The Bat Woman – Indicator Series (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Mexico, 1968
Director: René Cardona
Writer: Alfredo Salazar
Cast: Maura Monti, Roberto Cañedo, Héctor Godoy, David Silva, Crox Alvarado, Armando Silvestre

Release Date: March 25th, 2024 (UK), March 26th, 2024 (USA)
Approximate Running Time: 81 Minutes 8 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: PG (UK), NR (USA)
Sound: LPCM Mono Spanish
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: £19.99 (UK), $39.99 (USA)

"When Acapulco’s wrestlers start being murdered and their pineal glands mysteriously extracted, the wealthy luchadora Gloria (Monti) adopts her crime-fighting persona of the Bat Woman. Donning her disguise of shiny blue mask, cape, and micro-bikini, she teams up with agent Mario (Héctor Godoy) to foil the evil Dr Williams (Roberto Cañedo) in his dastardly plan to create an army of amphibious ‘fish-men’." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "The Bat Woman was restored in 4K by Permanencia Voluntaria and Cinema Preservation Alliance, in collaboration with Academy Film Archive and Paso Del Norte, from the original camera negatives."

The Bat Woman comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 22.9 GB

Feature: 17.7 GB

The source looks excellent; it is a substantial upgrade when compared to VCI’s mediocre release. Flesh tones look correct, colors are nicely saturated, image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic.

Audio: 4.25/5

This release comes with one audio option, a LPCM mono mix in Spanish with removable English subtitles. The audio sounds clean, clear, balanced, and robust when it should.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an image gallery (82 images - stills/lobby cards/posters), a theatrical trailer (3 minutes 6 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Spanish with removable English subtitles), an interview with José Luis Ortega Torres, film critic, teacher, and author of the book Mostrología del cine mexicano, explores the monstrous creations of early Mexican genre cinema titled Fantastique Creatures (13 minutes 33 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Spanish with removable English subtitles), an interview with Mauricio Matamoros Durán, journalist, writer, and indie editor of Belcebú, and formerly DC Comics titled Adventures in Mexicolour (20 minutes 20 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Spanish with removable English subtitles), an interview with actress Maura Monti titled Bat of Nine Lives (18 minutes 23 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Spanish with removable English subtitles), an audio commentary with film historian and Mexican cinema specialist David Wilt, and an 80-page booklet with cast & crew information, an essay titled The Mask of The Bat Woman written by Dolores Tierney, an archival interview with Maura Monti titled Maura Monti Not Tired of Being Sexy, René Cardona; A Biography text taken from Dictionary of Mexican Film Directors, an archival essay titled Luchadoras: From Chicas Modernas to Wrestling Women written by Doyle Greene, an archival essay titled Slugfests Del Sur written by Andrew Coe, and information about the restoration.

Summary:

In a career that spanned six decades and 147 feature films, René Cardona directed nine Santo films. His notable films are The Living Idol, La Llorona (1960), Doctor of Doom, Night of the Bloody Apes and The Panther Women.

The narrative revolves around a superhero named Bat Woman, who assists the police in a case involving wrestlers abducted for a mad scientist's experiments.

Though The Bat Woman has all of the elements that are synonymous with Lucha Libre films, it is also a superhero film with a protagonist who was clearly inspired by the Batman comic book series. The protagonist is a wealthy woman who, instead of living a life of luxury, uses her wealth to fight crime under a secret identity.

The main villain is a diabolical mad scientist who is assembling an army of amphibious ‘fish-men’. And it is the pineal glands extracted from wrestlers that are key to bringing the ‘fish-men’ to life. That said, the ‘fish-men’ look similar to the monster from Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Maura Monti's portrayal of The Bat Woman is the only performance that leaves a lasting impression. Her character's costume is a cape, a mask, and a bikini. And she delivers a scene-stealing performance. That said, when it comes to her character's wrestling matches, it looks like she has a body double.

From a production standpoint, The Bat Woman is a film that often exceeds expectations. The narrative does a great job building and maintaining momentum. The visuals take full advantage of the Acapulco locations, and another strength of the visuals is the underwater sequences. Ultimately, The Bat Woman is a satisfying mix of action and fantasy cinema that fans of Lucha Libre films should thoroughly enjoy.

After watching VCI’s horrendous release, I was not originally impressed with The Bat Woman. That said, this new release is a perfect example of how a quality release that takes full advantage of the Blu-ray format can enhance one's appreciation for a film. The Bat Woman gets an excellent release from Powerhouse Films that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and insightful extras, highly recommended.

Note: Limited edition of 8,000 numbered units for the UK and US.

Written by Michael Den Boer