MEXICAN HALLOWEEN PART 2

My reward for surviving the Attack of the Deadly Migraine Pill seems to be a perpetual low grade headache but in spite of that and other inevitable miseries of life here is more of the distracting triviality of Mexican Halloween 2012.

Swamp of the Lost Monsters (1957) a.k.a. El pantano de las ánimas, is one of the films brought to the U.S. by producer K. Gordon Murray and dubbed for the matinee market.  When a body vanishes from its coffin after being boated through the Haunted Swamp and a murderous fish-man begins dragging hapless campesinos to a watery doom, it's time to call in Gaston Santos, Cowboy Detective on his dancing horse, and his voluble comedic sidekick Squirrel Eyes.  There are mysterious doings on the old rancho, with plotters scheming via secret telegraphy, and it has something to do with a million dollars in life insurance.  There really isn't much movie in this movie, with lots of riding around, miscellaneous brawling, and some irrelevant fiesta footage filling it out.  It's aimless, meaningless, not in the least compelling and the only thing worth seeing unless you love the sight of a guy making a horse prance backward is the crazy fish man suit.  Though the waters of the haunted swamp are uniformly cocoa colored from above, once you are under water they are as crystal clear as a studio tank, as you can see,

The one unique experience this film provides is the opportunity to see a man in a fish man costume operating a telegraph key.  I actually took a couple of breaks to go watch baseball with my wife - that is how unthrilling Swamp of the Lost Monsters is.  It creates an eerie mood for about two minutes and from then on it's just stuff happening but not interesting stuff, just stuff.  So pray for me, that this headache will go away in a week or so.