Santo vs. Frankenstein's Daughter

If you've seen a few Santo films (and unfortunately I have), you'll know that they're all fairly similar. You either love the formula, with all of its cheeziness, or you find it all rather tiresome. I'm definitely in the latter camp, the wrestler's encounters with various villains and monsters boring me with their repetitive nature.

In this adventure, Santo faces Dr. Freda Frankenstein (Gina Romand), who needs the luchador's blood to perfect her youth serum. In order to trap Santo, the mad scientist sends her henchmen (who have silly names like Scorpio and Cyclops) to kidnap his girlfriend Norma (Anel *snigger, snigger*). Santo goes to the rescue, with Norma's better looking sister Elsa (Sonia Fuentes) by his side, and must battle Freda's creations, a half human/half beast called Truxon and Ursus, a monster pieced together from assorted body parts.

The action sees Santo having several wrestling bouts, in the ring against other luchadors, and out of the ring against various baddies. The fighting is monotonous and predictable, Santo always taking a beating before finding hidden strength to defeat his opponent(s). Meanwhile, Norma and Elsa take it in turns to be captured and to escape, several times throughout the film.

The best moments in the film are when Ursus is impaled on a cross and when he gets sulphuric acid thrown in his face - quite nasty given how daft the rest of the film is.