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Santo vs. Las Mujeres Vampiro (aka Samson vs. The Vampire Women) 1962





Tonight's fun, goofy flick was Santo vs. Las Mujeres Vampiro (Santo vs. The Vampire Women). This was a Mexican film from 1962 that was later dubbed in English and released in the states as Samson vs. The Vampire Women. Santo was a famous, iconic masked luchador (wrestler) in Mexico, who, in addition to having a successful wrestling career, also starred in many films from the 50's up until the early 80's. This movie had him pitted against an army of undead women, to try to thwart their evil plot to kidnap a young girl to make her the queen of their vampire coven.











The story begins with the vampire women awakening in their crypt after 200 years of sleep. The time has come for their queen to retire, and therefore, they must replace her with a successor. This ends up being a young woman named Diana, the daughter of Professor Orloff, who is destined to fulfill her destiny upon her 21st birthday. Professor Orloff has been studying ancient scrolls, causing him to learn the truth about his family's past, including the fact that Diana is the marked ancestor destined to be inducted into the vampire coven (she has a mole on her arm in the form of a bat). In an effort to save his daughter, he enlists the help of the wrestler Santo, via a groovy transmitter that he has in his lab. Not only can this thing contact Santo, but it can even show footage of Santo's current whereabouts, which happens to be a wrestling match he's engaged in. This may have seemed cool and futuristic in '62, but in today's society, the average smart phone can do all that and a bag of chips. Did this flick predict modern technology? The world may never know.











Anyway, vampire chick transforms into a beautiful woman and then brings back to life the rest of her coven, including 3 vampire henchmen, and the Queen, to prepare for the fulfillment of the prophecy. At a masquerade ball to celebrate Diana's birthday, they attempt to kidnap her, but the plan is thwarted by Santo, with the help of a police inspector and his officers. Realizing that Santo stands in their way, the evil vampire woman gets one of her henchmen to kill one of Santo's opponents and take his place in the ring, in an effort to dispose of the wrestler. In an extremely hilarious scene, Santo beats his would be assassin in the match and then pulls off his mask, and he suddenly has a werewolf face. The vampire woman eventually succeeds in capturing Diana, and now Santo must race to find the vampire's secret lair and save her.








This movie was an over the top, outrageous joy from start to finish. The cheesy scary music, the bad special effects (plastic bats held up by string, face make-up that resembles dried oatmeal), the sexy, seductive vampire women, the goofy fighting and wrestling sequences, the enthusiastic acting from all involved (the vampire henchmen running with their arms stretched out, holding their capes, as if flying), and of course Santo, the legend himself, dressed in a mask, tights and a shiny, flamboyant cape. He even drives around in a convertible. I guess being a wrestler by day and superhero by night must pay well. The English dubbed version of this had the honor of being featured on Mystery Science Theatre 3000. I streamed the Spanish language version on YouTube. However, the English dub can also be streamed on YouTube, as well as the MST3K version. Definitely check it out if you're a lover of bad, retro horror cinema like I am. I grew up watching this stuff, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. This Santo flick is too cool to pass up.







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