El Transexual (1977)

A seriously taboo-busting flick for its time, the erotic mystery El Transexual (1977) stars Paul Naschy as an intrepid journalist who’s interested in learning more about Lona (Ágata Lys), a post-op transsexual found dead under mysterious circumstances. Because sex-change operations are still illegal in 1970s Mexico, Lona must risk life and limb with an unlicensed doctor--a decision that may have contributed to her death. As Naschy digs into the case, he experiences the kind of backlash that director José Jara discovered when attempting to market his film domestically. Whatever the case, Lys’s performance as the transsexual Lona is truly top-notch, although no surgery could compete with the actress’s 100% genuine curves.