Justice Wears a Mask

An Overview of Lucha Cinema

A review of the phenomenally popular Lucha Libre (masked wrestler) films that proliferated from 1952-1985, with biographical and career coverage of the major stars, production staff notables, and supporting players.

©2019 Mark Barnard (P)2019 Mark Barnard

Excellent Introduction to the Lucha Cinema

As an enthusiast of the genre myself, I can say that this is a great brief introduction that simultaneously manages to include lesser known wrestlers and films without getting bogged down. I've spent a lot of time finding and watching these films and I still learned of new films through this book. Pacing is great for such a short title. The one negative is that the narrator confidently, consistently mispronounces names of important people and places. Still highly recommended

excellent

Loved it !! this story. the narrator is so fantastic it's like your really there!! good overall

Thoroughly entertaining

I've been researching obscure early era superheros. I've known the author as anime researcher, so I decided to give this a try.

This is one of the rare research excursions where every sentence is entertaining. I learned where the masks got started in mexican wrestling and its connection to Republic serials, then how it veered into cinema. There are spectacularly ludicrous stories and ego and attempts to please fans while trying to make a buck. A star demanded to be paid more while filming in Havana when a previous film did well, all settled with a used car.

Some of these things aren't fun without an understanding of the mythology and history. I can now appreciate Lucha cinema more.