LET’S GET PHYSICAL: SANTO VS. FRANKENSTEIN’S DAUGHTER (1972) ****

FORMAT:  BLU-RAY

Freda Frankenstein (Gina Romand), the daughter of Dr. Frankenstein, is perfecting an eternal youth serum to combat her rapidly aging body.  If she doesn’t give herself injections in a timely manner, she starts looking old and shriveled.  She figures if she can use the blood of the famous wrestler El Santo it will add longevity to her serum because of his great strength.  Freda’s also busy making a monster from parts of dead bodies just like dear old dad.  Oh, and she keeps an ape man (Gerardo Zepeda) locked up in her dungeon… just because. 

You know you have a winner on your hands when the monster scenes are more entertaining than the stuff with El Santo.  His best movies can be measured by how many monsters they have in them.  This one has three terrific monsters.  And yes, I’m counting Frankenstein’s daughter as a monster because of her prune face.  (The scenes of the doctor’s hands becoming wrinkled are reminiscent of The Leech Woman.)  Zepeda also played an ape man in the immortal Night of the Bloody Apes, which makes this a sort of sequel/spin-off. 

The lab set is a thing of beauty.  It’s one of the best I’ve seen in a Mexican horror movie as it mixes equal parts of traditional Frankenstein equipment and Grade Z tech.  I also loved the fact Frankenstein’s henchmen were just old men who have been given youth serum and are forced to serve her in exchange for their new youthful looks. 

While the monster stuff sort of outshines the El Santo scenes, it’s still great fun seeing the Silver Masked Man in action.  The movie kicks off with a wrestling scene where El Santo goes toe to toe with “Toro” in the ring while his girlfriend (Anel) humorously cheers him on.  After the plot has wrapped up, El Santo takes on the Japanese champ.  His fights outside the ring with the ape man and the Frankenstein monster are a lot of fun too, and his battles with Freda’s henchmen in foggy graveyards are quite atmospheric. There’s also a great moment when Frankenstein’s daughter unmasks El Santo to give him a kiss.  (His face is still respectfully obscured from the camera.)  Heck, even the bond that forms between El Santo and the ape man late in the picture is sort of touching.  The finale ranks right up there with the best of the Universal horror movies as it features fights, acid throwing, lap dissolve transformation scenes, and a Bride of Frankenstein-inspired explosion.  

All in all, Santo vs. Frankenstein’s Daughter is a rip-roaring good time. 

AKA:  The Daughter of Frankenstein.