El Santo and The Blue Demon verses Dracula and The Wolfman (1973) Movie Review
By: Karl Stern (Patreon)
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Released in July 1973 and in Mexico titled Santo y Blue Demon vs. Drácula y el Hombre Lobo, El Santo and Blue Demon verses Dracula and The Wolfman is one of my personal favorite El Santo lucha libre inspired monster movies. As is the case with most El Santo movies, there is no hard and fast continuity between most of the films, even though we have previously (in 1969) seen El Santo meet Dracula before (even played by the same actor: Aldo Monti) there is no real storyline connection between the two.
Cast: El Santo (Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta), Blue Demon (Alejandro Muñoz Moreno), Aldo Monti (Dracula), Agustín Martínez Solares (Rufus Rex, the Wolf Man), Nubia Marti (Lina), María Eugenia San Martín (Laura Cristaldi), Wally Barrón (Eric the Hunchback), Jorge Mondragón (Prof. Luis Cristaldi), Lissy Fields (Rosita), Antonio Raxel (Police Commander), Carlos Suárez (Gang boss), Lourdes Batista (Josefina), plus luchadores: Angel Blanco, Renato El Hippie; Enrique Llanes (announcer), Roberto Rangel (referee), Margarito Luna (gardener).
The book Santo, the Wrestler with the Silver Mask: A Guide to All His Films contains the following synopsis.
"Entertaining to the highest degree, and with relatively high production values, this is one of the best films in the Silver Mask saga. The story is very well elaborated, there are ingenious turns of script that bring intrigue, the gothic atmosphere of the crypt is optimal. Despite the similarity in theme, the film is on the whole very different from "Santo y Blue Demon Contra los Monstruos" (Gilberto Martínez Solares, 1970), a chaotic festival of delirium that would well serve as a paradigm for the B-movies.
The film we are dealing with, on the contrary, has a very well worked plot and mise en scène. There is no lack of the characteristic polarizing symbolism present in most of Santo´s films, where our hero embodies the absolute good and justice in its maximum expression while his opponents come directly from the Underworld: It is the eternal cosmic combat, the force of Light against the powers of Darkness (which this time are represented by a vampire and a lycanthrope). These monsters will give the Silver Mask more than one headache. Blue Demon to his comrade Santo: "When you say more than ten words in a row, I know you are worried".
Miguel M. Delgado, the usual director of the films of the comedian Cantinflas, directed other films of the Saint's saga such as "La venganza de la Llorona" (1974) and the highly recommended "Santo y Blue Demon contra el Dr. Frankenstein" (1974)."
Al Mondi’s Dracula is made up in the classic Bela Lugosi style and previously played the same role in the 1969 film El Santo and the Treasure of Dracula. I have to say, even though this is a lower-budget B-Movie in the lucha libre movie tradition, the make-up of both Dracula and The Wolfman is pretty good, especially The Wolfman which could have easily have ended up in cheesy territory.
Both El Santo and The Blue Demon have a singles lucha libre match during the film and then a tag team match toward the end. Unfortunately, there isn’t a ton of El Santo’s actual lucha libre matches on video and a lot of what we have showcasing him in the ring are matches filmed for his numerous movies. In this case, El Santo wrestles Angel Blanco and Blue Demon wrestles Renalto El Hippie and then the two rudos team up to take on the team of El Santo and Blue Demon at the end of the film.
The story of El Santo and The Blue Demon verses Dracula and The Wolfman, like most El Santo movies, borders on the ridiculous. Dracula and The Wolfman are somehow buried in a cave in Mexico following their deaths some “400 years ago” which, obviously, throws it out of continuity with every established Dracula story out there. An occult evil heel determines to raise both of them from the dead in order to gain a reward of gold from Dracula. This plan, as you can imagine, goes awry.
Of course, there is always the ludicrous visual of both El Santo and The Blue Demon always wearing their masks during the story no matter what the situation, be it: eating a meal, solving crimes, driving cars, or kissing their love interest. However, that is just part of the fun of these lucha libre action movies and throwing in two classic monsters only adds to the fun.
And, in the end, that’s just what El Santo and The Blue Demon verses Dracula and The Wolfman is- fun. Don’t take it too seriously and enjoy the wacky ride. For more on the history of lucha movies check out Juan Nunez’s very informative article- here. For Patreon supporters of When It Was Cool, check out my podcast review of the movie - here.
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