Once again Mexican wrestler Santo stars a movie that mixes many different genres adding the "Santo touch" that gave him success through his long career on films. This time, director René Cardona adds Western and Romance to the mix as an obvious response to the Western revival of the late 60s. However, this becomes a problem as the Western/Romance elements at times overshadow the classic Santo elements of adventure, comedy and horror to a point hat it doesn't feel like a Santo film anymore.
The movie starts when a group of lepers escape from the sanatorium they have been locked and start to terrorize people of the nearby town. Knowing that the lepers only want to be free, the Sheriff (Julio Aldama) manages to control the population's fears. However, soon the lepers begin a criminal rampage and the mob wants nothing but revenge. The Sheriff still doubts the lepers are responsible of the crimes, so in order to avoid a lynching he calls Santo, the legendary crime fighter for help. Santo arrives and will attempt to solve the mystery even when the town doesn't trust him.
Cardona attempts to create a complex western with the special element of Santo. The story (co-written by him and Jesús Murcielago Velázquez) is very attractive and to have Santo in the dilemma of choosing between protecting the lepers or protecting the townsfolk is a very original plot point. However, the execution of the whole movie is very average. Not necessarily bad, but it's nothing particularly special. It seems as if Cardona could not find an equilibrium between the genres he tried to mix and ended up with a movie that neither works as a western nor as a Santo action movie.
As I said before, the story is very good and surprisingly the characters are very well developed. From the Sheriff's romantic interest (Mary Montiel) to the leper's leader (Gregorio Casal), all have scenes that give depth to their characters. Something unusual for a Santo film. However, the film's pacing is quite slow and the action/comedy elements of a Santo movie are toned down in favor of the Western/Romance elements. The result is a Santo film that at times becomes boring and tedious.
The magnitude of this flaw extends to the cast's performances. While most of the cast is surprisingly good in their roles (Armando Silvestre and Gregorio Casal excel in their performances), Santo feels out of place and he seems to know it. Still, his charm was undeniable and he makes the most of what he gets in this movie.
Probably as a straightforward western the movie would had been better, because it has very good locations and a cinematography very similar to those used in the Spaghetti Western tradition. Also, the movie small elements of horror are very well handled and help to increase the tension of the struggle between the lepers and the townspeople. The make-up for the lepers is remarkably good for a low-budget movie.
Deep inside "Santo contra los Jinetes del Terror" is a very good movie, but Cardona's week and ambitious execution turned this possible gem into an average movie that will disappoint fans of both Santo films and the Western genre. It is not a bad movie but it is just too serious to be a Santo film, and too fantastic for a proper Western. It is not bad, just average. 5/10
