Santo vs. the Vampire Women (1962)

Best movie of this year hands down!

One of my all time favorites.

Expected more

Awesome Movie

The Santo films, indeed the wrestling superhero genre as a whole, is unique to Mexico (I recently tried to sit through an Italian variant, Superargo, and wasn't impressed), and on that basis alone deserves more respect than it is usually accorded. Which is not to say they are good films, only that for Mexicans, most of whom do not have a lot of money to spend on frivolities, these films were important enough for them to keep the genre buoyant well into the '80s.For a a US viewer, however, the films are oddities, no denying that. I find them fascinating in small doses, but eventually their cultural reasoning eludes me. They are most entertaining when they are at their most gratuitously irrational, so long as the pacing is kept reasonably swift (and the films often lag). For my money, the best of the Santo films I have seen is Santo el enmascarado de plata y Blue Demon contra los monstruos, which is wildly exploitative and inane, but the clips I have seen of Misterio en las Bermudas, together with what I have read of it, suggest that it is truly an epic of its variety.In any event, here we have a fairly early representative of the genre, and I write this because I was able to see an English dub version, that appearing in the Mystery Theater 3000 series. I'm not a big fan of MT3K, the performers of which frequently think they are funnier than they actually are, but I admit they added some laughs to the experience (although I didn't need that song to a vanished continuing character at all). But it is the Santo film that really makes the viewing worth it.It should be noted that for some reason best known to Santo's management and audience, a large chunk of his filmography has him battling vampires - he even battles Count Dracula himself on at least three occasions. Perhaps that's just as well - when he battles simple gangsters, as in his first film Santo contra cerebro del mal, the going gets pretty slow."Vampire Women" is an odd film and a silly film. It is odd because the first half is pure vampire movie - it is full of atmosphere, weird rituals and menace, and the usual blood sucking, etc. Suddenly, literally out of nowhere, Santo appears, and the film becomes an excuse for the masked one to thrash some vampire - and werewolf - butt, in and out of the ring.It is silly because there is no coherence to how the myth of the vampire is used throughout the movie; one moment they can be seen in a mirror, then later not, the vampire becomes a werewolf then soon disappears in a fire-bolt at simply the sight of a cross on a church-steeple - The whole narrative seems terribly ad hoc - as if the script were written on the fly (and I suspect it was - although the first half has some money showing in its atmospherics, which are quite impressive, the second half looks pretty cheap).Fortunately, this is a fairly short movie, and the pacing is pretty good. It is also representative of both the wrestling superhero genre and the Mexican horror genre, so may be a good beginning point for those interested in either. Great movie making this is not - but even without the MT3K commentary, it's actually kind of fun.

In a dark mansion deep in the woods, a clan of vampire women awakes of a 200 year slumber to complete a cycle. Thorina (Lorena Velazquez), queen of the vampire women, must find her successor before returning to hell, so she sends Tundra (Ofelia Montesco) to kidnap Diana Orlof (Maria Duval), since she has the mark of the chosen one. Diana's father, the revered Professor Orlof (Augusto Benedico) has been waiting for this moment, and with the aid of his friend, the mysterious Santo (wrestler Santo himself), they will try to stop Thorina's plan.This is the plot of the film considered as the best in the infamous Mexican wrestler sub-genre. "Santo Contra las Mujeres Vampiro" was the forth in Santo's career as an actor, and it sets the basis for his future films as his movies started to move away from the action genre and got closer to the realm of fantasy, horror and science fiction.The wrestling sub-genre was a mixture of action films & superhero comics taking as main characters the famous wrestlers of the time. Santo was without a doubt the most popular of them, so he starred on a long series of films as a mysterious man devoted to justice. While in his earlier films he battled crime lords, soon he started fighting the supernatural creatures (mainly because horror started to be popular), and this film is the perfect example of that.While this movie contains the typical flaws of the early Mexican b-movies (low-budget & cheap effects), it excels in other aspects such as the acting, and specially, in the beautiful Bava-influenced cinematography. The Gothic surreal look the movie has owes a lot to the Universal films of the 30s and the school of Mario Bava ("La Maschera del Demonio" comes to mind). The film has a visual composition that no other Mexican movie could surpass on a very long time.The acting is very good for a movie of its kind, and the script, while very campy, tells a very entertaining story. Ofelia Montesco steals the show, not only with her stunning beauty but also with her powerful presence on screen; a presence only beaten by Santo himself, who with only a few lines but a lot of action demonstrates why he was the best. A word of advice, DO NOT get the dubbed version, since the awful dubbing makes the film a lot cheesier than what it already is.Of course, as I wrote above, the movie's biggest flaw is the poor budget, resulting in very cheap SFX; also, the action scenes are a bit too long. On the top of that, it has dated badly and now it looks very kitsch. However, Santo's charm remains untainted and makes the film a jewel of entertainment.With this film, Santo the wrestler/actor was transformed into Santo, the iconic cult figure; and his film persona grew to mythical proportions. While this is not an award-winning film, it makes an enjoyable experience and the best way to experience the Mexican wrestler sub-genre. 7/10

