07 August, 2005
Sant y Blue Demon Contra Dracula y Hombre Lobo

add this to the list of my eccentricities:

70's era Mexican Wrestler and monster/science fiction movies.

ok... i was smitten with the bizarreness of it al,l "Contra los Marcianos" (yes, martians), when it was black&white and actually structured coherently. it didn't hurt that SouthernCultureOnTheSkids had released one of the most massive party tunes, ever, as an homage to this renowned luchador about the time i started DJing.

alas, pobre Santo. aka "el enmascarado el la plata" ("the silver masked one"). the seventies were not kind. serious challenges to his wrestling ability--i mean, it was touch-and-go when he had to face (i swear to god) "Renato el Hippie"; unsatisfactory bodyguarding skills (he and his compa�ero, BlueDemon, managed to lose all of their charges to forces of evil, whilst either playing cards or chess); absolutely no assistance from the authorities in kidnapping cases (that was probably the social commentary issue i missed, first time 'round).

methinks the masks were too tight... or else too many blows to the head... to the scriptwriter.

selected short subjects:

� the bad guys drove Peugeots... the good guys pimped in humongous FordGalaxie convertibles.

�funky, funky cardigan sweaters and lace up pullovers (anyone who thinks it was cool to have to buy clothing in the '70's need look no further than this film to see how truly horrible it was... yet another reason why Punk saved my life).

�the saving costuming grace were the bras visible through sheer bouses. thank god, something for us heteros.

don't assume from this review that Santo isn't still my hero... hey, he really was a wrestler, kids loved him, and people still remember him. he was like the trendsetter for Mr."T"... only, without the cutting jive and the mass of gold chains.

one last observation: the movie rules for monsters change, from year-to-year, nationality-to-nationality, yet one rule remains, steadfast:

Dracula dresses like a diplomat.

the Wolfman dresses like TomJones.

next stop: Santo en La Frontera Del Terror. 1969. years before the crazy-assed-old-MinuteMen made this particular venture much more dramatic. if not lethal.

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