Un Pirata de Doce Años (1972)

Pirate yarn. Mexico. Starring Hugo Stiglitz, René Cardona III & Christa Linder. Directed by René Cardona Jr.

DVD: DistriMax Inc. (USA). Spanish language with english subtitles. Fullscreen. Watchable quality.

Very obscure pirate flick by René Carona Jr, one of my favorite directors when it comes to stiff genre cinema. A crew of goodhearted English pirates get their ship sunken by the evil spaniards. Their bad luck continues when they are washed ashore on an island used as a Spanish military training camp. Most of the crew are quickly killed off by the spaniards until only the pirates with clear character features remain: The heroic pirate leader (Cardona-favorite Hugo Stiglitz), the kid hero (René Cardona III - aaargh, it never ends!), the Indian (good at scouting and a good listener), the one-eyed brute (good at kicking Spanish asses) and a longhaired, bearded pirate who looks like a overweight middleage hippie (he - uhm- likes to spit a lot). When the pirates realise the spaniards are holding an English noble lady and her kids and chambermaid hostage they decide to go an a rescue mission and try to escape through the jungle. With the Spanish breathing down their neck they encounter cannibals, quicksand and dangerous animals on their way to freedom. I enjoyed this flick quite a lot. The film offers lots of dated swashbuckling fun to be had and there's never long between the swordsplay, crocodile attacks or cannibal ambushs. Fans of bad models will enjoy the sinking of the model ship, Antonio Margheriti would be proud. Add some crisp photography and good locations and you have 90 entertaining minutes. 4/5

El Pequeño Robin Hood (1975)

Adventure/Family. Mexico. Starring René Cardona III & René Cardona. Directed by René Cardona.

Westcon Home Video (Sweden). Spanish with swedish subtitles. Fullscreen. Selltape.

Wonderful, wonderful adventure/family film with the whole Cardona family assembled (Cardona Jr. wrote the script). The old gypsy Aramis and his young protogé Robin Hood are travelling the country with their bow and arrow-show. While the villagers watch the show their trained monkey Lucifer empty their pockets. After an encounter with the law and an escape from jail everything ends happy for the three friends and Lucifer dances a kosack-dance while Aramis plays the accordion while the snow starts falling (if you don't melt there you have no heart). I love this film. 5/5

Zindy, the Swamp Boy (1973)

Original title: Zindy, el Fugitivo de los Pantanos

Family/Adventure. Mexico. Starring René Cardona III, René Cardona, Lindy Fields, Gloria Chávez & René Barrera. Directed by René Cardona Jr.

Westcon Home Video (Sweden). English dubbed. Fullscreen. Selltape.

Very obscure mexican family film (quite literally) about a young boy and his grandfather lost in the jungle. Fun to have seen but perhaps not the most interesting film in the world... 2/5

Un Pirata de Doce Años (1972)

Pirate yarn. Mexico. Starring Hugo Stiglitz, René Cardona III & Christa Linder. Directed by René Cardona Jr.

Oscar Video (Greece). Spanish language with greek subtitles. Fullscreen.

Very obscure pirate flick by René Carona Jr, one of my favorite directors when it comes to stiff genre cinema. A crew of goodhearted English pirates get their ship sunken by the evil spaniards. Their bad luck continues when they are washed ashore on an island used as a Spanish military training camp. Most of the crew are quickly killed off by the spaniards until only the pirates with clear character features remain: The heroic pirate leader (Cardona-favorite Hugo Stiglitz), the kid hero (René Cardona III - aaargh, it never ends!), the Indian (good at scouting and a good listener), the one-eyed brute (good at kicking Spanish asses) and a longhaired, bearded pirate who looks like a overweight middleage hippie (he - uhm- likes to spit a lot). When the pirates realise the spaniards are holding an English noble lady and her kids and chambermaid hostage they decide to go an a rescue mission and try to escape through the jungle. With the Spanish breathing down their neck they encounter cannibals, quicksand and dangerous animals on their way to freedom. I enjoyed this flick quite a lot. Even though I don't understand Spanish, the plot is easy enough to follow and the film never gets too talky for its own good. The film offers lots of dated swashbuckling fun to be had and there's never long between the swordsplay, crocodile attacks or cannibal ambushs. Fans of bad models will enjoy the sinking of the model ship, Antonio Margheriti would be proud. Add some crisp photography and good locations and you have 90 entertaining minutes. 4/5

Robinson Crusoe and the Tiger (1970)

Original title: Robinson Crusoe

Adventure. Mexico. Starring Hugo Stiglitz, Ahui Camacho & René Cardona III. Directed by René Cardona Jr.

Nm. International (Sweden). Selltape. English dubbed. Fullscreen.

Stiff adventure by the Cardona's with Hugo Stiglitz as Crusoe, this should be right up my alley... but it's not. It's a bore. 2/5

El Pequeño Robin Hood (1975)

Adventure/Family. Mexico. Starring René Cardona III & René Cardona. Directed by René Cardona.

Nm. International (Sweden). Selltape. Spanish with swedish subtitles. Fullscreen.

Wonderful, wonderful adventure/family film with the whole Cardona family assembled (Cardona Jr. wrote the script). The old gypsy Aramis and his young protogé Robin Hood are travelling the country with their bow and arrow-show. While the villagers watch the show their trained monkey Lucifer empty their pockets. After an encounter with the law and an escape from jail everything ends happy for the three friends and Lucifer dances a kosack-dance while Aramis plays the accordion while the snow starts falling (if you don't melt there you have no heart). I love this film. 5/5