Mexico’s Batwoman, rare horror movies finally hit streaming

Warner Bros. Discovery axing an entire Batgirl movie so that it could save a few pennies and reboot its flailing DC movie universe is not an indication of a superhero-movie slump, I’m not sure what is (and Marvel’s not doing much better). The good news for fans of the prismatic fantastical cinematic possibilities that comic book adaptations offer: There’s been a wild Batwoman movie around to watch for 55 years and there’s a high-percent chance you’ve never seen it, let alone heard of it. Mubi is a streaming service that focuses on curation.

To coincide with a retrospective at this year’s Locarno Film Festival, this August, Mubi presents Spectacle Every Day – The Many Seasons of Mexican Popular Cinema, a series that will guide movie lovers through the rich and often overlooked history of Mexican genre cinema.

Touting “never-before-seen works,” one of the series’ main events is René Cardona’s 1968 romp Batwoman, a movie clearly capitalizing on the ’60s BatmanThe TV show has nothing whatsoever to do with DC Comics. This Batwoman played by Maura Monte is a mix of detective and wrestler.

And here’s the rest of the lineup, which peppers in plenty of horror and exploitation:

Mubi says its retrospective “covers three decades of Mexican film production that remain ripe for rediscovery” — or in many cases, just discovery. The genre film history has been well documented, but the discussion is usually centered on America. Films like Japan’s Hausu The Spanish language Dracula can feel like the butt of jokes in conversation with gnarlier American movies, and over time, it’s drawn a line between “legit” films and “camp.” BatwomanHas had an American audience for years. Mystery Science Theater 3000 The film without commentary is not for the robot jokesters at the front of the room. spectacle. Hopefully, this new series can clear the air about these Mexican rarities.

Spectacle Every Day – The Many Seasons of Mexican Popular Cinema kicks off on Wednesday, Aug. 2 on Mubi.