I've mentioned that I'm trying to expand my horizons on various horror cinema from around the world. Mexican cinema is something of a mystery to me, so its one area I have tried to seek out. I mean sure, I've seen the Spanish Language Dracula from 1931, and MST3k brought me The Robot vs The Aztec Mummy (1958) and Samson Versus the Vampire Women (1962), neither of which I could remember. I was surprise to find out Cronos (1995) was a Mexican film because I didn't realize it was a Del Toro film... But somehow I always missed others. In listening to the Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast, I heard them talk about the film Ship of Monsters (1960) and decided to give it a try, and was amused through the whole thing. Its not a great film, but it IS an amusing one, which features singing cowboys, an array of space monsters (including an unconvincing talking skeleton), two beautiful alien women (one of whom is a vampire), and robot that looks pretty much exactly like Bender from Futurama.
They also talked about two other films: Santo and Blue Demon Vs The Monsters (1969) and Santo Versus the Zombies (1962), and obviously enjoyed them greatly, so I thought I would give them a chance. I've never been a wrestling fan, so, I never thought much about this series before. So, I did a quick search and discovered Tubi has a large number of these on it for free. While I didn't instantly see either of the films DoH reviewed, I saw the promisingly titled Santo and Blue Demon versus Dracula and El Hombre Lobo (1973). Yes, for some reason, the title on Tubi was not listed as Dracula and the Wolfman, but used the Spanish term for Wolf Man. I have no idea why. Most of the time, I see it translated out. Go figure. So, I put it on and settled back.
Oh. My. God.
This is one of the dumbest, most surreal, most charming, and completely entertaining films I've seen recently.
No, this is not peak, Masterpiece Theater Cinema here. This is about masked Mexican wrestlers fighting monsters. Don't expect great things. DO expect a fun, cartoony, lunatic romp through a comic book.
We are introduced to our heroes, appropriately enough, though an extended wrestling match. El Santo (The most legendary and popular Luchador ever, who is a real life folk hero in Mexico) is fighting El Angel Blanco. The Angel is using all sorts of illegal moves on Santo, as the announcer keeps informing us. Santo is clearly taking the worse of it. What is so bizarre about this scene? We hear the roar of a crowd, and the announcer keeps talking about the crowd reactions, and about how big the crowd is.... but no crowd is ever seen. The ring is statically shot against a blank background of pastel blues and pinks. This wrestling match goes on far longer than one might think, but Santo eventually overcomes his Foe.
We then move into the main body of the film, and a fiendish hunchback named Eric is busy plotting the resurrection of his master, Dracula. Meanwhile, Santo is visiting his girlfriend at the house of her Uncle, Professor Cristaldi... who has just received a death threat. His ancestor was responsible for the previous staking of Dracula some 400 years previous.
400 years? And Eric has somehow waited until NOW to start the plan? No one else has tried? Why is Eric loyal to someone he never met? I have no idea. In short order however, he kidnaps the good professor and sacrifices him to bring back Dracula from the dead (In much the same way that Hammer's Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966) as well as Dracula's werewolf sidekick, Rufus Rex. Say what you want, that is a fantastic name for a werewolf. And while Dracula is raised in his full Trasylvanian Tuxedo and cape, Rufus is raised in a stylish, open chested, gold lame disco shirt. Rufus is also quite chatty and eloquent for a werewolf.
Santo decides that the police cant help (because they don't believe in vampires and werewolves, the fools...) so he calls on his friend and fellow Luchador, Blue Demon!
Crash cut back to the same weirdly disconnected Wrestling ring as before, for another wresting match introduction to Blue Demon, where he is wrestling the hilariously named Renato the Hippie. Blue Demon is a much more agile wrestler that Santo, it appears, but I think age may have been a big factor. Santo was something like 56 when he made this film. Blue Demon however was not much younger, at 51. But he still moved like a much younger man.
Behind the scenes, it is said there was a rivalry between these two men, stemming back decades. Santo defeated a tag-team partner of Blue Demon, called Black Shadow in a Mask vs Mask match and unmasked him. In turn, Blue Demon defeated Santo in a Welterweight championship in 1953. But frankly, the whole thing seems like a scripted storyline. The two of them stared in 10 films together, and would have starred in more, but Santo's schedule apparently prevented him appearing in one of Blue Demon's solo films which he was asked to appear in. Blue Demon was also one of the pallbearers at Santo's funeral. It seems the rivalry was built up for the sake of story, and the two were actually friends. That the two of them never appeared against each other in a Mask vs Mask match also seems to indicate a level of mutual respect between them,
But back to the insanity which is this film.
I had to laugh all the way through it. It is so weird, and so fun. It has the off-kilter feel of the old Batman TV series with Adam West. The two luchadors keep in touch with each other via radios built into their wristwatches (apparently, Santo is a genius inventor as WELL as a wrestling champion... in another film in his series he invents a TIME MACHINE....). The sight of these two huge hulking men in full face masks, trying to trail a suspect inconspicuously while riding in a tiny open top sports car is a riot. And, true to the code of Lucha Libre, the wrestlers NEVER take off their masks... not when eating, relaxing at home over a nice game of chess, or making out with their girlfriends.... The masks STAY ON.
The werewolf get a LOT of screentime in his human guise, as he romances the daughter of the professor, in order to lure her away and sacrifice her. He is absurdly vain, and when someone comments on his good looks, he responds with "Yes, I know." as if it should be perfectly obvious to anyone. He has NO DOUBTS that his victim will fall in love with him.
Dracula seems oddly ineffective in this, with most successes coming because of Rufus and Eric being actually somewhat competent and efficient. But I really had to wonder if Drac actually thought things through very much. Towards the end, he has to punish one of the Wolfman's werewolf army, and he has a method of disposal right there in his lair: A pit full of wooden stakes! I can't see why ANY vampire might want to think twice about having something like that in their home! It couldn't POSSIBLY come back to bite him, right?
The final scenes, where Santo and Blue Demon take on the might of the army of Werewolves, the vampire minions, and finally Dracula and Rufus, is sheer chaos and joy. Good things Werewolves naturally prefer wrestling attacks over claws and biting! And when vampires are dispatched they.... explode into piles of what looks like shaving cream? Not sure what that was about.
I need to see more of these Santo films. I quickly followed that one with Santo in the Treasure of Dracula (1968) in which he invents a time machine ... for reasons... and then uses it to learn about a great treasure that Dracula had collected, and then searches for it in the modern day, and then Santo Vs Frankenstein's Daughter (1971) in which the titular mad scientist's daughter seeks to harness the amazing healing factor that apparently Santo possesses, in order to use it in her immortality serum.
There are films I watch because they are significant. There are films I watch because they are fascinating or informative. These films I will watch purely because they are so damn entertaining.
No comments:
Post a Comment