a lot more appropriate to the subject matter. Green always seems to be hunting rabbit with a howitzer. Secondly, sometimes a goofy low budget movie is simply that: a goofy low budget movie. Green's almost fervent conviction that the mysteries of the Mexican soul can be unlocked by a minute examination of La Horripilante Bestia Humana is kind of a little creepy and probably says more about the state of American academia in the 1990's than it does about the state of Mexican culture in the 1960's.
Mexploitation is a must for anyone interested the philosophical importance of Lucha Libre films and their historical metacontext, but it is probably too heavy and academic for the casual wrestling fan.
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7 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
FINALLY, A SERIOUS LOOK AT MEXICAN MONSTER MOVIES!, August 23, 2005
This review is from: Mexploitation Cinema: A Critical History Of Mexican Vampire, Wrestler, Ape-man And Similar Films, 1957-1977 (Paperback)
Being a fan of Mexican Monster Movies most of my waking life, I've gone through several changes of opinion about them. As a kid, they were bizarre and fascinating cultural anomalies. As an adolescent and young adult, they became beloved "bad movies", fun for laughing at. In adulthood, one can see how much terrific filmmaking was involved in films like THE BRAINIAC and SAMSON AND THE VAMPIRE WOMEN, how exciting they look today in cultural and entertainment terms, and how valuable a legacy they are to us.
Thus, it is not a moment too soon for author Doyle Greene to take this beloved yet underappreciated genre, and bring it into the 21st century with an astute, loving and insightful critique of the genre in general, and some luminous films in specific.
Drawing from a knowledgeable cultural studies perspective, Greene deftly dissembles the elitist notions of "camp" and "cheese" drawn by such observers as Susan Sontag, and defends the Mexican horror-fantasy universe on its own terms, as valid and exciting cultural product made by competent and passionate filmmakers.
Greene spends a good deal of time on the immensely popular lucha libra genre, populated by wrestlers like Santo and Blue Demon, and of course the adored Wrestling Women, with their prodigious film output. It turns out that these popular and ubiquitous films accurately (and revealingly) reflect Mexican culture during several key time periods, including some of cataclysmic upheaval, as well or better than many more respected cultural yardsticks.
Greene then concentrates on two undisputed classics of the genre, THE BRAINIAC and NIGHT OF THE BLOODY APES, and gives the thrilling textual reading these films have long been crying out for. Even if you have loved these movies for decades, Greene's commentary will have you rushing to the VCR to watch them again, so well does he give these enigmatic dark fantasies exciting new life.
When one ponders the significant and consistent themes which populate the Mexploitation Cinema canon as illuminated by Greene's superb treatise, one is fairly amazed that no-one has taken this genre under his wing before, and given it a serious critical look. We have Greene, and McFarland, to thank for correcting this glaring oversight with a book destined to become a cult classic, just like the movies it lauds!
I was happy to supply some of the illustrations to this fine tome, and I couldn't envision them being given a better home.
Mexican Monster Movies Live! Bravo, Mr. Greene!
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