source: Santo vs. Doctor Death

Masked Mexican wrestler and superhero, Santo (aka Saint) is a part-time wrestler/part-time private investigator who is called in by government officials to investigate the mysterious vandalism of a high profile painting. With the help of his two counterparts, he uncovers the truth behind an art collector/chemist who maybe murdering female models. The film is a mess! Badly choreographed wrestling footage is inserted throughout as Santo flies from city to city wrestling while his partners, more or less, solve the crime. Remember Inspector Gadget? Penny and her dog would solve all the cases while Gadget really did nothing, well that is what happens here. This is the kind of film where the bad guys are more interesting than the good guys, they are definitely more intelligent. What is truly hilarious about this film is the reactions of the other actors as they perform dialogue with Santo. He is a grown man who runs around with a silver ski mask on his head. He wears it everywhere he goes; the bathroom, the airport and the wrestling ring. Maybe I'm not familiar with the customs of Spanish wrestling icons, but to me, it just seems ridiculous. Just once, I wanted someone to rip the mask off of Santo and tell him to grow up! Alas, it never happens. Anyway, the film culminates in true serial-matinee style, with a stand-off between Dr. Death and Santo on a speeding boat as it races for a wall of rock. After watching this film I found myself wondering who the target audience was. It certainly couldn't be children. Half naked women are everywhere, when they aren't prowling around Death's palace, they are being tortured or dumped into pits of acid. On the other side of the age spectrum, adults will find the film utterly ridiculous and childish.

By the 1970s, El Santo had transformed from a Batman-style caped crusader into something entirely different: a James Bond-style, globetrotting hero who just happens to wear a silver mask along with his suit while he's fighting crimes. SANTO VS. DOCTOR DEATH is the second of these Bondian adventures, and it's chock full of glamorous women, Interpol agents, and bust-ups in hotel rooms. It's also probably the worst-plotted Santo movie you'll see, as the main story here – about a madman growing tumours to use in his painting – makes absolutely no sense whatsoever and is merely a hook on which to hang the storyline. When things begin, you'll swear you're watching a MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE rip-off, as a guy breaks into an art gallery to deface a painting; by the end, in which Santo duels with a villain using speedboats and hangs from a helicopter, you'll be convinced this is a Bond flick. It's very derivative and there's no originality to speak of. Sadly this isn't one of Santo's better movies, despite some decent action sequences. Although there are great plot ingredients, as a whole it's a confusing mess. Santo doesn't seem to be trying quite as hard here, and despite decent eye candy from the likes of Helga Line, the supporting cast are a disappointment. Son of the director, Carlos Romero Merchante is Santo's sidekick for this film alone, and it's a laugh to see this skinny, floppy-haired guy beating the bad guys with the same gusto as our hulking hero. It was a kick to see Spanish film regular Frank Brana (who cemented his career with appearances in all three films in Sergio Leone's DOLLARS trilogy) appearing as a henchman whom Santo knocks out in one scene. Still, there is some fun to be had, whether it's the see-through nightgowns the ladies wear, the acid bath in the basement (always a classic), the excellent series of traps that Santo has to face at the film's climax (fire, machine guns, arrows, falling roofs), the always-fun wrestling bouts dotted here and there, the cheesy car chase or the great fights (the hotel and bathroom fights are my tops). It's just a shame these moments put together take up about twenty minutes of the running time, while the rest of the film is dull.

