Wrestling Horror From Mexico

 

(IMDB)

SANTO AND THE BLUE DEMON VS. DRACULA AND THE WOLFMAN-1973-This Mexican luchador movie opens with El Santo (as himself) wrestling Angel Blanco in a seemingly empty arena with canned crowd reaction. After his match El Santo meets his girlfriend Lina (Nubia Marti) and they visit her uncle Dr. Christobal (Jorge Mondragon) and his widowed daughter Laura (Maria Eugenia San Martin) and granddaughter Rosita (Lissy Fields). The doc tells Santo that 400 years before his ancestor killed Dracula and the wolfman with a magic dagger which the doc still has in his possession. Now he's gotten a letter threatening terrible revenge on him and his family. The sainted one says he will help. Later, after the doc gives the dagger to Rosita he's kidnapped by the hunchback Eric (Wally Barron) and taken to the tomb where he hangs the doc over Dracula's remains and cuts his throat. 

The blood drips down and revives the count. Rufus the wolfman (Augustin Martinez Solares) is also revived (for some reason he's wearing a yellow silk shirt). Drac (Aldo Monti) plans to create an army of vampires and werewolves and suddenly in the next scene the cave is full of would be victims. Laura reports her dad missing to the police who seem reluctant to help so Santo enlists the aid of fellow luchador Blue Demon (first seen fighting "Renato El Hippie" in the noisy empty arena). After the wolfman in human form makes friends with Laura, Drac pays a visit to her house. When everyone is playing cards the creepy count sets his fangs on little Rosita but is forced away by the presence of the ancient dagger. Laura somehow quickly falls for the clean shaven wolf but Blue Demon has his suspicions and follows him after he leaves. 

BD spies on him and Eric talking but they spot his reflection in a mirror and lay a trap. In a warehouse the wrestlers are jumped but beat up their attackers. Lina who hid in the trunk of Santo's car calls the cops. Later Rufus tells the guys they can find Christobal someplace. Santo investigates and encounters pale zombie Christobal who tries to strangle him. Eric knocks Santo out and plans on stabbing him but Blue Demon scares him away. After Drac goes to the house to put the bite on Lina a short bald vampire bites the maid. Drac lures Lina out and BD follows her. The maid lures out Rosita. BD is captured and chained up. Santo grabs the sacred dagger and goes looking for his friends. Lina is taken to a room by two red cloaked vampire women. Drac almost bites her but Eric interrupts them. Santo breaks in but is gassed by Eric who finds the dagger and instead of killing Santo goes to Lina to ask her if she knows how to use the dagger to make Drac and wolf turn over their treasure (?). Lina can barely reply “no”when the dagger spins and stabs Eric to death. Lina finds Santo and revives him. Meanwhile Rosita meets her living dead Grandpa and now vampire Laura leads her to a cave.

Then a werewolf is forced to walk a plank over a spiky pit. He doesn't make it. Then Demon is forced to walk the plank with hands tied. Santo shows up and the duo fight the wolf gang. Then Rufus confronts BD and turns hairy. Santo saves Rosita and she Lina get away. Santo knocks both villains into the pit and they're impaled. 

This crazy and never dull wrestling horror story from Mexico was produced and written by Abel Salazar and directed by Miguel M. Delgado.

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Santostein

 

 (IMDB)

SANTO VS FRANKENSTEIN'S DAUGHTER-1971-The infamous doctor's daughter Freda (Gina Romand) needs Santo's blood to stay young and alive. Meanwhile she's trying to turn a man into a gorilla and building her own monster named Ursus (pro wrestler Gerardo Zepeda). She has her henchmen kidnap Norma (Anel), Santo's excitable girlfriend. Santo and Norma's sister Elsa (Sonia Fuentes) go to the rescue. They get in and out of trouble fighting Freda's inept henchmen, her beast man and the familiar looking monster with the stitches round his head. 

At one point Freda hypnotizes Norma to cut Santo's eyes out! Just when the girls seem safe they are recaptured. A showdown has the poor monster killing his creator and blowing up the whole place after getting acid thrown in his face....

Santo fights the Japanese middleweight champion in the finale and wins the title! Director Miguel Delgado made SANTO AND THE BLUE DEMON MEET DRACULA AND THE WOLFMAN the next year.

