Santo contra el doctor Muerte

I live between Canada and Mexico, I have therefore seen these movies on TV, and my friends have told me that these movies were made specifically for children and dim-witted adults, They lost audience in the 70's and by consequence discontinued, It is funny that in Mexico my friends 'children and grand children rather consider that these movies are more for mentally slow kids.

However every Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning Santo and other less famous'wrestlers movies are on the Mexican cable TV, so that leads me to affirm that they are targeted for children and old adults who used to watch them 40 years ago, one cannot avoid to look at them in order to remember the music, dresses, and B movie films of the 60's .

Masked Mexican wrestler and superhero, Santo (aka Saint) is a part-time wrestler/part-time private investigator who is called in by government officials to investigate the mysterious vandalism of a high profile painting. With the help of his two counterparts, he uncovers the truth behind an art collector/chemist who maybe murdering female models.

The film is a mess! Badly choreographed wrestling footage is inserted throughout as Santo flies from city to city wrestling while his partners, more or less, solve the crime. Remember Inspector Gadget? Penny and her dog would solve all the cases while Gadget really did nothing, well that is what happens here.

This is the kind of film where the bad guys are more interesting than the good guys, they are definitely more intelligent. What is truly hilarious about this film is the reactions of the other actors as they perform dialogue with Santo. He is a grown man who runs around with a silver ski mask on his head. He wears it everywhere he goes; the bathroom, the airport and the wrestling ring. Maybe I'm not familiar with the customs of Spanish wrestling icons, but to me, it just seems ridiculous. Just once, I wanted someone to rip the mask off of Santo and tell him to grow up! Alas, it never happens. Anyway, the film culminates in true serial-matinee style, with a stand-off between Dr. Death and Santo on a speeding boat as it races for a wall of rock.

After watching this film I found myself wondering who the target audience was. It certainly couldn't be children. Half naked women are everywhere, when they aren't prowling around Death's palace, they are being tortured or dumped into pits of acid. On the other side of the age spectrum, adults will find the film utterly ridiculous and childish.

By the early 70s, Mexican wrestler Santo was a huge figure in Mexican cinema. However, his formula of action and comedy that was very successful in his horror/action films of the 60s, began to take a campier, kitsch tone during the 70s. Taking away the previous mystical origins of Santo and with an huge influence of Bond films, "Santo contra los Secuestradores" (1973) started the trend of Santo as an special Interpol agent. The same year, "Santo contra el Doctor Muerte" followed up this trend and perfected it the style creating the now familiar image of the suave wrestler-by-day/agent-by-night that Santo carried during the 70s.

The plot starts as mysterious criminal (Antonio Pica), damages the famous painting "Los Borrachos" during its exhibition on a Mexican museum. Spain's government demands an investigation and soon the Interpol suspects that Dr. Mann (Georges Rigaud), the man hired for the restoration of the painting is in fact behind its damage. Since his wrestling tour will take him to Spain, Special Agent Santo is called to work incognito. With the aid of agent Paul (Carlos Romero Marchent) Santo will infiltrate in Dr. Mann's castle in Spain to discover the mystery behind the painting's' damage, a mystery that involves the use of kidnapped women in bizarre scientific experiments.

Owing a lot to the 70s bond films, the movie feels like an update to the Santo's character and a follow up to the humanization of his character. Santo is no longer the mystical warrior or the crime-fighting scientist, he is an Interpol agent who uses his status as Wrestling champion to make his work easier. Rafael Romero Marchent handles the Bond-style action genre competently even when his work had been mainly on the Spaghetti Western sub-genre.

While not groundbreaking or particularly special, Rafael Romero Marchent makes a film that works despite its limitations and successfully mixes the Bond-esquire elements with the Santo mythology paving the way for the iconic figure Santo would become during the 70s. Like in his westerns, Romero Marchent makes good use of his locations and the film looks very good for its low-budget. Something very remarkable are the action sequences that, albeit short, work extremely well and are among the most realistic on a Santo movie.

Santo looks more comfortable in this new take on his character than in his early films. He is now a less superhuman character and is relatively more believable than his previous incarnations. Carlos Romero Marchent is very good as Paul, but with the exception of some great scenes, the potential of his character is never exploited. Antonio Pica and Georges Rigaud are superb as the villains and they are probably among the best actors in the cast.

Although not a kitsch extravaganza like the previous "Santo contra la Hija De Frankenstein", the movie is entertaining and filled with Santo's light-hearted comedy (both voluntary and involuntary). The campy tone of the previous films is still here but the approach, as other aspects in the movie, is based on the style of Bond films. This may probably be a flaw as fans of Bond-style action films may not like the Santo elements and at the same time, fans of typical Santo films may feel like the Bond elements are not part of Santo.

"Santo contra el Doctor Muerte" is definitely a love it or hate it movie. In my opinion the mix works and while it is not a perfect film it makes good entertainment for 95 minutes. 6/10

A refreshing Santo picture since it was mostly produced in Spain, and it shows, the execution its mostly the generic action crime film from the time with a few slightly horror-like elements that arent too dissimilar from a Mexican Santo film.

Going from a third world country with barely any money or resources to a first world country with a far bigger film industry really did a lot to change the overall feel and production value of the series with this one (even if this is still low budget). Its not as great as some of the best Santo entries done in the wrestler´s home country, but it is a welcome addition, specially since some of the last few movies were nothing spectacular or new.

A very serviceable european action spy movie that just so happens to have Santo in a leading role. Not amazing but entertaining enough.

Mostly recommended for Santo and wrestling movie fans.