In ancient times, aliens from outer space came to Earth and were worshiped by the Aztecs as gods. The aliens became the father of an Earth child. The child had supernatural powers and became the first Pumaman. He was entrusted with guarding the people of Earth. The Pumaman was given a gold mask that could control people’s minds.
The mask is found in the Andes by an evil man, Kobras (Donald Pleasence). Kobras hires archaeologist Jane Dobson (Sydne Rome) to decipher the words on the mask. The mask tells of the legend of the Pumaman. The inscription also says that there is a curse associated with the mask that dictates whoever desecrates the puma god image will in turn be destroyed by the living Pumaman.
Kobras knows and understands the legend and couldn’t care less. He plans on taking over the world using the power of the mask. Kobras doesn’t know who the Pumaman is but he knows certain aspects of his life. He begins killing anyone who fits those life events. The high priest of the Aztecs, Vadinho (MiguelAngel Fuentes) believes that Professor Tony Farms (Walter George Alton) is the descendent of the Pumaman. He throws Tony out of a window. When Tony survives without a scratch he knows he has found him. Convincing Tony that he is the Pumaman takes some commitment. Eventually, when Tony puts on a magic belt, given to him by Vadinho, he suddenly has new superpowers.
By now Kobras finds out that Tony is the Pumaman and makes several attempts to kill him. As Tony develops his superpowers Kobras increases his commitment to take over the world while trying to kill Tony.
“The Pumaman” was released in 1980 and was directed by Alberto De Martino. It is an Italian superhero movie. For the most part, Italians make really bad superhero movies, for example, “The Three Supermen”, “Super Argo” and “The Pumaman”. Pumaman does not look anything like a puma but is said to have superpowers that a puma would have, only exaggerated, although I’ve never seen a puma fly.
The special effects are hilarious. Sometimes Pumaman, when flying, just walks off the screen. I’m not surprised that MST3K did a riff on it. Even Donald Pleasence said it was the worst film he'd ever been in. Add in some bad acting, horrendous music, and lame script and you end up with an unintentional parody of the Superhero genre.