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Mexico, 1961
VIOLENCE: 
THE PLOT:
THE LOWDOWN: Probably the most important of these was finding a monster that was outrageous yet economically feasible for Santo to grapple with. For this movie the writers cape up with zombies. Since Night of the Living Dead wouldn´t be made for a number of years these are old school zombies. Instead of hungering after the flesh of the living and acting on their own volition, albeit in a limited fashion, the zombies Santo faces are dead criminals that have been brought back to life by a mad scientist who has tampered in God´s domain, etc. As such, they are stronger than most men, are able to drive and use blowtorchs, show some emotion and are controlled by Batman-like electronic belts. Since they´re played by wrestlers they are also prone to using wrestling holds to subdue their opponents. This is neat and entertaining, but wouldn´t it be a lot cheaper and hassle-free for the bad guy to just hire some henchmen rather than going to the trouble of acquiring some dead bodies to zombify? While most of what would make Santo great is already evident in Santo contra los Zombies it´s obvious the screenwriters (Fernando Oses, also a wrestler, and Antonio Orellana) thought Santo should be a shadowy figure and not occupy center stage. Later movies would give him the lion´s share of the dialogue, saddle him with side-kicks and give him enough gadgets to make James Bond envious. 
As in his earlier movies, all Santo had to do was serve as hired muscle for the police and as an easy way out for the screenwriters whenever they painted themselves into a corner. At one point, Isabel (Irma Serrano) is attacked by zombies that come into her house through the window (always through the window, these zombies can drive a car and use a blowtorch but a doorknob is beyond them) and just as things turn ugly Santo pops out of the next room like a jack-in-the-box and stars kicking zombie ass. What was he doing there? Is there something we should know about the relationship between Santo and Isabel? Your guess is as good as mine. The filmmakers didn´t bother with an explanation. The whole thing is strictly matinee-level, comic book-ish and juvenile. At one point the bad guy orders his underling to "get me some orphans to experiment on" (Boo! Hiss!). He´s not kidding, either. The next scene shows the zombies lurching into an orphanage and chasing after the startled kids therein only to have Santo come running in and again start whupping some undead ass. You see, Santo is the owner (and possibly inventor) of a Plot Specific TV Monitor that shows him every move the villain makes in his secret lair (how did Santo get a camera in there?) and that´s why he knew of the orphans´ plight. Fortunately the villain has his own Plot Specific TV, otherwise the movie would only last a half hour or so. As for the investigation carried out by the police regarding the disappearance of Profesor Sandoval it´s about as clever as the script. The detectives question underworld types at random and show up at the end when Santo sneaks into the bad guy´s secret lab causing it to self-destruct, as secret labs are wont to do in cheap movies such as these. Other than that, they don´t have a lot to do. In fact, trying to follow the plot will make you wonder if you missed a vital scene or if you´re watching an edited version of a 2-hour movie. By the way, the bad guy´s lab is straight out of a Monogram programmer, with the sort of gadgetry Bela Lugosi would use to create devil bats or threaten the world with an electric ray. Another throwback to those old serials is the bad guys penchant for wearing hoods to conceal their identities. By themselves. For no reason whatsoever except maybe tricking the dumbest audience members into not knowing who they are. The actors acquit themselves well despite their hoary paper-thin roles. Most of them had enough experience in the Mexican film industry to know they were as likely to appear in prestigious productions as in rock-bottom efforts, and they deliver their lines with enough conviction to make the movie work. The exception here is Irma Serrano as Isabel. She wasn´t as experienced as the other cast members and it shows. Besides, this was before she went into politics and had her nose done (not necessarily in that order) and it´s quite jarring to see her so early in her career, in a Santo movie no less. Director Benito Alazraki had made a name for himself with 1953´s Raíces ("Roots"), an acclaimed film that adapted several tales by the mysterious B. Traven, a foreign writer (some claimed he was American, others speculated he was Swedish) who lived in seclusion in the jungle in Southern Mexico. After a promising debut, Alazraki shocked intellectuals by turning his back on the art house crowd and bowing to the whims of commercial producers, grinding out whatever they asked him to, including such hideous comedies as 1960´s Con Quien Andan Nuestros Locos? ("Where Our Crazies At?"). Santo contra los Zombies is not as well-made as Santo contra el Dr. Muerte, and not nearly as delirious as Santo y Blue Demon contra los Monstruos, but is pleasant and brainless enough for fans of "bad" movies everywhere.
- Marco Gonzalez Ambriz,
April 28th, 2003 You don´t think so? Let me know: smut_criminal@yahoo.com.mx The other Rogue Reviewers and their contributions to this roundtable: The Agony Booth: Curse of the Screaming Dead Atomic Nightmare Theater: ON LEAVE until further notice B-Movie Central: King ot fhe Zombies The B-Movie Film Vault: Down to Hell and Versus Dante´s Inferno & All-Night Video Store: Zombie Lake The Dungeon: Zombi 4: After Death Eccentric Cinema: Chopper Chicks in Zombietown The Monkeyhouse Lounge: Night of the Living Dead (1990) Mutant Orange: Dawn of the Dead, Zombie and Zombi 3 Painful Cinema: Children of the Living Dead Severen´s World of Really Awful Movies: Oasis of the Zombies Web Horror: Hot Wax Zombies on Wheels
© 2001-2003 Marco Gonzalez |
