Santo contra el Cerebro Diabólico

Santo and the Diabolical Brain

Mexico 1961
produced by
Estudios América, Peliculas Rodríguez
directed by Federico Curiel
starring Fernando Casanova, Ana Bertha Lepe, Roberto Ramírez Garza (as Beto el Boticario), Santo, Luis Aceves Castaneda, Celia Viveros, José Chávez, Augusto Benedico, Carlos Rincón Gallardo, Víctor Velázquez, Fernando Osés, Enrique Couto, Magda Monzón, Manuel Dondé, José Loza, Emilio Garibay, Cuco Sánchez, Antonio Bribiesca, Trio Los Gallos, Nathanael León
written by Federico Curiel, Antonio Orellana, Fernando Osés, music by Enrico C. Cabiati

El Santo

review by
Mike Haberfelner

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When cop Fernando (Fernando Casanova) learns his reporter girlfriend Virginia (Ana Bertha Lepe) has taken a trip to the countryside to interview a bigshot gangster, Refugio Canales (Luis Aceves Castaneda), he and his sidekick Conrado (Beto el Boticario) dress up as drifters and drift into a small Western town - to look for Virginia ... but initially, they find trouble instead, because their true identity doesn't remain undetected for long, and thus Refugio's men soon team up on them to capture mthem. But Fernando and Conrado have an ace up their sleeves: Championship wrestler Santo (Santo), who seems to appear out of nowhere everytime the going gets tough. But their luck doesn't last forever, and eventually not even Santo can prevent our friends' capture and torture.

Oh, and what about Virginia? She has won the trust of Refugio alright - but only inasmuch as he wants to make her one of his prostitutes. And when he learns that Fernando is actually her boyfriend (but long his captive), he uses him submit her. Then though Santo frees Fernando and Conrado (again), and Refugio abandons his gang and wants to leave country by small airplane, only accompanied by Virginia - but Santo holds the plane to the ground with his bare hands (!), then lets Fernando take care of Refugio. And once Fernando has done that, he also gives a good, deserved (?) spanking to Virginia ...

Santo contra el Cerebro Diabólico is not really as much a Santo film as it is an old-fashioned B-Western: Sure, Santo has his obligatory in-the-ring wrestling match and has all his futuristic gadgets - but most of the plot doesn't focus on Santo but on Fernando, Virginia and Conrado anyways (just like in the same year's Santo en el Hotel de la Muerte, actually) and has more the function of a deus-ex-machina, saving his friends from whatever threat once the scriptwriters have written themselves into a corner - it seems anyways. Plus the whole backdrop of the film as well as its characters and story are right out of your run-of-the-mill Western, including horseback riding, gunplay, fistfights and the like.

The outcome is ... well, nothing special, but at least an amusing cheap Western thanks to the added masked wrestler - but believe me, there are better, funnier, more ridiculous, more entertaining Santo/masked wrestler/Mexican Westerns around.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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