John Turley
This movie is a perfect representation of all the other Santo movies I have seen so far. It does not stand out, in other words. But this is just fine with me. I enjoyed watching it.The story begins with a mad scientist (with a totally cool laboratory) who revives a female vampire. She is a countess, and of course stunning, and had been put in her grave two centuries ago. The scientist has unsavory plans of World Domination (don't they always?) and expects a partnership with the vampire to be in both of their interests. The vampire has her own desires to settle a long-standing family grudge against "Santo", the famous wrestler who is fighting evil wherever he can. Santo wears a silver mask that he never removes. He never loses a wrestling match, either!The scientist has a couple of goons working for him, but needs more recruits for his evil cause. So, what to do? Visit a local go-go club and convert some exotic dancers into sexy vampires! Conveniently, the police also regularly visit this dance club. They quickly learn about the missing dancers and start investigating. Santo of course is there to help. Some pesky reporters also appear and start following Santo, because they see this as a juicy story as well as a whole lot of fun.This has all the classic elements of Mexican Horror: misty graveyards, amazing laboratories, vampires, bad guys, and a mad scientist. Since this was shot in 1970, the period go-go club is an added bonus.Santo, or "Saint", was in dozens of movies like this. (In some English translations, he is called "Samson"..) In real life, Santo was a genuine wrestler, and he did wear a silver mask all the time, so his fans did not know what he really looked like. He was about 50 years old when this movie was made, and he was still as strong as an ox.
