08/27/06 Santo En La Venganza De La Momia

Santo En La Venganza De La Momia (1971), directed by Rene Cardona

watched solo; DVD (borrowed from Jason) @ home; suggested by Jason; suggested by Jason

The novelty of watching some of these cult movies has worn off for me, even though I shouldn't be taking them too seriously. Don't get me wrong, I love the colorful history of the Mexican wrestling genre known as Lucha libre and the many many wonderful characters and pop culture references it has spun off since the 1930's. Furthermore, I think it's incredible that such a beloved national icon as the titular El Santo would dominate the sports' landscape with his popular personality and silver mask for well over 50 years and around 60 films of heroic efforts. All of that from a famous masked marvel luchador and his brilliantly kitsch wrestling garb...I dig all of that. It's a certain niche of cult coolness that permeates the international fabric, where someday perhaps all little children will want to wear colorfully scary masks and wrestle cougars with their bare hands. That being said, the film is utter cheese-whiz, and deserves nothing better than to be enjoyed with a laugh and patience. Sure, it's fun to watch the wrestler start the film with about a ten minute tag-team bout, where the good guys prevail after battering their opponents silly...then without real explanation, it's funny to see our hero Santo join a crew of archeologists on a jungle journey to find the lost ancient ruins of the Opalche Indians. Yes, how did that segue work again...nevermind. When they arrive in camp, the locals warn the team of messing with the sacred tomb of the mummified Opalche warrior Nonoc, lest they bring the cursed wrath upon themselves. Do they listen, no. Does murderous mayhem ensue, you betcha. Will Santo do all that he can to save the team even as they drop off one by one by mysterious and ghostly circumstances, sure. Will it all end in a goofy "Scooby Doo" twist ending amidst super-silly fight numbers between a luchador and an ancient mummy...hell yeah! It's ridiculous, and just dying to be made fun of. The mummy spoof is not even carried out as well as it should have been (see the modern day "Bubba Ho-Tep" for pointers)...leaving the low-budget flick squandering in possibilities. Granted, this is one in a ton of Santo flicks I could have seen, so hopefully there is better ones out there. Also, I would like to point out another great cult movie that is completely out there, directed by this film's director Cardona, and holds a special yule-time place in my heart...1959's "Santa Claus." This film knows how to lay on the outlandishness pretty thick, as Santa must join forces with Merlin and all his high-tech surveillance gadgetry to foil the evil plot of the Devil's right-hand minion Pitch to ruin Christmas. Now there's a story worth watching! The mummy is blah, but long live Santo!

2 out of 5 stars