Santo vs. la hija de Frankestein

If you've seen a few Santo films (and unfortunately I have), you'll know that they're all fairly similar. You either love the formula, with all of its cheeziness, or you find it all rather tiresome. I'm definitely in the latter camp, the wrestler's encounters with various villains and monsters boring me with their repetitive nature.

In this adventure, Santo faces Dr. Freda Frankenstein (Gina Romand), who needs the luchador's blood to perfect her youth serum. In order to trap Santo, the mad scientist sends her henchmen (who have silly names like Scorpio and Cyclops) to kidnap his girlfriend Norma (Anel *snigger, snigger*). Santo goes to the rescue, with Norma's better looking sister Elsa (Sonia Fuentes) by his side, and must battle Freda's creations, a half human/half beast called Truxon and Ursus, a monster pieced together from assorted body parts.

The action sees Santo having several wrestling bouts, in the ring against other luchadors, and out of the ring against various baddies. The fighting is monotonous and predictable, Santo always taking a beating before finding hidden strength to defeat his opponent(s). Meanwhile, Norma and Elsa take it in turns to be captured and to escape, several times throughout the film.

The best moments in the film are when Ursus is impaled on a cross and when he gets sulphuric acid thrown in his face - quite nasty given how daft the rest of the film is.

This one has Santo WITHOUT the Blue Demon. My children feel that the Blue Demon adds an important facet to the movies. I, on the other hand, am skeptical of his worth.

The movie begins logically enough. Frankenstein's daughter wants the blood of Mexican pro-wrestler Santo. It seems that the masked hero can repair damaged cells at an accelerated rate. Because they don't have a chance of taking him through force, they kidnap his girlf. The rest of the movie is spent either in the sheriff's office or Frankenstein's lair.

It is not as campy as the other Santo films that I've seen; moreover, there are some accelerated aging sequences that might disturb younger viewers. It wasn't bad, though.

Maybe I just have a weakness for mad scientists in short skirts and go-go boots...

Santo vs. Frankenstein's Daughter (1971)

* (out of 4)

Freda Frankenstein is well over 100 years old and she's starting to feel unhappy about being old. Thankfully the mean monster is on hand to help her try and get some of Santo's blood so that she can be young again. I must admit that I'm not a fan of these Santo movies and I've yet to really understand their charm. I love seeing monsters as much as anyone else but I still don't understand the entertainment value some see in these films. I certainly wish I liked them more but I just can't. I think my pain problem is with Santo who I just can't see as a hero and I'm also not entertained by the wrestling scenes. Some of the monster moments are cute in a "C" movie way but these sequences are far between.

The most fun I've had with a Santo picture since "Santo Contra Las Mujeres Vampiros" (a.k.a. "Samson Vs. The Vampire Women"). This one's delightfully loopy... Gina Romand's over-the-top histrionics, combined with Santo's energetic daring-do and accompanied by a bizarre, Wall of Voodoo-goes-lounge-lizard score, makes for solid 'So Bad It's Good' entertainment. One scene in particular, in which Romand gives injections of youth serum to an assembly of elderly, decrepit geezers who then start writhing and howling in agony, had me convulsing with laughter. Interestingly enough our stoic hero loosens up in this one - he cheekily flirts with his girlfriend's sister and even blurts out a curse word! It's also bloodier than one expects for a Santo movie; the fights with the monsters are more brutal than is customary for such kiddie-friendly fare. The fact that Santo battles the exact same simian-human hybrid that appears in 1968's "Night Of The Bloody Apes" - created by the same method and played by the same actor/stunt man in identical makeup - begins to establish some kind of weird pelicula universe where these goofy plots are somehow all intertwined.

In his 34th adventure on film, the legendary wrestler Santo will have to face Dr. Freda (Gina Romand), the daughter of Dr. Victor Frankenstein, after she discovers that Santo's blood has an unnatural amount of the main ingredient for her youth serum. In this early 70s adventure, the magic of Santo films and his cult icon status go to the max as the movie has a weird lounge soundtrack and the beautiful girls wear go-go boots. It's kitsch entertainment at the extreme.

In order to get Santo's blood, Dr. Frankenstein kidnaps his girlfriend Norma (Anel); so Santo, along with Norma's beautiful sister Elsa (Sonia Fuentes) go to the rescue. As they arrive to the old rural town that serves as Frankenstein's lair, they'll face her army of rejuvenated warriors and her two monsters: the ape-man and Ursus, the man-made monster.

The movie is highly entertaining despite its big flaws. It is obvious that they never meant this movie to be taken seriously, as Santo acts like a suave James Bond with muscles and every good-looking woman flirts with him. Pure 70s fantasy. Gina Romand is perfect in her over-the-top performance as the evil mastermind, and has a lot of chemistry with Roberto Cañedo, who plays her tormented lover and second in command.

Anel as Santo's girlfriend is average (she never was a good actress anyway) but Sonia Fuentes as the sexy Elsa is remarkably good. Santo is at his top, and his character is finally complete as the wrestler/special agent. Gone are his mysterious origins and is now a more human character (well, as human as a mythical cult icon can be).

The fight scenes are very good, the initial scenes in the arena look very realistic and are very well shot. Also, the fights against the monsters are very violent for Santo's standards, and very bloody too. While the whole SFX are mediocre at best, there are a few scenes with an "aging" effect that are very well done for the budget.

With sub-par acting, a silly story and cheap SFX one would expect a very bad movie; but strangely (or maybe because of Santo's magic), everything just adds campy fun to the kitsch style the movie already has.

"Santo Contra la Hija de Frankenstein" may not be one of Santo's best films, but it is definitely one of the most entertaining, in it's own campy way. This kitsch jewel is worth a look if you are into campy fun. 6/10