El castillo de los monstruos

Lore & Background

The film's plot centers on Clavillazo, a Mexican funnyman in love with a seamstress named Beatriz. He spends time with odd characters including a newsboy and a mental patient. Meanwhile, Dr. Sputnik and his scarred, hunchbacked assistant create monsters at a nearby castle. The doctor poses as a blind man in town and hypnotizes Beatriz, brainwashing her into believing she is his love, Galatea.

Reader's Guide

Clavillazo blunders into the castle with help from his friends, where he is chased by monsters including a butler resembling the Frankenstein Monster, a werewolf, a mummy, a vampire modeled after Count Dracula, and a gill-man patterned after the Creature from the Black Lagoon. An unidentified creature kept in a cell is referred to as a 'gorilla' in some reviews but appears more humanoid ape-like. The monsters are defeated through luck: the gill-man devolves into a fish, the werewolf is choked by the cell monster, Frankenstein electrocutes himself, the mummy falls to alligators, and the vampire vanishes at sunrise. Dr. Sputnik is shot after stabbing his assistant. Clavillazo and Beatriz are rescued from a crushing room by the gang.

Did You Know?

• The mad scientist is named after the Sputnik satellite.
• The vampire is clearly modeled after Count Dracula.
• The gill-man is patterned after the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
• The film was released in the United States by Columbia.