Santo
vs. the Strangler starts out like a combination of a Mexican Lawrence Welk
knockoff, ESPN, and The Phantom of the Opera. We see performers in a theater doing various musical
numbers that are occasionally interrupted by El Santo wrestling in the ring. Meanwhile, a masked killer known as The
Strangler prowls around the rafters of the theater, waiting to claim his next
victim. When the detectives are unable
to apprehend the murderer, they call in El Santo to bring down the killer.
At
least I think that’s what happened. The
version I saw didn’t have any subtitles, so it didn’t make much sense. I guess I’d somehow be disappointed if it did.
If
I had to choose, I’d say the earlier scenes are the most fun because of the non-stop
barrage of music, wrestling, and zaniness. The musical numbers are surprisingly
entertaining. There’s a Spanish version
of “Fever” and, oddly a cover of “16 Tons” done in English.
The
rest of the film is typically goofy. El Santo
has a Batcave type of lair and communicates with the detective through a giant TV
monitor. I also liked the fact that
sometimes The Strangler looked like The Phantom of the Opera, and other times
he sort of resembled Vincent Price in The House of Wax. The scene where The Strangler tries to
assassinate El Santo in the ring and accidentally shoots his opponent instead
is a hoot. (So, I guess that means El Santo
wins?) The subplot with the orphan kid stowing away in El Santo’s car
gets a nice payoff too when he’s invited to the theater to sing “Blame it on
the Bossa Nova”.
All
of this is odd and silly for sure, but it’s also a tad uneven, slow moving, and
sometimes dull. It’s telling that the
musical numbers are more memorable than the wrestling stuff. I mean The Strangler isn’t a bad villain, it’s
just that he pales in comparison next to some of El Santo’s weirder opponents. That said, the unmasking of the killer scene in
the finale is a ripe slice of hilarity and well worth the wait.
AKA: Santo Against the Strangler.
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