Avalanche of Adversity: Santo and Blue Demon vs. the Monsters (1970)

My dear readers, while I understand this is a sentiment many have felt as of late, I still find it worth reporting that I have been positively bewildered by the rapid passage of time. It seems the entire winter has come and gone with but a blink. It is a feeling that could be credited to an abundance of domestic tasks, as this chilly season brings about all sorts of chores in an abode such as ours. The shingles must be reinforced after a heavy snowfall, the foliage in the greenhouse has to be rotated to accommodate for the paucity of daylight and the library accumulates a frightful amount of dust. Also, I found myself in the path of a falling China cabinet and remained trapped under its considerable bulk for most of January. After the first few hours of loud protestation, I recalled my sweet Penny Dee was away visiting relatives and realized that I would have to subsist purely off of my wits and a small packet of pistachios stashed in my coat pocket. Luckily, some keen rationing kept me sated and my close view of the cabinet’s ornate carvings enlivened my mind. At times, I even imagined its ornamental swirls spun into shapes that eluded easy description. These scenes not only staved off boredom but also filled me with strange vigor and rather strong opinions about learning Aramaic and spending more time in the desert. I suppose all of this is to say, in a somewhat roundabout manner, that it has been a most absorbing season.

The screen struggles to accommodate Dr. Halder’s associates

Santo (Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta) is also deeply familiar with having his hands full. He and his companion the Blue Devil (Alejandro Muñoz Moreno) are a pair of rough and tumble characters whose physical prowess and distinct fashion sense have propelled them to the absolute heights of “lucha libre” fame. Though Santo is already busy with his career as a professional wrestler, he also takes time out to address issues in his local community. This concern for the public good leads him to suspect that recently deceased scientist Dr. Bruno Halder (Carlos Ancira) has hatched some kind of plot that will allow him to recover from his seemingly untreatable state.

And Santo’s suspicions are well founded, indeed! The scoundrel has left instructions with his subordinates to relieve him from his mortal sentence and, once resurrected, manages to whip up quite the band of supernatural ne'er do wells. In addition to a resident torture artist, an extraterrestrial and an already impressive collection of zombie servants, the freshly revived Dr. Halder manages to add Dracula, Dracula’s brides, a mummy, a wolf man, Frankenstein’s monster, cyclops, and an evil luchador doppelgänger to his team. And while these seemingly disparate characters manage to raise a fair bit of ruckus on their own, Dr. Hadler manages to set their sights on shared goals like world domination and the destruction of Santo.

I believe it is more than fair to say that in his fifty odd cinematic appearances, the venerable El Santo has faced his share of villainy. He has stared down the forces of satan, battled organized crime and has even had individual outings with many of the monsters crowding the screen in Santo and Blue Demon vs. The Monsters. But Director Gilberto Martínez Solares, perhaps sensing that this would be his sole contribution to the Santo cannon, conceived an absolute avalanche of adversity for this heroic sportsman. Granted, clearing out this many monstrous characters in less than ninety minutes does not afford much time for trifling indulgences such as dialogue or plot developments. In fact, Mr. Solares’ affection for inclusion leaves little room for anything aside from concentrated monster combat. But the sight of Santo stepping into the ring to exchange “suplexes” and “body locks” with Dracula himself sweeps away any concern about the film’s lack of conventional narrative devices. I imagine that even hardened traditionalists will find little fault with Mr. Solares’ heavily populated approach.

Santo and Blue Demon vs. the Monsters runs 85 minutes and does not possess a certified rating in the United States. It is also known as Santo el enmascarado de plata y Blue Demon contra los monstruos.