Villain(s)  Cursed undead mummy

Actor(s):  Ramón Gay, Rosita Arenas, Crox Alvarado, Luis Aceves Castañeda

Brief Description  The Aztec Mummy (Spanish: La Momia Azteca) is a 1957 Mexican adventure horror film that launched Mexico's iconic, campy mummy horror subgenre. Directed by Rafael Portillo and produced by Guillermo Calderón, the movie blends pseudoscientific past-life hypnosis with Mesoamerican mythology. It was filmed back-to-back as part of a trilogy to maximize profits, followed by The Curse of the Aztec Mummy and The Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy.

Plot:
The story follows Dr. Eduardo Almada (played by Ramón Gay), a scientist determined to prove that hypnotic regression can unlock a person's past lives. After his theories are dismissed by his peers, his supportive fiancée, Flor Sepúlveda (Rosita Arenas), volunteers as his test subject. Under deep hypnosis, Flor reveals she is the reincarnation of Xochitl, an ancient Aztec maiden. Xochitl was bound by a vow of chastity but fell in love with a warrior named Popoca. When their illicit affair was discovered, Xochitl was sacrificed to the gods, and Popoca was cursed to be mummified alive to guard her tomb and the hidden Aztec treasure forever. Using Flor's recovered memories, Dr. Almada, her father Dr. Sepúlveda, and Almada's assistant Pinacate locate the secret tomb in the Great Pyramid.

They discover Xochitl's skeletal remains along with a golden breastplate and bracelet containing a map to the treasure. However, removing these artifacts awakens Popoca the Aztec Mummy. The group escapes back to Mexico City with the artifacts, but the unstoppable, vengeful mummy follows them to reclaim his stolen goods. While the film is celebrated for its campy charm, bad makeup, and entertaining atmosphere, it takes massive creative liberties with history. The script suggests the Aztecs practiced Egyptian-style upright mummification and used hieroglyphic writing. In reality, the Aztecs practiced cremation or simple burials, and used pictographs rather than hieroglyphs. The film gained a massive cult following in the United States after entrepreneur K. Gordon Murray acquired the English dubbing rights and distributed it to television networks in 1964.