Santo movies are like go-go girl movies in the 50s and 60s. They are always more about the dancing (or in Santo's case, wrestling) than about the plot. This 1971 all-color masked wrestler extravaganza is typical in the series that finds Mexico's greatest superhero dealing with forces beyond the reach of mortal men. There are some great entries in the series...but I unfortunately picked this one to review.
After a boring, badly shot, ten minute tag-team wrestling match, we are brusquely thrown into the plot of the movie. A team of scientists are searching for the lost tomb of the Opache Indian Prince Nonoc and they've hired Santo to be their bodyguard. Why? Because he is strong and swift and brave...or some shit like that. Anyway, the expedition begins and we get to see a lot of footage of Santo and the gang of kooky boy and girl scientists traipsing through the Mexican outback. All I could think while watching was: "I bet Santo's mask is sweaty as fuck!" They reach a village near the dig site and hire an old man, against his will, to lead them to the temple which apparantly everyone knew about, and he drags along his grandson Agapito (played by Santo's real-life son!). During the search for the temple, the group encounters a fierce black panther, but Santo jumps in and does what he was hired for by grabbing the real panther up by its neck and throwing it into the bushes like it was a sack of beans...for real!
They get to the temple, move away some ludicrously loose rocks and expose the final resting place of Prince Nonoc. His origin is typical of mummy films. He fell in love with Luha, a girl about to be sacrificed to appease the Gods, and absconded with her. They tried to escape the royal guards, but eventually get caught because Luha gets tired! She is sacrificed and he is buried alive to atone for his sins. The legend reads that if you remove his necklace he will come to life and kill all defilers of his tomb. One of the dopey scientists, an annoying dude who acts like he doesn't know anything and can't possible hold any scientific degree except in beard growing, removes the necklace and Nonoc rises from the grave!
Soon Santo and the rest of the gang start to realize something is wrong. People start dropping dead as the bow and arrow wielding mummy claims the defilers. The Mexican workers are scared and want to leave, and Santo beats them up to "convince" them to stay, but they flee the next morning, leaving Santo and a handful of people at camp. Agapito's gramps dies and Santo adopts the boy, as if it were the most natural thing in the whole wide world to just take a boy. Soon Santo comes face to face with the incredibly agile 1000 year old mummy and a lame smack fight ensues that eventually leads to the reveal of the truth behind the mummy's presence...but I will leave that for you to uncover if you so choose to.
The film is book-ended by a limp 5 minute wrestling match as the surviving members of the plot watch and cheer from the audience. This is by far not the worst Santo movie, but without any blood or boobs (which is typical), the only thing I have to recommend are the brief but creepy-cool visuals when the mummy stalks around. If you've seen one Santo movie, you've kinda seen them all. He's not much of a hero and the movies aren't much for logical plots, but damn if they aren't fun to watch. I personally love Santo, but I will only watch the monster ones. I have no interest in watching him fight Mexican gangsters or other infamous masked wrestlers. I want him fighting vampire women, Frankenstein's daughter, or in this case the vengeance of an Indian mummy. This is light, family-friendly stuff, with a few atmospheric chills...but it's not good by any stretch of the imagination. Santo works better in black and white, color just makes him look retarded, and throws the entire proceedings into the goofy light of reality...still, it's a knee-slappin' good time.
| - Jose Prendes |
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