There have been several murders in Acapulco, Mexico. All of the murders were men who were Luchadores (wrestlers). Autopsies on the men show that the fluid from their pineal glands has been removed. The Mexican authorities are stumped. So far all they know is that the surgery on the men was done by a medical expert.
The Mexican Inspector (Crox Alvarado) brings in an FBI agent, Mario Robles (Hector Godoy), to assist. He tells them that the murders resemble some that happened in Macau and Hong Kong. Robles brings in a special agent named Batwoman (Maura Monti). Batwoman is a wealthy woman named Gloria who uses her wealth for good and fighting crime. There are only two people who know her identity as Batwoman and Robles is one of them. She is an expert at all sports, shooting, horseback riding and all many of skills. She is also a Luchadore. Batwoman uses her Luchadore status to investigate the local Lucha Libre training center.
In the meantime Dr. Eric Williams (Roberto Canedo) and his assistant Igor (Carlos Suarez) are conducting mad scientist experiments on a ship called Reptilicus out in the bay. The doctor is implanting the fluid from human pineal glands into fish. He is trying to create what he believes is a throwback to creation. A fishman. His latest experiment has failed. He now needs another human of great physical power. He instructs his henchmen to bring him another wrestler.
This time the operation works. Dr. Williams has turned his fish into a baby fishman. They bring the creature out into the sea and bombard it with radiation. The baby fishman grows into a big fishman.
Batwoman overhears a conversation on a tapped phone from someone calling himself Number 1. She hears of the plot to kidnap another wrestler. Unfortunately she doesn’t know who or when the kidnapping will take place. Robles learns that the person Number 1 was talking to was Dr. Williams. He also learns that Williams had been in both Macau and Hong Kong.
Batwoman knows that Williams is the killer but she needs proof. She sneaks aboard his ship to check it out and almost gets caught. She manages to wrestle her way out of the henchmen’s clutches and get away. Now that Williams is aware of her and has perfected his fishman process he thinks it is time for the next step in his experiments. He wants to create a fishwoman and Batwoman’s pineal juices are just ripe for the picking.
“La Mujer Murcielago” AKA “The Batwoman” was released in 1968 and was directed by Rene Cardona. It is a low budget Mexican science fiction/horror movie and a Lucha Libre film (wrestling).
As far as Batwomen are concerned, Maura Monti is not all that bad. She certainly fills the costume quite well. What there is of it anyway. She’s also got a batmobile that looks very much like the one from the Batman television series. The film is not as campy as Jerry Warren’s “The Wild World of Batwoman”. Nor is it quite as stupid as some of the other Lucha Libre films I’ve seen.
The fishman creature is also not too bad. He’s a little cheezy and not exactly fishlike but I’ve definitely seen worse in American low budget movies. I liked it. The mad scientist was properly over the top as he should be and Igor was as subservient as he should be. Altogether it ranks about average for even American low-budget horror/sci-fi genre films.