Neutron vs. The Death Robots - Part1

Believing the megalomaniacal Doctor Caronte had been defeated by the masked Mexican superhero Neutron, the world is shocked to discover that Caronte still lives! This time, Doctor Caronte has made a synthetic brain from the brains of the dead scientists who developed the neutron bomb, and from his monstrous creation he will learn how to construct his own bomb! Only Neutron can stop him--but who is Neutron?

One would be hard-pressed to imagine either Neutron or Caronte existing outside of the film's surrealistic universe, but the other characters in the film react to the two masked men as if wearing a costume in public was nothing unusual.

Neutron is unusual even by superhero standards, however. He bears no resemblance to friendly archetypal characters such as Superman or Captain Marvel. As is perhaps fitting for a Mexican superhero, Neutron dresses in the manner of a lucha libre wrestler. His all-black costume comprises tights, leather gloves and wrestling boots, a belt with a big 'N' on the buckle, and a full-face wrestling mask with three white lightning bolts on the forehead. One thing his costume is lacking, however, is a shirt. While it is not unusual to see a shirtless wrestler in the ring, it is somehow disquieting to see this muscular, half-naked man in a mask sneaking around in the dark and creeping into people's houses. In any case, Neutron is a man with complete confidence in his deodorant. Incidentally, no explanation is ever given why the hero bears the same name as the bomb.

In contrast, Dr. Caronte is garbed entirely in white. His costume comprises a short sleeve tunic, tights and boots, a full-face wrestling mask, and rubber dishwashing gloves. Caronte's costume effectively identifies him as the doctor/wrestler he is, but one would think that he would make his dwarf assistant, Nick, wash the dishes. Perhaps the zombie chemicals give him dishpan hands when he doesn't wear the gloves. Perhaps he just does things the way he was trained at undead medical school.

In short, don't try to analyze this film too much. Your brain will hurt. (1962 - Estudios América / Producciones Corsa S.A.)