‘Undoubtedly, there’s a monster like this hiding in all human souls.’
Mysterious disappearances are occurring in the vicinity of a wax museum. Fearing he’s being framed for these crimes, the owner asks a silver-masked wrestler to investigate on his behalf and prove his innocence…
Everyone’s favourite grappling crimefighter, Santo, returns with writer-director Alfonso Corona Blake for the eighth entry in his cinematic odyssey. Claudio Brook co-stars in another effort that owes an obvious debt to Hollywood horrors of the 1930s.
Photographing some of the exhibits at a wax museum seems like a straightforward assignment for magazine stringer Susana Mendoza (Roxana Bellini). However, she fails to return afterwards, and a passerby finds her camera on the street. It’s a concern for her sister Gloria (Norma Mora) and reporter Ricardo Carbajal (Rubén Rojo) because two other people have disappeared recently after visiting the museum. Unsurprisingly, the establishment has become the focus of Inspector Fernández (Víctor Velázquez) and his investigations, but owner Dr Karol (Brook) is adamant that he is not involved.
Through chance, Brook discovers that his good friend Professor Armando Galván (José Luis Jiménez) is acquainted with Santo, so he asks the famous crimefighter to help clear his name. When an attempt is made on Brook’s life by a mysterious assailant (Fernando Osés), Santo agrees. However, he soon comes to suspect that this is an effort at misdirection and that Brook is the man behind everything.
Plundering the vaults of Universal Studios for horror ideas became par for the course in the Mexican film industry after the considerable success of Abel Salazar’s ‘El vampiro’ (1957), which stuck pretty close to the Lugosi template of Tod Browning’s ‘Dracula’ (1931). However, on this occasion, the filmmakers cast their net a little wider for inspiration, zeroing in on projects from two rival studios. The result is a mash-up of elements from Warner Bros’ ‘Mystery of the Wax Museum’ (1933) and Paramount’s ‘Island of Lost Souls’ (1932), which was based on the H G Wells novel ‘The Island of Dr Moreau.’ The surprise box-office success of the former’s remake, ‘House of Wax’ (1953) with Vincent Price, was probably also a touchstone.
Unfortunately, this combination makes for an awkward, messy concoction that, although enjoyable, doesn’t hang together as a coherent story. The problem centres around the activities of Brook’s Dr Karol and his strange museum. It’s a going concern, with a ‘Chamber of Horrors’ in the basement. There we find Jack the Ripper, Bluebeard and other real-life monsters, but also featured are Mr Hyde, Quasimodo and a fair approximation of Karloff’s Frankenstein Monster. Added to that are many non-specific ‘beast men’ who don’t seem to be famous in the slightest.
It’s no spoiler to reveal that Brook is the main villain, the film giving up on any pretence otherwise before it reaches the halfway point. It was pretty clear from the start, anyway. When he chats with Bellini, he asks her if she wants to see his laboratory, which is usually a dead giveaway. Then he mentions that his next intended creation is a Panther Woman, which would have been an obvious red flag for her if she’d ever seen ‘Island of Lost Souls’ (1932). The problem with it all is that it doesn’t make any sense. Karol is obsessed with ‘the ugliness in men’s souls’ and clearly deranged, but what is he trying to achieve? What’s his endgame, apart from indulging his madness?
There’s also a lack of fundamental clarity about the basic setup. Henchmen Osés and Nathanael León stand ready to operate a vat of boiling wax in Brook’s lab, which suggests that he is using the kidnapped victims to create his exhibits. Yet the ‘Beast Men’ come to life at night and obviously can’t just be people covered in wax. Also, how come they are just inanimate figures during the day? Brook seems to have no method of controlling them. It’s all a bit puzzling, really.
Still, that’s hardly the point. Santo gets it, and that’s the important thing. We’ll just trust in the great man’s judgement. Actually, what strains credibility the most is that Brook has never heard of the Man in the Silver Mask! Conveniently, this allows friend Jiménez to provide a thumbnail sketch of his achievements and activities, bringing anyone in the audience unaware of his crime-busting activities up to speed. Jiménez can also contact Santo via a wall TV which can find him wherever he is via some kind of magic floating camera thingy that must follow him around. One time the Prof calls him up, he’s in the ring for one of the rather lengthy wrestling sequences. His opponents in this film are Caveman Joe Henderson and a Frenchman known as Billy the Legs!
One of the film’s highlights is the performance of the tall, rail-thin Brook. At first, he’s very gracious and distinguished as Karol, although he does seem a tad too enthusiastic about his work when he talks to Bellini. As time progresses, he unravels in fine fashion until he’s chewing the scenery with the best of them at the somewhat demented climax. For a change, the character gets a decent amount of backstory, which is unusual in one of Santo’s films. Velázquez tags him as a concentration camp survivor who ran a similar establishment in London. As in ‘Mystery of the Wax Museum’ (1933) and ‘House of Wax’ (1953), this went up in flames with Brook severely injured. However, a photograph sent from London suggests that he hasn’t aged at all in the years since. If you’re familiar with the other films, you’ll know what that means; only it doesn’t, as this film promptly forgets all about it.
This film was the first of the series where Osés gets no writing credit, just one for his work in front of the camera. Director Blake also ditches the heavy gothic tones he brought to the previous entry, ‘Santo and the Vampire Women/Santo vs. las mujeres vampiro’ (1962) – the films released between them were shot earlier in 1961. Instead, he favours a far more contemporary approach, perhaps reflecting that this was more of a modern-day story, with an outlandish threat but not one that was supernatural.
Some of the uncredited supporting cast display skill at portraying the waxworks, whereas others are definitely struggling. The exhibits on the top floor of Brook’s museum are also an unusual combination. There’s film star Gary Cooper standing next to Mahatma Gandhi, who is rubbing shoulders with Josef Stalin! Strange bedfellows, to be sure, but probably the only genuine waxworks the production could lay their hands on. It’s also interesting that Mr Hyde, Quasimodo and the Frankenstein Monster sit out the climactic fight and let the Beast Men grab the glory. Perhaps they feared a sudden assault by a group of copyright lawyers.
Brook was born in Mexico City in 1927 and began his screen career in the mid-1950s. Some of his first credits were four guest appearances on TV’s ‘Sheena, Queen of the Jungle’ and a role in Republic Pictures ‘Daniel Boone, Trail Blazer’ (1956) which also featured Lon Chaney Jr. In 1960, he featured in celebrated director Luis Buñuel’s unusual but effective, ‘The Young One/La joven’ (1960), which starred former Hollywood leading man Zachary Scott late in his career. Brook appeared several more times for Buñuel and, by the end of the 1960s, had also appeared in diverse projects such as Louis Malle’s enjoyable comedy-western ‘Viva Maria!’ (1966) and as the lead of Eurospy ‘Coplan Saves His Skin/Coplan sauve sa peau’ (1968). He also starred in the title role of the religious epic ‘Jesus, our Lord/Jesús, nuestro Señor’ (1971). He passed away in 1995 with over 100 film and TV credits.
A little too slow and cluttered to be one of Santo’s best outings, but still good value entertainment.
Santo will return in ‘Santo vs the Strangler/Santo vs el estrangulador’ (1963)