Night of the Blood Apes, Before There was Gail Kim...

Ah! Female wrestling! We are all thinking the same thing, I know. There are not enough films out there utilizing gorgeous female wrestlers as protagonists. Travesty! Hence, from Mexico, 1969's "Night of the Bloody Apes." Before there was Gail Kim...before Tina Ferrari seduced us as the G.L.O.W. champion, their path was blazed with the likes of the Fabulous Moolah. These femme-grapplers often wore tight leotards or swimsuits and inflicted gruesome damage on their femme-rivals. Now, why not pit them against a...monster ape-man?

Lucy Osorio (Norma Lazareno), a contemporary of The Fabulous Moolah destroys her opponent, Elena Gomez (Gina Morett) in the ring. Uh oh...its all real and Elena suffers a serious head injury. Dr. Krallman (Jose Elias Moreno) is called in to operate but can do very little. Poor Dr. Krallman, his own son Julio (Augustin Martinez Solares) is dying from a terminal illness. Never one to give up, the mad-scientist that he is, Dr. Krallman steals an ape from the zoo in order to secure a new heart for his son. Meanwhile, the red leotard clad Lucy is annihilated in her next match as she is wrought with guilt over destroying Elena.

Okay, Julio's new ape heart turns him into an ape-man monster. He immediately barges into the shower of a nubile young woman (Noella Noel), fondles her a lot, rapes her, and claws her to death. This, of course is a very gratuitous scene. He'll kill more men and strip many more women. Dr. Krallman recaptures Julio and now steals the comatose body of Elena from the hospital and rips out her heart and gives it to Julio. Meanwhile, Lucy gets her groove back and after decimating more women grapplers, gives us some gratuitous nude shower and locker room scenes. Now the women's wrestling champion Lucy leaves the arena not knowing she is on a collision course with a rapist, ape-man monster. What will happen? Clue: Lucy's dress will be shredded.

Will the monster ape-man be able to disrobe and rape the world women's wrestling champion as easy as other nubile showering Mexican women? Are the advances in science worth a few (okay, a few dozen) sexual assaults? Will this film have us all rethinking King Kong's relationship to Fay Wray? Directed by Rene Cardona, "Night of the Bloody Apes" is a gratuitous (in nudity and gore) horror film from south of the border. Enjoy, but don't bring this movie up during job interviews or church pot-luck dinners.