Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with aztecs

Identify this 80s movie featuring Indy-type blond heroine and... Aztecs?

gentle — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:30:57 -0800

Back in the 1980s, I remember watching a bizarre sort of Indiana Jones-copycat treasure-hunting/western movie. It featured a young, blond Daryl Hannah lookalike and possibly Aztecs who liked to dip humans head-first in liquid gold before decapitating them. It was fairly violent stuff, and one scene had the characters being horrified when one of their comrades returned headless on a horse. The whole thing must have been somewhat tongue-in-cheek, however, because it ended with a humorous 70s-style montage that set up a (presumably fake) sequel with the blond girl as a butt-kicking Indy-type heroine. I am pretty sure it was made in the 80s, and I remember the dialogue as being English, but I could be wrong; all I know is that Bud Spencer and Terence Hill weren't in it. Ring any bells?

The Gods Require Blood!

LarryC — Fri, 16 Sep 2005 15:03:06 -0800

Help my students design a parade float based on the theme of Aztec human sacrifice. I am the faculty advisor for a student club at my university. For the Homecoming Parade in two weeks, they are designing a float based on the theme of human sacrifice. They want to dress up like Aztec priests, build an Aztec temple on the back of a pickup truck, and then ritually sacrifice the mascot of the opposing team, the Bulldogs. We need advice!

1. The priestly costumes. Any ideas how to make costumes like these? 1, 2, 3.

2. Buckets of Blood. The students want lots of gore. How do we make a fake human heart? There are plenty of recipes for fake blood on the internet, does anyone have a personal recommendation?

3. Spurting Blood: In a proper Aztec sacrifice, the chest is cut open and still-beating heart yanked out in two perfect motions. Of course, they want blood to spurt all the hell over. Do we use some kind of pumps? Pressurized balloons of blood?

4. Music. Is there some spooky Latin/Indian sounding music we should use?

5. Stealth and Misdirection. The powers that be might not like this plan, so the float needs to appear fairly innocuous until it is underway. I am thinking we have a banner across the truck that reads "Aztec Culture" with the "Culture" changing to "Sacrifice" after the parade officials are past. Any other ideas?

All other advice or observations welcome. We will be working on this for a couple weeks and will develop other questions that I will post in this thread. If they pull it off I will post pictures.

Advanced civilizations on various continents

event — Fri, 25 Mar 2005 11:29:05 -0800

Pre-industrial age: the Egyptians in Africa, Chinese in Asia, the Aztecs/Incas/Mayans in South America. Why did an equivalently advanced civilization never develop in North America?