Planet of the Female Invaders (1966)

Rating: C

Dir: Alfredo B. Crevenna
Star: Lorena Velázquez, Rogelio Guerra, Guillermo Murray, Elizabeth Campbell
a.k.a. El planeta de las mujeres invasoras

This probably feels a good decade older than it actually was, thanks to its combination of b/w photography and wobbly effects work – it certainly doesn’t feel that 2001 would appear three years later. Some reports state this was partly cobbled together out of footage from another Mexican space-opera, Gigantes Planetarios, which wouldn’t help. Two micro-skirt wearing aliens show up at a funfair, replacing the “Ride to the Moon” attraction with their own craft. The next batch to take the trip, including a family, boxer Marco (Guerra) and his girlfriend, plus gangsters chasing said pugilist after he failed to take the arranged dive, find themselves off to Sibila for real, instead of a faked moon-shot.

There, they meet evil queen Adastrea (Miss Mexico 1960 Velázquez) and her good twin sister Alburnia (also Velázquez): the former is planning to invade us, but Earth’s atmosphere is problematic to them. Still, nothing that harvesting lungs from Earthlings won’t solve – young childrens work best, being freshest. Following in the UFO’s wake is rocket scientist Daniel Wolf (Murray): with the help of Alburnia and the hostages, he has to stop the threat to our home. Or at least, Mexican schools. While the concept is deliciously loopy, and we’re a sucker for the good queen/evil princess concept, too much of this is way too pedestrian or laughable. For instance, the way to defeat the Sibilans surveillance is to get a fat guy to stand in front of the camera, while you roll out of the (unlocked) door.

Not that the Sibilans seem to care, with even their Doomsday device, the Thunder Mirror (capable of dropping Mexican school teachers from the surface of their plans) basically unguarded. Not that they have guns either, just electric spears. Really, as invaders go, they’re a bit crap. While Velázquez is good in both her roles, and that aspect is well-handled to the point I didn’t realize it was the same actress for quite a while), the rest of the cast are blandly uninteresting and the plot develops with a striking lack of energy, that doesn’t match its silliness. Not without its charm, just not as much as you’d expect from the poster.