Review: Enter Santo – The First Adventures of the Silver-Masked Man
Blu-ray: Enter Santo – The First Adventures of the Silver-Masked Man.
SANTO VS. EVIL BRAIN (961)
SANTO VS. INFERNAL MEN (1961)
Not being familiar with El Santo (a real life Mexican luchador whose real name is Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta and who as well as wrestling starred in over 50 movies and was a Mexican folk hero), I was curious to discover the first two entries into his cinematic universe with Santo vs. Evil Brain and Santo vs. Infernal Men.
Wearing his trademark silver luchador mask and little else, Santo first appears onscreen in “Evil Brain” as a brainwashed undercover detective who is under the hypnotic spell of Doctor Campos, who is kidnapping and brainwashing scientists for his own evil doings.
Lieutenant Zambrano and El Incognito help to break the spell that Santo is under, before joining forces to stop Campos evil plans.
Filmed back to back with “Evil Brain”, “Infernal Men” follows similar tropes (and footage) as Santo, Zambrano and Incognito team up once again, this time to fight drug smugglers.
While the movies are enjoyable enough, with some highly choreographed fighting scenes (this is wrestling after all), it is the story behind the movies and the informative special features that especially peaked my interest.
Filmed in Cuba in the final days before Fidel Castro entered Havana, these 2 movies not only spawned another 50 Santo appearances, they also give a look at a country about to undergo many changes.
The picture quality is great, especially considering how old these movies are and the fact that they are definitely very low budget. Another great job by Powerhouse Films.
Now that Santo has entered my cinematic world, I look forward to seeing where his adventures take him next.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
SANTO VS. EVIL BRAIN
- 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negatives
- Original mono audio
- Looking for El Santo (2023, 31 mins): Viviana García Besné’s search for filming locations in Havana, Cuba and the true story behind the making of the first two Santo films
- A League of Gentlemen (2023, 12 mins): previously unseen interview, filmed in 2009, in which co-star Joaquín Cordero reminisces about his experience acting alongside El Santo and his friendship with producer Jorge García Besné
- Mascára vs. mascara (2023, 33 mins): the Killer Film, el critico enmascarado (the Masked Critic) discusses the early years of Mexican lucha libre, the birth of the luchador film genre and El Santo’s transition from wrestler to film star, cultural icon, and national treasure
- New English subtitles
- World premiere on Blu-ray
SANTO VS. INFERNAL MEN
- 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negatives
- Original mono audio
- Perdida (2011, 96 mins) feature-length documentary by Viviana García Besné, granddaughter of Jorge García Besné and Mate Calderón, exploring her family’s major contribution to Mexican cinema, including initiating the Santo series
- Perdida image galleries: rare and extensive collection of photographs and promotional materials from the Calderón family vaults
- New English subtitles
- World premiere on Blu-ray
- Limited edition exclusive 80-page book with a new essay by Luciano Castillo, an archival newspaper article on Mexican wrestling, Christian Cymet on the history of the mask in Mexican wrestling, extracts from Carlos Monsiváis’ The Rituals of Chaos and Jimmy Pantera’s Los tigres del ring, an archival interview with Griselda Cruz, daughter of comic-book writer José G Cruz, Michael Donnelly on Perdida, an archival interview with Viviana García Besné and Alistair Tremps, and film credits
- Limited edition exclusive double-sided poster
- Limited edition of 6,000 numbered units for the UK and US
Review by Dave from discs kindly supplied by Powerhouse Films.
