Set in the swingin’ ‘70s (1970 to be exact) this color flick is a little different from your standard Mummy movie (at least based on all of the Mummy movies the Kommandant has had us watching lately), and not just because the hero is a famous Mexican wrestler who proves once and for all that a silver mask really does go with everything from a singlet to a suit to a safari jacket. Well, OK - that’s the main difference but there are others. The typical “American” Mummy monster is usually of Egyptian descent but the vengeance seeking embalmed dude in this particular movie is an Aztec Mummy. We know this because he has Aztec type accessories like a funky hat and bow and arrow set; all the better to scare/kill off those that dare disturb him, but I’m getting ahead of myself. After an appetizer of in-ring wrestling, it’s time to start diving into the main plotline course. Of course every Mummy movie needs some sort of intellectual type to instigate the mission to go into the tomb in question in the first place and this movie is no different. After Santo meets up with Professors Jimenez and Romero and their crack team of tomb crackers (Santo is the “muscle” of the mission obviously) they all set off to invade the holy territory of the Opalache Indians. Sure, they know better - plus the elderly guide clearly explains that most if not all of them are gonna die if they continue on their quest - but undaunted, they press on. After a quick but memorable interlude where Santo wrestles a black panther (that totally looks like it was tossed at him from off camera; I believe it was meant to recreate what it would look like if the panther leapt out of a tree) it’s a disturbing they indeed go and, just as predicted, this sets off a chain of events that has the tomb raiders dropping like flies and Mummy of Prince Nonoc exacting revengeance like only the crazed undead can. After many twists and turns, the plot takes an unusual, final, Scooby-Doo-esque ending that you may or may not see coming. I won’t spoil it for you though. As is the case in many Santo movies, after he saves the day and gets the girl, he caps off his adventure with more wrestling - in this case a best two out of three falls match against some guy nowhere near as famous as our masked hero.
—bf

The original Dr. Frankenstein must’ve gotten around a lot, as this daughter, Dr. Freda Frankenstein, bears no relation to the daughter in Jesse James Meets Frankenstein’s Daughter—I guess the ability to reanimate the dead must really pull in the chicks. After the usual quick wrestling match that bears no relation to the story, we get down to business and learn that this Dr. Frankenstein is on a quest to suspend the aging process. It seems the serum she, her assistant, and everyone in her employ take provides eternal youth (at least, it’s supposed to—but the body develops a tolerance to it causing the need for more frequent doses, which happen to be excruciatingly painful) because they’re all actually over 100 years old. The doctor has obtained a drop of Santo’s blood, which she’s apparently deduced has unique properties in massive amounts that basically render Santo invincible and ageless. Or something. Bottom line: she’s jonesing for some Santo blood big-time because she needs a permanent replacement for the serum. Now, since this is a Frankenstein movie we’ve gotta have some kind of monster, and the good doctor’s created two; the half-man/half-gorilla named Truxon and the traditionally Frankenstein’s monster looking Ursus (square head, lotsa stitches, ill-fitting jacket, lurching walk… you know the drill). In an effort to lure Santo to her clutches she has his girlfriend kidnapped and brought to her, which, of course, leads to the first of many confrontations Santo has with the doctor’s men and monsters. (In fact, this has some of the most out-of-ring action I’ve seen in a Santo flick yet.) After he’s captured, the doctor makes a play for him which he rejects, and she sends in Truxon to battle him. But after Santo lays a class-A chain-whuppin’ on the monster and escapes, the doctor kills Truxon and sends the far more entertaining Ursus after our silver-masked hero. The balance of the movie involves a number of captures of and escapes by Santo, his girlfriend and her sister, along with lots of “fights” and an unexpected impaling. It all ends with Santo and the girls safe and sound and everyone else dead, leaving Santo free to once again have a regular wrestling match at the end of the movie. This is one of his more high-budget films, with makeup, sets and overall production quality that reflect it being shot at what was Mexico’s biggest film studio (in 1971).
—el K

Santo Y Blue Demon Contra El Doctor Frankenstein starts off with a fairly traditional horror movie set up: a pretty young lass walks down a dark street alone… and we all know what happens to pretty young lasses who walk around by themselves at night. Actually, based on the movies I’ve seen and personal experience this scenario could lead to pretty much anything, but based on the vibe of the street - and the soundtrack - we know this particular pretty young lass ain’t gonna be pretty or young or, possibly, living for very much longer. As expected, she is quickly snapped up and whisked away by an unseen assailant, and apparently even quickly-er prepped for some sorta surgery. Cause the next time we see her, she’s laid out on a slab with a similarly situated lady next to her. (Hmmmm - underground laboratory, mongoloid assistant, girls on a slab, what on earth could be going on here?) We learn soon enough that this operation is but one cog of the wicked multi-armed wheel of Doctor Frankenstein - Dr. Irving Frankenstein that is. (Relation to la hija de Frankenstein unknown.) Well, that’s not exactly true - it takes a long time to get the full plotline detailed, but only because Irving Frankenstein is just a little more type-A than your typical evil doctor. His ultimate goals include reviving his dead wife, retaining eternal youth, terrorizing society while making the police look foolish and maybe making a few super human henchmen to keep around while he’s at it. Here’s where Santo comes in - the not so good doctor feels like one of his super human henchman could be made just a little more super with the addition of the cranial matter of our masked, and more nattily dressed than ever, hero. Of course Santo’s not gonna just give up his brain - that’s not his style. Plus, he doesn’t even know anyone’s after it; all he knows is that one minute he’s having dinner with his lady friend, Alicia, and the next minute she’s gone missing. Naturally he and his occasional sidekick Blue Demon are ready to step up to the plate and do whatever it takes to rescue the fair maiden. And eventually they do but not before a whole lotta huntin’, searchin’ and grapplin’ - in and out of the squared circle. This movie drags a wee bit in an almost Hammer-esqe way but also boasts a bunch of crazy sets (love the primitive 1970s version of what a powerful computer should look like) and super short minidresses to keep the viewer occupied during the slower portions.
—bf

