Santo et Blue Demon contre Dracula et le loup-garou

This is a seriously scholocky movie. Imagine being shadowed by two masked wrestlers in a convertable. Two wrestlers who are so unaware that they didn't notice the young woman hiding under the small blanket in the back seat. Unaware, yet brilliant! They play chess. Blue Demon invented a wrist watch radio. It is a lot like Batman (the Adam West version)...

With seriously short mini-skirts, three full length Mexican wrestling matches and more werewolves than one could shake a sacred dagger at, this is a good time at the bad movies. Enjoy it with someone who has the same low standards that I do...

The following review is an extract from the book "Santo, the Wrestler with the Silver Mask: A guide to all his films", which is now available on Amazon.

"Entertaining to the highest degree, and with relatively high production values, this is one of the best films in the Silver Mask saga. The story is very well elaborated, there are ingenious turns of script that bring intrigue, the gothic atmosphere of the crypt is optimal. Despite the similarity in theme, the film is on the whole very different from "Santo y Blue Demon contra los monstruos" (Gilberto Martínez Solares, 1970), a chaotic festival of delirium that would well serve as a paradigm for the B-movies.

The film we are dealing with, on the contrary, has a very well worked plot and mise en scène. There is no lack of the characteristic polarizing symbolism present in most of Santo´s films, where our hero embodies the absolute good and justice in its maximum expression while his opponents come directly from the Underworld: It is the eternal cosmic combat, the force of Light against the powers of Darkness (which this time are represented by a vampire and a lycanthrope). These monsters will give the Silver Mask more than one headache. Blue Demon to his comrade Santo: "When you say more than ten words in a row, I know you are worried".

(...)

Miguel M. Delgado, the usual director of the films of the comedian Cantinflas, directed other films of the Saint's saga such as "La venganza de la Llorona" (1974) and the highly recommended "Santo y Blue Demon contra el Dr. Frankenstein" (1974)."

I admit it, I'm starting to get seriously hooked on the surreal adventures of El Santo, the silver-masked wrestler cum crime fighter. One thing I really dig about the Santo movies is that continuity doesn't seem to be a big issue, so you can seemingly watch them in any order. At least that's my experience so far. Each one I've seen has Santo with a new love interest and a new set of adventures caused by a new acquaintance, usually a Professor of some sort. This time it's Professor Cristaldi (Jorge Mondragon), the Uncle of El Santo's girlfriend Lina (Nubia Marti). 400 years earlier the Professor's ancestor had defeated Count Dracula and he is worried that his family, which also includes his daughter and granddaughter, are in grave danger. Of course he's right, an evil hunchback called Eric (Wally Barron) raises Dracula (Aldo Monti) from the dead and also resurrects Dracula's sidekick The Wolfman, aka Rufus Rex (Agustin Martinez Solares). Santo enlists the help of his great buddy Blue Demon (Alejandro Cruz) after the Professor is kidnapped, and away we go. The movie is full of fun and fisticuffs and like the others I've seen in the series, seriously nutty. Some of my favourite moments included Santo and Blue Demon relaxing playing chess (with their masks on naturally!), a "walk the plank" scene featuring some meddlesome werewolves and a wrestling match against "Renato The Hippie". If you've never seen a Santo movie this is a great place to start!

Santo and The Blue Demon etc... is a surprisingly inventive movie from 1973. While you laugh there are a few chills as the story unfolds. It looks vaguely like a Hammer Studios Dracula film, with some nice color, and the two girls whom Dracula would like to make a part of his army of darkness dressed in each scene in cute miniskirts as they walk off into the night to heed his call. There's enough tension and character development to get the viewer at least a little interested in the sorry fate that awaits them if Dracula succeeds. No matter though, because the ending fought over a pit of sharp stakes is one of the best parts of the movie, which though isn't full of great parts, has more than anyone would have any right to expect.

Sit back and relax. You are back in the seventies, and this is not a bad movie.I heard of Santo movies for a long time but never could get any until this one. It is very difficult, if not impossible to get it in zone 2 dubbed or subtitled, and I could only watch it in Spanish.

Well, the movie is a good one. Adventure movie, that is. It is surprisingly well filmed with bright colors,The characters are well defined, and the acting is good with a good plot : Santo y Dlue Demon save the world from the undead invasion. Of course don't wait great GFX, you are back in 73, but some recent movies are far worse than this one, even with a lot of CGI. See Van Helsing if you don't trust me. a lot of action, a lot of brawling and wrestling and some funny make up. I had exactly what I paid for : 1h40 of entertainment.