Santo And The Vengeance Of The Mummy

Santo and the Vengeance of the Mummy (Santo En La Venganza De La Momia) (1971)

Runtime: 87 minutes

Directed by: Rene Cardona

Starring: El Santo, Eric del Castillo, Mary Montiel, Cesar del Campo, El Hijo del Santo

From: Several Mexican companies

I viewed this late last night on the El Rey Network and I can confirm that the prints they have of these movies involving Mexican wrestlers all look great. Obviously, the parties involved (including VCI Entertainment) either scanned them in 2K or 4K as it is of a much higher quality than any random Santo movie you can find on YouTube. The content of this motion picture was not great but at least I can say this is OK. It had decent production values & the story's pacing wasn't too bad.

Santo accompanies a group of people on an expedition to open a tomb containing a mummy. Of course the natives are against this and of course the mummy in question has a tragic backstory and of course it rises to attack the expedition... as an aside, the old legend of King Tut and the curse that occurred once his tomb was opened in the 1920's... that is all poppycock. You see, a London newspaper had an exclusive on the tomb story and a competitor did not, so they created a backdoor way to discuss it by concocting a story of an evil curse; that newspaper... THE DAILY MAIL. Yes, some Americans are like me and know that paper is a rag... apparently they have always been crap!

Anyhow, the mummy (with a bow and arrow! That is a first) starts attacking the camp and some see him in action; of course some in the party do not believe them... wash rinse and repeat. Parts of the movie are rather tiresome, especially with the presence of TWO buffoons: a professor who is supposed to have poor eyesight yet acts like he is mentally handicapped and the camp's chef is also a goofball. Despite those demerits, this was still alright. The mummy had a nice look and moved rather well for a member of the undead. This is bookended by Santo matches and that is nice if you love lucha libre of that vintage. The finale battle involved torches (and I don't mean flashlights) & at times they got awfully close to the fire... there was legitimate danger, in other words. Plus, I shouldn't be so serious with this: at times there are screen transitions that look straight out of the 1960's Batman television show; also, I was reminded of Scooby Doo, because reasons.

Santo is like a superhero, so that is how in this world it is normal for a man to constantly walk around wearing wrestling tights, boots, and matching mask. The best look he served in this movie: a safari jacket over a light brown shirt and a lime green ascot! A final note: it wasn't until after the movie that I discovered the one kid in the party (the son of someone who is killed early) was played by none other than Santo's real life son, who an an adult would become a legend in his own right as the appropriately-named El Hijo del Santo.