SANTO FACES DEATH (1969) **

The El Santo movies that don’t rely on fantastic elements are usually the toughest ones to sit through.  Santo Faces Death is no exception. The closest the flick comes to the horror-inspired silliness the series is known for is the shot of a poster outside an arena that promises El Santo will be fighting Dracula.  Unfortunately, neither of his opponents look anything close to the classic bloodsucker.  

The plot, such as it is, is rather dull.  It finds everyone’s favorite masked wrestler hunting emerald thieves.  The ringleader of the group is a shadowy figure who wears a large brimmed hat and keeps his face hidden until it’s time for the big reveal.  

Things kick off with what looks like a homemade version of The Dirty Dozen filmed in someone’s backyard.  This sequence looks incredibly cheap, and is sometimes laughable, which perfectly sets the tone for the rest of the film.  I did enjoy the reveal of the commanding officer, who turns out to be a sexy redhead, though.  

Sure, Santo Faces Death may be a dull and lackluster entry compared to his more bombastic outings, but at least there’s plenty of eye candy to go around.  Both the film’s nightclub performances feature alluring women, one dressed as harem girl, and the other as a sexy belly dancer.  Of the movie’s four wrestling sequences, two involve lady wrestlers.  In addition, two of the opponents get into a frenzied catfight in the dressing room after the match!  While none of these sequences are particularly stellar, they do add to the abundance of feisty females that dominate the picture.

Much of the film feels like it’s on autopilot though.  Many clichés from previous El Santo vehicles are recycled yet again.  (There’s yet another assassination attempt during a wrestling match.)  The scenes of El Santo hunting down his foes are hampered by a shitty score that’s painfully ill-fitting and helps deflate any of the tension.  The public domain library music is often repeated over and over and the Muzak version of “Sunny” feels really out of place. 

As you can see, the quality runs from shoddy to piss-poor, with the crummy camerawork and editing (or sometimes lack thereof) being the chief culprits.  It really bogs down in between the action sequences (which includes El Santo battling an evil double and getting involved in a fencing match) too.  Because of that, Santo Faces Death never quite gets itself into gear.  Still, if you ever wanted to see El Santo skydive, here’s your chance.