An intruder enters a Mexican art museum and, unseen by the guards, sprays a famous painting ("Los borrachos" by Velázquez) with a substance that, when the painting is uncrated back in Spain, has damaged the artwork. Famous art expert and restorer Dr. Mann is asked to work on restoring the canvas. However, Mann and his gang are behind the vandalism: using a process that involves tumors extracted from models held captive in his basement (!), Mann makes an exact copy of the painting and then "exposes" this fraud to the museum authorities. Thus, he gets to keep the original in his private collection. Santo, famous masked wrestler and international secret agent, is asked to investigate the crime, since he's scheduled to wrestle in Spain anyway. He's teamed up with Paul, another Interpol agent, who proves his worth when the two men are attacked by assassins in Santo's hotel room. After an excellent brawl, Santo and Paul triumph. They investigate Dr. Mann (Santo: "Doctor of what?" Official: "Doctor of art. And I don't know what science."), but can prove nothing, although one of Mann's live-in models (Ester) tells Paul that each time a model finishes her work, she disappears and is never heard from again. Interpol agent Susan is sent to Mann's castle, substituting for a real model. However, Susan and Ester are caught while snooping around Mann's laboratory, and they are tossed into the dungeon with the other captives. Santo and Paul break into the castle and, eluding the various death traps, free the models. Sara, Mann's assistant, falls into an acid bath used to dispose of dead bodies; Mann is captured. Santo pursues Peter, Mann's chief associate (who has been posing as a blind man). Peter tries to escape by motorboat, but Santo--dangling underneath a helicopter on a rope ladder--leaps into the boat. They fight, and Santo leaps overboard just before the craft smashes into the shore and explodes.

I live between Canada and Mexico, I have therefore seen these movies on TV, and my friends have told me that these movies were made specifically for children and dim-witted adults, They lost audience in the 70's and by consequence discontinued, It is funny that in Mexico my friends 'children and grand children rather consider that these movies are more for mentally slow kids. However every Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning Santo and other less famous'wrestlers movies are on the Mexican cable TV, so that leads me to affirm that they are targeted for children and old adults who used to watch them 40 years ago, one cannot avoid to look at them in order to remember the music, dresses, and B movie films of the 60's .

By the early 70s, Mexican wrestler Santo was a huge figure in Mexican cinema. However, his formula of action and comedy that was very successful in his horror/action films of the 60s, began to take a campier, kitsch tone during the 70s. Taking away the previous mystical origins of Santo and with an huge influence of Bond films, "Santo contra los Secuestradores" (1973) started the trend of Santo as an special Interpol agent. The same year, "Santo contra el Doctor Muerte" followed up this trend and perfected it the style creating the now familiar image of the suave wrestler-by-day/agent-by-night that Santo carried during the 70s. The plot starts as mysterious criminal (Antonio Pica), damages the famous painting "Los Borrachos" during its exhibition on a Mexican museum. Spain's government demands an investigation and soon the Interpol suspects that Dr. Mann (Georges Rigaud), the man hired for the restoration of the painting is in fact behind its damage. Since his wrestling tour will take him to Spain, Special Agent Santo is called to work incognito. With the aid of agent Paul (Carlos Romero Marchent) Santo will infiltrate in Dr. Mann's castle in Spain to discover the mystery behind the painting's' damage, a mystery that involves the use of kidnapped women in bizarre scientific experiments. Owing a lot to the 70s bond films, the movie feels like an update to the Santo's character and a follow up to the humanization of his character. Santo is no longer the mystical warrior or the crime-fighting scientist, he is an Interpol agent who uses his status as Wrestling champion to make his work easier. Rafael Romero Marchent handles the Bond-style action genre competently even when his work had been mainly on the Spaghetti Western sub-genre. While not groundbreaking or particularly special, Rafael Romero Marchent makes a film that works despite its limitations and successfully mixes the Bond-esquire elements with the Santo mythology paving the way for the iconic figure Santo would become during the 70s. Like in his westerns, Romero Marchent makes good use of his locations and the film looks very good for its low-budget. Something very remarkable are the action sequences that, albeit short, work extremely well and are among the most realistic on a Santo movie. Santo looks more comfortable in this new take on his character than in his early films. He is now a less superhuman character and is relatively more believable than his previous incarnations. Carlos Romero Marchent is very good as Paul, but with the exception of some great scenes, the potential of his character is never exploited. Antonio Pica and Georges Rigaud are superb as the villains and they are probably among the best actors in the cast. Although not a kitsch extravaganza like the previous "Santo contra la Hija De Frankenstein", the movie is entertaining and filled with Santo's light-hearted comedy (both voluntary and involuntary). The campy tone of the previous films is still here but the approach, as other aspects in the movie, is based on the style of Bond films. This may probably be a flaw as fans of Bond-style action films may not like the Santo elements and at the same time, fans of typical Santo films may feel like the Bond elements are not part of Santo. "Santo contra el Doctor Muerte" is definitely a love it or hate it movie. In my opinion the mix works and while it is not a perfect film it makes good entertainment for 95 minutes. 6/10

