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Santo contra el Cerebro Diabólico
Santo and the Diabolical Brain
Mexico 1961
produced by Estudios América, Peliculas Rodríguez
directed by Federico Curiel
starring Fernando Casanova, Ana Bertha Lepe, Roberto Ramírez Garza (as Beto el Boticario), Santo, Luis Aceves Castaneda, Celia Viveros, José Chávez, Augusto Benedico, Carlos Rincón Gallardo, Víctor Velázquez, Fernando Osés, Enrique Couto, Magda Monzón, Manuel Dondé, José Loza, Emilio Garibay, Cuco Sánchez, Antonio Bribiesca, Trio Los Gallos, Nathanael León
written by Federico Curiel, Antonio Orellana, Fernando Osés, music by Enrico C. Cabiati
El Santo
review by Mike Haberfelner
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When cop Fernando (Fernando Casanova) learns his reporter girlfriend
Virginia (Ana Bertha Lepe) has taken a trip to the countryside to
interview a bigshot gangster, Refugio Canales (Luis Aceves Castaneda), he
and his sidekick Conrado (Beto el Boticario) dress up as drifters and
drift into a small Western town - to look for Virginia ... but initially,
they find trouble instead, because their true identity doesn't remain
undetected for long, and thus Refugio's men soon team up on them to
capture mthem. But Fernando and Conrado have an ace up their sleeves:
Championship wrestler Santo (Santo), who seems to appear out of nowhere
everytime the going gets tough. But their luck doesn't last forever, and
eventually not even Santo can prevent our friends' capture and torture. Oh,
and what about Virginia? She has won the trust of Refugio alright - but
only inasmuch as he wants to make her one of his prostitutes. And when he
learns that Fernando is actually her boyfriend (but long his captive), he
uses him submit her. Then though Santo frees Fernando and Conrado (again),
and Refugio abandons his gang and wants to leave country by small
airplane, only accompanied by Virginia - but Santo holds the plane to the
ground with his bare hands (!), then lets Fernando take care of Refugio.
And once Fernando has done that, he also gives a good, deserved (?)
spanking to Virginia ... Santo contra el Cerebro Diabólico
is not really as much a Santo film as it is an old-fashioned
B-Western: Sure, Santo has his obligatory in-the-ring wrestling match and
has all his futuristic gadgets - but most of the plot doesn't focus on
Santo but on Fernando, Virginia and Conrado anyways (just like in the same
year's Santo en el Hotel
de la Muerte, actually) and has more the function of a
deus-ex-machina, saving his friends from whatever threat once the
scriptwriters have written themselves into a corner - it seems anyways.
Plus the whole backdrop of the film as well as its characters and story
are right out of your run-of-the-mill Western, including horseback riding,
gunplay, fistfights and the like. The outcome is ... well, nothing
special, but at least an amusing cheap Western thanks to the added masked
wrestler - but believe me, there are better, funnier, more ridiculous,
more entertaining Santo/masked wrestler/Mexican Westerns around.
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