FrightFest ’25: Where is Juan Moctezuma

Juan F. Moctezuma II might be the only filmmaker who ever cost Roger Corman money. According to filmmaker and Moctezuma scholar Alaric S. Rocha, Corman financed the filmmaker’s final masterwork, but the Mexican auteur disappeared with all the film and negatives, never to be heard from again. It is hard to believe Corman could get played like that, so maybe that’s our first clue something Andy Kaufman-ish is going on in this documentary (should that be in quotes?). Either way, Rocha provides an affection tribute to Mexican macabre cinema in Where is Juan Moctezuma, which world premiered at FrightFest 2025.

Juan F. Moctezuma II is not Juan Lopez Moctezuma, who directed several horror films and had producer roles on two Jodorowsky films, but they share remarkably similar career arcs. However, Rocha’s Moctezuma now remains shrouded in mystery after disappearing with 1,000 Paths of Death, a sort of supernatural riff on The Searchers that Corman paid for (seriously, do you believe the King of the B’s would let that happen?).

Regardless, Moctezuma cuts a swath through every Mexican genre tradition, including Aztec folk horror and 1960s leftwing protest allegories. He too worked on Jodorowsky’s first two Mexican productions, just like his near-namesake.  Along the way, he earned a fitting nemesis, The Scorpion, the luchador who married Moctezuma’s muse. In fact, many of his films were deliberately conceived as gambits to win her heart back.

The Scorpion and his luchador son have considerable screentime, so this film will delight lucha libre fans, especially those who affectionately re-watch El Santo’s vampire and zombie movies. The presence of Mexican genre auteurs like Arturo Ripstein and Issac Ezban also lend the film considerable authenticity. Yet, by the same token, the absence of others (including Guillermo del Toro, who is regular talking head in documentaries, such as Boris Karloff: The Man Behindthe Monster and 78/52) are a further cause for suspicion.

Nevertheless, Rocha’s film gives fans of Mexican horror a little bit of everything they enjoy. Whether you believe it or not (so to speak), Rocha’s search for Moctezuma is a lot fun—and that’s what really matters, right? Highly recommended for fans of genre movie docs, mockumentaries (take your pick), lucha libre, and/or Mexican horror movies, Where is Juan Moctezuma deserves a long festival life after world premiering at this year’s FrightFest.