La Leyenda de las Momias de Guanajuato

**La Leyenda de las Momias de Guanajuato** is the third film in the *La Leyenda* series, and serves as the end of the original trilogy, with the following films taking place over a time-skip. The film was directed by Alberto Rodriguez and was released in 2014. Notably, it was the first Mexico film to be released in 4DX format.

## Plot

The story opens in the town of Guanajuato in the year 1810, two years after the events of la Nahuala. Strict but kindly foreman Don Gaspar leads a crew of miners in a newly excavated silver mine, where they are close to reaching the silver deposit. The miners discover a sinister shrine, prompting Gaspar to call company owner Gustav Rousseau: the Frenchman seems unsurprised at the discovery and orders the mine closed despite Gaspar's objections about how badly his men need the jobs. That night, despite his young daughter Valentina's misgivings, Gaspar and the miner Rosendo decide to speak to Rousseau and demand the mine's reopening.

Gaspar and Rosendo witness Rousseau taking a human-shaped bundle down into the mines. They follow him to the shrine discovered earlier in the day, where Rousseau sets up two crystals and initiates a ritual that will allow his fiancé Denise (who he says was taken from him by a disease) to return to life. Greed overpowers Rosendo's caution and leads him to jump into the shrine mid-ritual, intent on stealing the god Mictlantecuhtli's offerings of jewelry. The sacrilege angers the god, who makes Rosendo vanish. Gaspar seizes the opportunity to steal one of the crystals and disrupt the ritual, as he believes the dead should not be returned. He manages to hide the crystal before a furious Rousseau catches up to him. Rousseau performs a temporary life-draining spell upon Gaspar and abandons him beside a pile of lit explosives. Gaspar's last thoughts are for his daughter, Valentina. Back on the surface the explosion draws the miners and the gendarmes, who assume Gaspar has turned rogue and set the explosion on purpose.

Later, Leo San Juan’s group is seen fleeing from mummified corpses through the deserted streets of Guanajuato. They are saved by a robed boy who claims to be "Luis", who tells them to take refuge in the market. There, the locals are wary of the group for being outsiders while a shadowy figure stalks Leo. He runs into Luis again and together they attempts to save a woman from mummies, after which the boy reluctantly agrees to team up with Leo. They realize that the mummies are harmless, intent on getting back to the lives they lived (an old teacher lumbers back to school and performs role call, a father returns home to his family). Back at the market, Don Andrés falls for Gloria, a woman who owns a stand of love spells. While to Don Andrés she looks very beautiful, Gloria is in fact quite homely. Alebrije meets another alebrije named Evaristo, who claims he can help them find Xochitl. The group becomes involved in a brawl when Alebrije calls Gloria ugly in front of her father, and the gendarmes takes them to the local judge for disturbing the peace and stealing three tangerines. The judge orders them put in a holding cell.

Gloria visits Don Andrés in the holding cell. When he still considers her beautiful after Alebrije removes the 'magic' bracelet, her father becomes convinced of his sincerity and takes them to meet a powerful wizard who can tell them what has happened. The powerful wizard turns out to be Gloria's father. When he drinks, he turns into an old and powerful alebrije wizard named Sulik. Sulik tells them that Xochitl is being held captive in the mines by Rousseau, who used her as bait to lure his true intended victim: Leo. As a soul tempered by encounters with the supernatural, Leo is the sacrifice Rousseau needs to return his fiancé to life. After Gloria's father turns back into a human, he drops charges against the group and allows them to go free (but only once the judge marries Gloria and Don Andrés).

Out on the streets, Luis and Leo run into the mummies of twelve convicts who died in a fire and were left unclaimed: unlike the other mummies, these are hell bent on harm and destruction. Luis's hood gets ripped off during the fight, revealing 'he' is in fact Valentina. She decided to hide her identity to escape the gendarmes and clear her father's name. They make it to the mines, where they are captured by Rousseau and taken back to the shrine. Despite an intervention from an undead Gaspar and the timely arrival of Teodora and the rest, Rousseau takes Valentina hostage and forces Leo enter the shrine. With Leo's soul as the conduit, Denise returns to life. Though Denise is glad to see Rousseau, she quickly realizes the havoc he has caused and insists that the dead have no place among the living. Despite Rousseau's selfish insistences, Denise vanishes. When a distraught Rousseau dives into Mictlantecuhtli's shrine after her, the angered god takes his life. Xochitl releases Leo from the shrine.

The undead Gaspar reappears, carrying the toy raccoon that Valentina used to send with the basket when she lowered supplies into the mine. He also gives her a note where he promises he'll be with her in her heart and memories, then hands her the altar's missing stone. Leo uses the stone to close the portal: the loosed mummies briefly return to their human form before returning to the afterlife.

With the natural order of life restored, Valentina is taken to her aunt and uncle in Morelia. The newly married Don Andrés and Alebrije decide they will stay in Guanajuato, while Leo announces it is time for him to return home to his grandmother in Puebla. Friar Godofredo appears to tell the group they have one last mission: to participate in the party that Gloria has organized for them. They are later seen seeing Leo off as he rides away in a cart. A post-credits seen shows Leo waking up alone in the cart, where he backs into a black-clad stranger with red eyes who claims he's been waiting for him.

## Cast

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## Citations

1. ↑ http://noticias.guanajuato.gob.mx/2014/10/participa-el-gobernador-miguel-marquez-en-la-premier-de-la-cinta-mexicana-la-leyenda-de-las-momias-de-guanajuato/