The VCI Santo Blu-ray Box Set: Disc Three

 

Disc Three of VCI's Santo Blu-ray box set presents two of the wildest and weirdest entries in the masked marvel's cinematic career, in widescreen and color. 

SANTO VS. FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER (1972) has elements of LADY FRANKENSTEIN and THE MAN WHO COULD CHEAT DEATH, and it has a scene that reminds one of the climax to DRACULA HAS RISEN FROM THE GRAVE. Dr. Freda Frankenstein (Gina Romand) is about 100 years old, but she looks much younger due to a serum she has created. The serum is losing its potency, however, so Frankenstein's daughter decides to use the blood of the powerful Santo to prepare a new version. The doctor has also created a half-man half-beast, and a being made up of various body parts, and both creatures wind up fighting Santo. 

This is a particularly notable entry in the Santo series, with all sorts of crazy goings-on. Gina Romand makes a fine villain, striding around in go-go boots and at one point even trying to seduce Santo. The old-age makeups and the look of both monsters (actually played by the same stuntman) are not on the Jack Pierce level, but they work in this context. 

Director Miguel Delgado (best known for his work with Mexican comedian Cantinflas) doesn't put much visual flair into the proceedings, but with all the wacky things happening he doesn't really have to. It's a goofy movie, but very entertaining. 

SANTO & BLUE DEMON VS. DRACULA AND THE WOLF MAN (1973) goes the Universal monster rallies of the 1940s one better by having multiple monsters and multiple professional wrestlers. A greedy hunchback revives Dracula and a werewolf so they can take revenge on the Cristaldi family--one of their ancestors had destroyed the monsters. El Santo happens to be the boyfriend of Prof. Cristaldi's daughter, and he enlists the aid of his fellow wrestler The Blue Demon to help protect the family. 

Aldo Monti (who played Dracula in SANTO IN THE TREASURE OF DRACULA) returns as the Count, which means he can be placed in the same group of actors such as John Carradine, Bela Lugosi, and Christopher Lee who played the character in multiple films. The wolf man in this story is not a sympathetic Larry Talbot type--when he's not in monster mode, he's a snazzy dresser who puts the moves on the cousin of Santo's girlfriend. Dracula and the wolf man scheme to turn the world into creatures like themselves--which means Santo and the Blue Demon fight off plenty of threats. (Ironically, there are no werewolf transformations in the film, obviously to save money.) 

The scene where the hunchback revives Dracula and the wolf man is a direct steal from DRACULA PRINCE OF DARKNESS. The climax is very action packed, but two wrestlers means more wrestling footage (this movie has three different matches). The story is very fun...as long as you don't think about it too much. 

Both films in this set get informative introductions by Dr. David E. Wilt. The picture quality is very colorful, but once again the main problems with these films are the English dub tracks, which are too campy-sounding. The main extra on this disc is a poster and photo gallery.