Las mujeres vampiro

I don't get it! This movie makes sense to me! A bunch of vampire women (who I also suspect to be lesbians) desire to make a queen out of a not-so-fetching woman. They attempt it several times and while they fail, I guess they are grating on the woman's nerves (You'd be upset too if the undead kept bugging ya), so she calls on Santo, a famous Mexican wrestler to stop the undead and protect her. Makes sense to me! What's yer problem?

This movie is a cheesy delight. As my friend explains it, mexican wrestlers of this era were even more revered than the ones we have here in the US today, so they got their own movies. Personally I'm glad, cause I doubt I would ever see a vampire get taken down in a belly-to-belly suplex by a guy in mask, tights, and cape, if not for this movie.

I didn't even realize til just now that the movie was on MST3K. I missed the episode I guess, but regardless, you don't need their help to enjoy this movie, it is so ridiculous and cheesy on its own that even at 2 hours in length it is still a campy delight.

For goodness sake they call on Santo like he's Batman, there's even a Comissioner Gordan type character who has a hotline directly to Santo in the car. I also dug the vampire chicks who had really dry skin (bad air circulation in coffins) until they got their hands on some blood...suddenly they got really hot. Now that's my kind of movie.

Just a word to the wise. Anytime a vampire squints and then unsquints at you, they are going to use their power. Way too many people fall for that, we need to stop that. Just a friendly word from me. But enjoy Santo Versus The Vampire Women, it's a fun flick.

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 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 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?

This is one of the funniest movies and the greatest Santo movie, perhaps only challenged by "Santo el enmascarado de plata y Blue Demon vs. los monstruos." It should be enjoyed with friends, as then you could discuss the progressive social critique this movie lays down. Not really.