Moviecut—Santo vs. Doctor Death

An intruder enters a Mexican art museum and, unseen by the guards, sprays a famous painting ("Los borrachos" by Velázquez) with a substance that, when the painting is uncrated back in Spain, has damaged the artwork. Famous art expert and restorer Dr. Mann is asked to work on restoring the canvas. However, Mann and his gang are behind the vandalism: using a process that involves tumors extracted from models held captive in his basement (!), Mann makes an exact copy of the painting and then "exposes" this fraud to the museum authorities. Thus, he gets to keep the original in his private collection. Santo, famous masked wrestler and international secret agent, is asked to investigate the crime, since he's scheduled to wrestle in Spain anyway. He's teamed up with Paul, another Interpol agent, who proves his worth when the two men are attacked by assassins in Santo's hotel room. After an excellent brawl, Santo and Paul triumph. They investigate Dr. Mann (Santo: "Doctor of what?" Official: "Doctor of art. And I don't know what science."), but can prove nothing, although one of Mann's live-in models (Ester) tells Paul that each time a model finishes her work, she disappears and is never heard from again. Interpol agent Susan is sent to Mann's castle, substituting for a real model. However, Susan and Ester are caught while snooping around Mann's laboratory, and they are tossed into the dungeon with the other captives. Santo and Paul break into the castle and, eluding the various death traps, free the models. Sara, Mann's assistant, falls into an acid bath used to dispose of dead bodies; Mann is captured. Santo pursues Peter, Mann's chief associate (who has been posing as a blind man). Peter tries to escape by motorboat, but Santo--dangling underneath a helicopter on a rope ladder--leaps into the boat. They fight, and Santo leaps overboard just before the craft smashes into the shore and explodes.

By the 1970s, El Santo had transformed from a Batman-style caped crusader into something entirely different: a James Bond-style, globetrotting hero who just happens to wear a silver mask along with his suit while he's fighting crimes. SANTO VS. DOCTOR DEATH is the second of these Bondian adventures, and it's chock full of glamorous women, Interpol agents, and bust-ups in hotel rooms. It's also probably the worst-plotted Santo movie you'll see, as the main story here – about a madman growing tumours to use in his painting – makes absolutely no sense whatsoever and is merely a hook on which to hang the storyline. When things begin, you'll swear you're watching a MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE rip-off, as a guy breaks into an art gallery to deface a painting; by the end, in which Santo duels with a villain using speedboats and hangs from a helicopter, you'll be convinced this is a Bond flick. It's very derivative and there's no originality to speak of. Sadly this isn't one of Santo's better movies, despite some decent action sequences. Although there are great plot ingredients, as a whole it's a confusing mess. Santo doesn't seem to be trying quite as hard here, and despite decent eye candy from the likes of Helga Line, the supporting cast are a disappointment. Son of the director, Carlos Romero Merchante is Santo's sidekick for this film alone, and it's a laugh to see this skinny, floppy-haired guy beating the bad guys with the same gusto as our hulking hero. It was a kick to see Spanish film regular Frank Brana (who cemented his career with appearances in all three films in Sergio Leone's DOLLARS trilogy) appearing as a henchman whom Santo knocks out in one scene. Still, there is some fun to be had, whether it's the see-through nightgowns the ladies wear, the acid bath in the basement (always a classic), the excellent series of traps that Santo has to face at the film's climax (fire, machine guns, arrows, falling roofs), the always-fun wrestling bouts dotted here and there, the cheesy car chase or the great fights (the hotel and bathroom fights are my tops). It's just a shame these moments put together take up about twenty minutes of the running time, while the rest of the film is dull.

I live between Canada and Mexico, I have therefore seen these movies on TV, and my friends have told me that these movies were made specifically for children and dim-witted adults, They lost audience in the 70's and by consequence discontinued, It is funny that in Mexico my friends 'children and grand children rather consider that these movies are more for mentally slow kids. However every Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning Santo and other less famous'wrestlers movies are on the Mexican cable TV, so that leads me to affirm that they are targeted for children and old adults who used to watch them 40 years ago, one cannot avoid to look at them in order to remember the music, dresses, and B movie films of the 60's .