 (Wikiand)

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Santo Against Mars

 

(IMDB)

SANTO VS. THE MARTIAN INVASION-1966-Martians hi-jack TV broadcasts in Mexico and their leader Argos (Wolf Ruvinskis) issues a warning that if Earth doesn't stop making nuclear power and can't live peacefully with one another they will be destroyed! Everyone thinks it's a joke. The Martians are dressed funny with big helmets on their heads. At a large outdoor sports arena where our hero El Santo (himself) is teaching some boys wrestling moves the aliens land a spaceship. A hench-Martian kills a bunch of spectators (including children) and he has a fight with Santo until he disappears and returns to the ship. Argos goes on TV again to announce that the reason they chose Mexico to land is that country doesn't have nuclear weapons. Yet Mexico has to suffer pointless deaths because they are already in compliance with the aliens demands? These Martians are loonies! 

Argos shows up at a professor's lab where Santo happens to be. Argos fails to convince them that his goals have merit. He and Santo have a brief fight but Argos weakens and disappears. He drops a pill he tried to shallow and later the Prof. discovers it allows the invaders to breath our air. The Martians kidnap some scientists but also random people (including kids). Some Mars maidens mesmerize some men and make two luchadors attack Santo. 

Mostly it's the Martians abducting people and the saint of lucha libre having various fights. A little too long for me. Wolf Ruvinskis came from Latvia to be a pro wrestling in Mexico and stayed on after his career ended. He created a wrestling super guy of his own, Neutron who appeared in a series of films. Veteran director Alfredo B. Crevana later made more El Santo adventures and other S.F. and horror films.

 (IMDB)

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El Santo and Zombies

 

 (IMDB)

EL SANTO VS THE ZOMBIES (aka INVASION OF THE ZOMBIES)-1962-In pro wrestler Santo's third picture as a grappling movie star and the first to be filmed in Mexico (the first 2 were filmed in Cuba), "The Saint" helps the police fight men turned into mindless zombies by a hooded mad scientist. Three detectives Isabel (Irman Serrano), Sanmartin (Armando Silvestre) & Rodriguez (Jaime Hernadez) meet Gloria Sandoval (Lorena Velazquez; SHIP OF MONSTERS) who says her scientist father is missing. After a  jewel robbery (in which they are shot but not killed) the zombies are sent by their boss to an orphanage to kidnap kids to use in his experiments! Fortunately “the sainted one” arrives in time to thwart their plans. (He seems to have a secret HQ where he can observe what both the police and the zombie maker are doing).

Santo gets beat up but manages to get one of the crowbar like weapons (that shoots fire) and give it to the police to examine. Then Santo saves Isabel from a zombie attack. The mad scientist decides to do away with Santo in the ring (where else?). He has Santo's challenger kidnapped and turned him into a zombie to wrestle our hero. They fight but the zombie goes haywire and begins to smoke. Later Gloria is kidnapped but El saves the day. 

This is a pretty cheap production and uses El Santo himself very sparingly. It seems to be director Benito Alazraki's only entry into the Santo series. Earlier he made the horror-comedy FRANKENSTEIN, EL VAMPIRO Y CAMPANIA.

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Corman In Argentina

 

 (IMDB)

WARRIORS OF THE LOST KINGDOM-1985-A young sorcerer Simon (Vidal Peterson) sees his king and father killed and his kingdom destroyed. His princess girlfriend Aura (Dolores Michaels) is imprisoned. Simon is given a magical ring that transports him and his hairy companion Colfax away but the dummy loses the ring. Along the way he meets drunken smart ass warrior Kor (Bo Svenson) who eventually helps him fight the evil wizard Shurka (Thom Christopher), free his girl and win back his kingdom. 

This was one of seven movies Roger Corman produced and filmed in Argentina. It was written by Ed Naha and directed by Hector Olivera (BARBARIAN QUEEN).

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Ator!

 

 (Wikipedia)

ATOR THE FIGHTING EAGLE-1982-Sword & Sorcery nonsense with barbarian Ator (Miles O'Keefe; fresh from playing the lead in TARZAN THE APE MAN with Bo Derek) fights Dagar (former Argentinean pro wrestler Dagar), the spider god after he was saved from death by a guy named Griba (Edward Purdom; in PIECES the same year). After he marries his sister Sunya (Ritza Brown) (she's not really his sister, they were just raised together) Dagar kills his adopted parents and kidnaps Sunya. Along the way he meets warrior woman Roon (Sabrina Siani) and sorceress Indun (Laura Gemser; from the “Black Emanuelle” series). 

This Italian production directed by Joe D'Amato (David Hills in US prints) is badly made. Obviously a rush job to cash in on CONAN THE BARBARIAN, although it did spawn a sequel.

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