Traiganme la Cabeza de la Mujer Metralleta

Exploitation from Chile.

The exploitation genre has always been a cult item cherised by hundreds of thousands around the world, although, it may seem sometimes as an interest reserved for a little community of connoisseurs, things have changed dramatically since the internet hit the streets. What was once reserved to a few lucky collectors it is today's open door to everyone curious enough to explore the genre not only through its most important films but, also through the darkest, rarest lost gems that can not be reached in a store anymore. 

Chile is a country well known for a few things. One is the exquisite wine they produce. A wine whose taste french would kill to have. The other element is Augusto Pinochet, the dictator who, aided by the CIA, ruled the country from 1973 up to 1989. Also, the country became known for the spotlight rescue of the 33 miners that were buried alive while mining. Others would say Chile is one of the places you have to visit before you die, due to his generous nature that offers all kinds of environments & climates. Anyways, Chile is a country that has a growing film scene of its own. Among the many films that come out each year, there has been an increasing interest for developing "B type" cinema that mostly remains known within the boundaries of latinamerica. This time, things seem to be getting better for the local scene, as they have produced & internationally released "Tráiganme la Cabeza de la Mujer Metralleta" AKA "Bring me the Head of Machinegun Woman" an exploitation tribute inspired by godlike film makers like Robert Rodríguez (who happens to be latino) & of course Quentin Tarantino.

an Early sketch about the lead roles.

She can even swallow bullets!

Director Ernesto Díaz is familiar with the exploitation genre as he, has already released two films following similar schemes. One being "Kiltro" a 70's martial arts style of film & "Mirageman" a film that is very much like in the line of the unusual blockbuster "Kick-Ass". Unfortunately both films didn't have enough distribution besides some countries in latinamerica. This time, things look brighter for Díaz and his crew as his third film did have an international release date (even before a local release)

"Bring me the Head of Machinegun Woman" is a revenge movie. it comes packed with all the clichés we've seen for ages in hundreds of films of the same genre and it doesn't fail. In fact, it is a well executed film that doesn't look like a failed tribute attempt that inevitably becomes a parody of the genre and a parody of itself. 

The storyline is pretty simple, A powerful Chilean gangster (Argentinean in fact but, settled down in Chile) uses everything in his power to stop the woman that wants to kill him, a sexy mercenary known only by the alias of "machinegun woman". The staggering sum of cash he offers for her head sets in motion an army of hitmen. And also, by accident, bursts in the life of a naive Disc Jockey named Santiago, a regular boy that will have to steel his guts against the underworld, and above all, survive the irresistible - and bloodthirsty - Machinegun Woman.  

Enter Machinegun Woman, a sex killing beast.

Killer boobs.

In director Ernesto Diaz Espinoza‘s fourth feature film (and first one to not star the martial arts talents of Marko Zaror), he takes an interesting approach to have his more able character be the objective of the protagonist instead of the actual protagonist. Santiago is the DJ for a nightclub of one of the city’s most dangerous criminals (named Che Longana), and he just so happens to end up going into the restroom at the most non-opportunistic moment, as Longana and two of his other criminal cohorts follow behind to spill the beans (no gross pun intended) to each other about needing to kill Machine Gun Woman. I guess they figured having this conversation in the men’s room would mean she wouldn’t be able to hear them if she was nearby. Or maybe they just don’t give a damn who hears them.

Unfortunately for Santiago, he does hear them talking, and they do find out he hears them, and he isn’t as good at defending himself as someone in his predicament should be. He is a convincing enough liar though (or a pathetically timid enough individual), that the kingpin gives him the opportunity to find Machine Gun Woman instead of shooting him on the spot. Good thing for Santiago he plays a lot of video games, so he knows precisely what to do.

Yes, that's why they call her machinegun!

Che Longana (middle) and his mob.

The film is almost exactly like watching someone else play GTA, and is probably about as fun as that turns out to be. Everything from the character introduction fonts (and bounty value of each person accompanying their name) to the third person view of the vehicles as they drive is an obvious, and deliberate, attempt to make you feel like you’re watching Grand Theft Auto on the big screen. In that sense, the film succeeds, and I can imagine it would play phenomenally well for a hyper-violent video game audience. It’s direct, it doesn’t hold back, and it has only about a seventy-minute running time. It’s too short to be complacent about it being not very exciting, but it’s also too derivative of too many other movies that have come before it since Rodriguez’s El Mariachi and adding only the Grand Theft Auto aspect to the mix; and that aspect loses its appeal after the third proposed “mission” for Santiago.

Bring Me the Head of the Machine Gun Woman is better as a concept than a finished product. There are some really fun elements to it, and the fact that it exists in the same universe as one of Espinoza’s other pictures lends itself to the promise of it playing into something much bigger, and potentially more entertaining. Its title character is someone I would enjoy seeing in another film that gives her more room to do what she does; however, this film feels too much like a serviceable distraction of something to watch if your fingers hurt from stealing too many virtual vehicles for too long. It’s definitely better than stealing actual vehicles, though.

Fernanda Urrejola's assets.

 

The Upside: Super fast runtime, good title character to work with for future projects, and the fact that it doesn’t ever abandon its visual themes will work well with the right niche audience.

The Downside: Too slight of a movie to feel the need to revisit and, if you are not on board with the Grand Theft Auto element ,it will start to feel tiresome.

On the Side: There is a referential cameo by one of Marko Zaror’s prior heroes that director Diaz Espinoza plan to play with in another project with Machine Gun Woman. The promise of that is worth this less than desirable introductory picture.

Willing to even fight kids to death!

I like to go both ways!

The lead role is easily played by Fernanda Urrejola who happens to be a sitcom actress so this is her debut on the big screen. She has an awesome body with captivating beauty that makes us believe she is truly a femme fatale. The rest of the cast play their part too. Che Longana (It may be translated as Che Sausage) is played by argentinean comedian actor Jorge Alis. his part is very well executed as we're lead to believe he's a cheap mob wannabe. Matías Oviedo plays the DJ role and his idiot face does resemble the character he portrays, although at times it seems as he's overacting the role, it is ok as this is an exploitation film. The rest of the cast play mostly secondary characters that don't have enough on screen time as to make them deeper relevant characters. 

Ernesto Diaz stated in several interviews that he was fond of Robert Rodríguez and Quentin Tarantino movies, specially Tarantino whose "Pulp Fiction" inspired him to become a film maker in the first place. So, obviously the film feautures the usual homage scenes to his mentors. Also Fernanda Urrejola (the lead role) has stated that she wants the movie to set a new standard in local film making, as to finally make room for a whole new set of "Latinxploitation" films.  

Oops! he's dead.

Overall, a good entertainment movie that, like any of its kind, will not need 100% of your attention for full understanding and/or enjoyment. I'm sure it will not be so easy to find it outside latinamerica on DVD/Blu Ray disc but, it may be running online somewhere on a movie site or even at an actual movie theater somewhere. I dare to say the film has it similarities with "Hellride" another tribute film from a couple of years ago which featured a chilena actress. 

Here's the cool movie trailer:

and as a bonus an interview (sorry, Spanish only) with the director and cast discussing the film just after its premiere in Chile: