‘You will disintegrate into nothing, and you will enter my infernal domain from which nobody ever escapes.’
During a wrestling match, a man in a Black Mask appears out of nowhere in the ring and tries to kill one of the fighters with a large hatchet. He vanishes into thin air in front of everyone, and the wrestler attempts to solve the mystery behind the attempt on his life…
After battling gangsters, zombies, vampire women and beast men, legendary Mexican luchador Santo finds himself up against witchcraft and Satanic powers for the second time in a row in this early entry in his long-running adventures on film. Director José Díaz Morales returns from ‘Santo in the Witches Attack/Atacan las brujas/The Witches Attack’ (1964), and ex-wrestler Fernando Osés is back behind the typewriter with Rafael García Travesi.
The film opens with a shock. Santo seems to be dead, carried in mask and cape to his final resting place by a group of chanting monks. Thankfully, when they close the coffin lid, the inscription tells us that events are taking place in ‘the year of our Lord, 1603.’ As soon as the funeral party has departed, the villainous Black Mask (Osés) appears out of thin air, vowing to pursue Santo through the centuries to wreak an act of deadly revenge.
Flash forward to the modern day, and Santo is wrestling in the ring when Osés appears out of nowhere, swinging his hatchet. Santo fights him off, and the mysterious figure vanishes. Santo consults egghead Dr Zanoni (Mario Sevilla), who realises that the weapon bore the ‘mark of satan’. Then the ghost of Dona Isabel de Arango (Lorena Velázquez) appears, asking them to find her bones so her spirit can move on. Santo seems to recognise her, so Sevilla proposes a trip in his time machine.
Ok, so there’s more to unpack than usual in this entry in the Santo Cinematic Universe. The notion that Santo’s silver mask and cape have been handed down through the years from one hero to another before arriving on the head and shoulders of the current champion was established pretty early on, in the fifth episode ‘Santo vs. the King of Crime/Santo contra el rey del crimen (1962). This idea was soon expanded into one of the fundamental tropes of the series; various members of his ancestral line fighting supernatural forces who, in defeat, swore vengeance on their conqueror’s descendants. The films went back to this story template again and again.
Santo’s trip in Sevilla’s time machine is in spirit only, allowing him to watch events in the 17th Century when his ancestor loved Velázquez. Unfortunately, Osés was just as smitten with her and pledged his soul to the diabolical Ariman (played by a giant stuffed bat!) in exchange for unearthly powers. Ariman transforms him into Black Mask and showers him with jewels and gold, but it’s useless; Velázquez still turns him down. In retaliation, he kidnaps and chains her up in his secret lair, refusing to reveal her whereabouts even as he’s burned at the Inquisition stake.
Seeing Santo in an earlier incarnation is a solid idea, although it’s plain it’s not the great man himself in the silver eye mask and flowing garb of a sword-wielding cavalier. The fight with Black Mask is also a strong opening, with the wrestling arena partially shot from overhead, which provides some of the dynamism lacking in similar sequences elsewhere in the series. It’s also great fun to watch the referee and Santo’s opponent retreat to neutral corners when Black Mask appears, and the police storm the ring with their guns blazing.
There’s also a new wrinkle to Santo’s origin story. With Velázquez lost, his ancestor goes to see the hermit Abraca (Sevilla, again). This mystic transforms the cavalier into our familiar well-muscled hero in the iconic silver mask and cape and charges him with his mission to ‘fight evil through the centuries’. In modern times, Sevilla’s Dr Zanoni finds a magic symbol inside Santo’s mask, which provides him with greater strength in times of trial and protection from evil. The magic word inscribed within it? Abracadabra!
There’s also a curious subplot featuring Santo’s blonde girlfriend, Alicia (Bety González). He takes her for a drive to a picturesque location with a fountain. They stop, and she begs him to give up the mask, and he refuses. Much later in the film, when the audience has forgotten her existence, he drives her out to the same fountain, where they stop for another brief heart-to-heart. Then he drives her away again, back the way they came. Maybe it’s just the place where they like to have serious chats or something.
González’s ultimate fate is quite a dramatic one but is passed over so swiftly that it feels like an afterthought and has no emotional weight. Similarly, the fabulous wealth that Ariman bestows on Osés when he becomes Black Mask seems highly significant. There’s even a scene later on where he’s entertaining two young women with his jewellery collection, but it’s over in the blink of an eye and never mentioned again. These loose threads, a short running time and an uneven rhythm, suggest some significant editing may have occurred at some point.
This was the second of the four films Santo made for producer Luis Enrique Vergara after the enjoyable but slightly disappointing ‘Santo in the Witches Attack/Atacan las brujas/The Witches Attack’ (1964). This entry benefits from more ambition and invention, even if some animal props are recycled from the witches’ cave. Unfortunately, these look like they were purchased from the worst taxidermist in the world.
Still, Morales keeps things moving at a swift pace, and the story never drags, with Osés always threatening to pop into the frame at any moment with his hatchet swinging. As in Santo’s encounter with the witches, there are no official authorities to gum up the works, save for the brief appearance of the police officers at the arena. This allows for more action, with fewer side characters and less need for chat and exposition. This helps to give the film a more direct, leaner feel than many in the series.
Morales was born in Central Spain in 1908 and worked as a journalist in Madrid up until the Civil War of 1936. Relocating to Mexico as a refugee from the conflict, he began work in the film business as a screenwriter and graduated to the director’s chair with the religious drama ‘Jesús de Nazareth’ (1942). Awards followed for the musical comedy-drama ‘La Revoltosa’ (1950), and he was incredibly prolific during the rest of the decade, shooting approximately 30 pictures. He helmed all four of the features Santo made for Vergara, and although he worked in many different genres, they seem somewhat of an anomaly in his long career. He passed away in 1976.
One of the sharper early entries in the series and likely to be favoured by aficionados.
Santo will return in ‘Profanadores de tumbas/Santo contra los profanadores de tumbas/Grave Robbers’ (1966)