Even though we’ve grouped these various movies together for the sake of columnal purposes, each Santo movie I’ve seen can easily stand on it’s own. Santo Contra Los Jinetes Del Terror is, of course, no exception; although it does bear an extra special mark to set it apart from other Santo films - it is a western. Now, I know what you’re thinking; “Come on Bunny, there isn’t any crossover between the eras of Lucha Libre and Jesse James… is there?” How the hell should I know. Not even the Kommandant is old (or foreign) enough to accurately report on what went on in the good ol’ Wild Mexican West. Besides, our job is not to wonder why - our job is to do something that ends up rhyming with that. (But I’m under the weather and not in a rhyming mood so I can’t think of what that would be at this moment.) Getting back to the movie though, it is a western and, while I’m no expert on the subject, I venture to say it is perhaps the only western ever committed to film that equally incorporates such diverse elements as Mexican wrestling and leprosy into the plotline while managing to hit on so many touchstones of the genre - the horse ridin’ sheriff, the bad guys who wear black and the dusty old town itself, complete with the prerequisite bustling alcohol/gambling/prostitution district. As you may have guessed, the town is not just full of regular old cowfolk. It is also host to a “Leprosarium,” which I presume to be some sorta leper colony meets sanitarium type joint where the inflicted go to live out the rest of their lives in isolation (not to mention horrible discomfort and unattractiveness) under the watchful eye of the people whose job it is to watch them. Those folks are caught napping though, so to speak, when a handful of resourceful lepers bust out and get set to wreak some terminally ill terror on the town. Actually that’s not entirely true. Mostly the lepers have no real beef with the townsfolk and just want to live peacefully outside the Leprosarium, but there are more sinister plans in store for them courtesy the town’s resident gang of outlaws (led by chief black wearing guy Camerino). They want to make the best out of a bad situation by robbing innocent people and using the lepers as their cover/co-horts to mask their crimes, and soon their devious game is set in motion. This is where Santo comes in, literally on the back of a white stallion, to save the day. Of course it takes about another hour past the point of the plot I’ve just laid out to get to the day saving part but rest assured - when there’s a day to be saved, be it in Mexico City in the ‘70s or a hundred years ago in the Wild West, Santo will save it. He even makes the lepers’ day at the end by spontaneously announcing that scientists have discovered a cure for the disease. How’s that for a happy ending?
—bf

Just when you thought it was safe to cross the Rio Grande into Texas for some illegal migrant farm work comes a tale of murder, haphazard medical experimentation, blind girls (well, one) and, of course, Santo. It’s hard to pick a fresh starting point for yet another journey into the world of el enmascadero de plata (that’s the man in the silver mask to you ‘n me) but it all comes down to the lucha and, as usual, it starts in the ring. This time around we get actual match footage (as opposed to the shot-in-studio matches that are in most of the Santo films we’ve seen), the best part of which is Santo repeatedly kicking his opponent after he’s already pinned him for the win. So how does it all come together, you might ask? Well… it seems that in some unnamed town near the Texas border there’s a little blind girl who needs surgery to regain her sight. Her mother is a lounge singer (Did I mention there are four or five songs in this film that have as much to do with the story as the unconnected matches at the beginning and end? At least Santo doesn’t do any of the singing.) whose boyfriend, along with an amigo of his, plan to cross the border where the promise of good paying ranch work lies. Lies being the operative word, because that’s all these poor guys have been told, and from almost the first moment they get to the ranch they’re treated like slaves. Through what seems like pure coincidence Santo and his “manager” (who, curiously enough, plays a bad guy in at least two other Santo films) come to the aid of the singer and her boyfriend when they’re being jumped on the street. After kicking a little ass, Santo befriends the couple, meets the little blind girl, and learns of the boyfriend’s plan to cross the border to earn money to buy a semi to start his own business. Because he can, Santo ponies up the dough for the girl’s eye surgery, but also tells the couple he’ll be wrestling in their area for two months so they can call on him if they need anything. This is just about the only reference I’ve seen thus far in a Santo film to a wrestler actually working a territory they way they used to. (And from the looks of the cars and clothes in this film, I’m thinking this was shot in the mid to late ‘70s when wrestling was still like that.) A song or two later and we’re on the ranch, where the workers are angry about their treatment. Unfortunately, as with most situations like this, complaining gets you beaten up, killed or both. In this case not only is it both, but there’s a crazy doctor whose pasttime is harvesting organs for profit from disgruntled migrants. There’s also the requisite Frankenstein complex, where the doc not only wants to do brain transplants but also thinks everyone is intellectually inferior to him and calls every person he talks to an imbecile. What follows are a series of attemted escapes and captures with Santo and his manager somehow getting involved and eventually saving the day. I know, it’s pretty much the same basic story line as some of the other titles we’ve reviewed here, but it’s still different enough and stands on it’s own. Especially with the red herring of the eyeballs in the jar—but you’ll have to see it to know what I’m talking about.
—el K