LET’S GET PHYSICAL: SANTO AND BLUE DEMON VS. DR. FRANKENSTEIN (1974) ****

FORMAT:  BLU-RAY

Dr. Frankenstein is trying to perfect the art of brain transplantation.  When the experiments fail, he sends the zombified patients out to kill their loved ones.  Dr. Frankenstein soon becomes convinced that Mexican wrestling champion, El Santo is the only one strong enough to withstand the operation.  When El Santo eludes his grasp, Frankenstein puts a mask on his monster and sets up a wrestling match against him to get revenge. 

Frankenstein’s lab is really cool.  It looks more like something out of a futuristic Sci-Fi flick than your typical Frankenstein movie.  It certainly looks more expensive than something you’d see in your average El Santo outing, that’s for sure. 

It's also interesting that Frankenstein’s monster, “Golem” is portrayed by an African American actor.  This can be seen as either progressive, or as the filmmakers’ attempt to cash in on the then hot Blaxploitation craze.  (Although he just amounts to nothing more than a bald dude with stitches around his head.)

Frankenstein’s ultimate goal is to bring his wife (who died of brain cancer) back to life.  Frankenstein, like his daughter in Santo vs. Frankenstein’s Daughter, possesses the secret of eternal youth, which gives the film some sense of continuity, even though it’s more likely that they’re just ripping off previous El Santo movies. 

Some of this might sound like “criticisms”, but I assure you, they’re merely observations.  None of the above diminishes from the fun, and trust me, there’s plenty of fun moments here.  I think my favorite bit came when El Santo’s pal, Blue Demon disguised himself as a surgeon, humorously wearing a surgical mask over his Mexican wrestling mask.  Plus, you’ve just got to love the kooky score.  More fistfights in films should be accompanied by xylophone solos if you ask me. 

As with Santo and Blue Demon vs. Dracula and the Wolf Man, the wrestling matches take place in front of a blank screen with sounds of a cheering crowd dubbed in.  The first bout is a tag-team match featuring El Santo and Blue Demon.  (Some of the action is needlessly sped up in this sequence.)  The second is another tag-team match, but at least there are insert shots of the crowd this time out.  The finale where El Santo fights the masked monster is set against a red backdrop, which gives it a cool, hellish look. 

It sometimes feels as if El Santo and Blue Demon are getting lost in the shuffle with all the various subplots, but it’s hard to get upset when one of the subplots involve two sexy undercover detectives.  Speaking of hot tamales, the film also boasts a saucy performance by Sasha Montenegro as El Santo’s girlfriend.  In one scene, El Santo tells her there’s a maniac on the loose, and she brushes him off and says, “He’s only killed TWELVE women.”  You’ve got to admire that kind of spunk.