Spanish title: Maciste Contra Los Monstruos (Maciste vs the Monsters)
Stars: Reg Lewis, Margaret Lee
Directed by: Guido Malestesta
Distributor: Embassy Pictures Corporation (US), Telexport (Italy)

"A mysterious world in the prehistoric apocalyptic era, millon of years before Christ!"

In the world of Italian swords and sandals pulp film ‘epics’, Maciste is a fairly regularly-seen character.  In fact, he first appeared on film in Italy in the 1914 silent flick, Cabiria. He’s usually a sort of Hercules, who has incredible strength and gets in all manner of peril trying to help people against injustice.

In this film, despite the title, the story actually focuses on two warring tribes, with Maciste stuck in the middle. Not many monsters to be seen, but when you look at the variety of titles this film has had over the years, it has been clearly named not with story in mind, but box office.

In the US, it was Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules, while in the UK it was Collossus of the Stone Age. In Germany, it was Germanicus in the Underworld. And in the original Italian, Maciste contro i mostri (Maciste vs the Monsters).

The lobby card design is all original artwork, though none of it is particularly impressive. There’s a real focus on the monsters, obviously, but the character portrayed looks nothing at all like Reg Lewis, so there’s a good chance this was actually stock art being reused from other films.

Looks good, framed, hanging in a den, though! 

Spanish title: La Mujer Murcielago (The Bat Woman)
Stars: Maura Monti, Roberto Cañedo, Héctor Godoy, David Silva, Crox Alvarado
Directed by: René Cardona
Distributor: Cinematográfica Calderón S.A.

"Invincible! Valiant! Audacious! Powerful! Daring! Seductive!"

Cinematografica Calderon made films in Mexico from 1943 all the way through to the early 90’s before disappearing from the film business altogether, but in the 50’s and 60’s and 70’s, if it was crap, cheap, and out of control, chances are it was created by the folks from CC.

Frankenstein films, El Tigre thrillers, westerns, exploitation films -  they had the matinee audience eating out of their hands, but in the 70’s they’d discover the lure of El Santo films, and before, they were pumping them out whenever they could get their hands on a little film stock.

The jury is out as to whether this was an ‘approved’ Batman film or just a rip-off produced and distributed so far under the radar that the folks at DC Comics never got around to suing them, but when it comes right down to it… we don’t care.

It’s Batwoman. In a Bat-kini. Represent!