In the late 50's and early 60's Mexican wrestling was flowing with renewed popularity. El Santo, The Man in the Silver Mask, was the most popular wrestler at the time, a true idol of the masses. So somebody at some point decided to make "wrestling movies" transforming popular wrestlers into superheros (after all, they are masked and caped, aren't they?) and pitted them against criminal mobsters, evil scientists and in one occasion, a martian invasion. Of course these movies are on par with the best (and worst) of B movies of the time, but this particular movie is considered an icon, receiving awards in Europe and Asia. Today this movie would only inspire chuckles and outright laughs, but its a nice history lesson of the time when caped and masked men were in the imaginations of millions of Mexican kids.

In the late fifties a horror genre burst onto the Mexican screen:masked wrestlers as super heroes.They were a huge hit in Mexico.As usual K Gordon Murray snapped up the American rights to these films.Most were sold directly to televison as saturday afternoon kiddie fare.These were pretty cool when we were well under 12. The best of the bunch was Santo(called Samson in American prints).Santo was actually a wrestler who kept his identity private until 1982 when he was 65 years old. You don't have to like wrestling (and I don't) to enjoy these films.Now if you enjoy pure,100% grade A cheese then this is the film for you.Just fast forward through the wrestling scenes (except for the bout an hour into the film where Santo's opponent is killed and replaced by a monster). A coven of some extremely crusty faced vampire women become hot mamas after a blood ritual.Their queen wants them to kidnap her successor so the queen can go to Hell and live with her hubby Satan.(Sounds like a real stormy romance).The queen to be is the unaware daughter of some idiotic professor. Well the vampires and their 3 male vampire slaves(all wrestler types)generally bite necks and raise havok.After a couple of botched kidnapping attempts the professor calls in the man in the silver mask,Santo!His real identity a secret, the man in the silver mask,droopy drawers and flamboyant cape tools around in his little sportscar to kick vampiric butt.He also has a cool lab/hideout that the professor can reach via radio/tv.Neat! After several fights the daughter is kidnapped and taken to the haunted hacienda to be prepared for the blood ritual.Santo arrives in time to get his arse kicked.He is chained next to the girl who will be queen.Will Santo somehow save the day?Will he ever get rid of that wedgie in his tights?Doesn't that mask itch? This is just dumb fun.The haunted house and the lair of the vampire women is a great spooky set.Lots of mist and cobwebs. The vampire women are very easy on the eyes.The idea of a wrestling superman is a real hoot.Go a few rounds taking punishment that would kill any human,win and go kick some monster arse.All in a days work for Santo! As usual the lousy dubbing hurts this film.There are a lot of plot holes as well.Vampires appearing in mirrors and the male vampires look like they're out trick or treating.The wrestling matches except for the last one are seemingly endless. Consumption of your favorite beverage will enhance your enjoyment greatly.Go into it with an empty head and you'll be entertained.Isn't that what it's all about?