The third of the Mexican wrestling movies picked up by K. Gordon Murray for US television (the others being INVASION OF THE ZOMBIES and SAMSON IN THE WAX MUSEUM), SAMSON VS. THE VAMPIRE WOMEN is more atmospheric but even less action-orientated than the other two, trading numerous run-ins with henchmen for an extremely slow pacing, with lots of lingering pans across creepy, cobwebby rooms, dark crypts, and cheesy rubber bats flying about on strings. As such, the film is only for the die-hard Santo fan. Anyone else watching from a modern perspective might well find it dull, clichéd, and utterly predictable.
This time around the villains are a bunch of sexy female vampires, who lurk around looking through windows and occasionally transform into ugly old hags (surprisingly efficient make-up effects are utilised here). They also have a couple of male zombies (including one weird alien-looking bald type) to do their bidding, which is mainly kidnapping and strapping prone victims to stone slabs and then draining them of their blood. Unfortunately the viewer must wade through dozens of minutes worth of exposition, badly dubbed dialogue about nothing in particular, some excruciating musical numbers and some minor characters being offed before he gets to the good stuff, which is almost worth waiting for.
We first meet Santo about thirty minutes into the picture. Amusingly, our doctor protagonist attempts to call him on one of those flat television screens all Mexicans seemingly have in their homes, only to find that Santo is away at a wrestling match! Later, the vampires send an undercover agent in to attack Santo, and a lengthy match ensues before the bad guy turns into a hairy werewolf and runs amok in the audience. After numerous encounters with the villains, the admittedly strong finale is set in the vampires' crypt, where a devastating ray of sunlight turns most of the bloodsuckers into burning ash, at which point (the coolest moment in the whole film) Santo runs in and finishes off the rest of the evil ones with the help of a fiery torch.
Sadly, the film offers little flair or excitement for one's money and the deathly slow pacing never seems to pick up until the very end. On the plus side, the set design is of a good standard, especially with the vampire's crypt which is very atmospheric. Sadly the low budget means that this is the only detailed set in the whole movie, with the rest of the action taking place in parks, wrestling rings, and people's houses. The human characters lack interest and the film spends far too much time concentrating on their activities when a look at the vampires and Santo himself would be far more interesting. As for Santo, he proves to be reliable as ever although his presence is sorely lacking in the opening stages and he needs far more screen time in my humble opinion. As such, this curio is for collectors only, and if you've never heard of Santo my opinion is to not bother.
This time around the villains are a bunch of sexy female vampires, who lurk around looking through windows and occasionally transform into ugly old hags (surprisingly efficient make-up effects are utilised here). They also have a couple of male zombies (including one weird alien-looking bald type) to do their bidding, which is mainly kidnapping and strapping prone victims to stone slabs and then draining them of their blood. Unfortunately the viewer must wade through dozens of minutes worth of exposition, badly dubbed dialogue about nothing in particular, some excruciating musical numbers and some minor characters being offed before he gets to the good stuff, which is almost worth waiting for.
We first meet Santo about thirty minutes into the picture. Amusingly, our doctor protagonist attempts to call him on one of those flat television screens all Mexicans seemingly have in their homes, only to find that Santo is away at a wrestling match! Later, the vampires send an undercover agent in to attack Santo, and a lengthy match ensues before the bad guy turns into a hairy werewolf and runs amok in the audience. After numerous encounters with the villains, the admittedly strong finale is set in the vampires' crypt, where a devastating ray of sunlight turns most of the bloodsuckers into burning ash, at which point (the coolest moment in the whole film) Santo runs in and finishes off the rest of the evil ones with the help of a fiery torch.
Sadly, the film offers little flair or excitement for one's money and the deathly slow pacing never seems to pick up until the very end. On the plus side, the set design is of a good standard, especially with the vampire's crypt which is very atmospheric. Sadly the low budget means that this is the only detailed set in the whole movie, with the rest of the action taking place in parks, wrestling rings, and people's houses. The human characters lack interest and the film spends far too much time concentrating on their activities when a look at the vampires and Santo himself would be far more interesting. As for Santo, he proves to be reliable as ever although his presence is sorely lacking in the opening stages and he needs far more screen time in my humble opinion. As such, this curio is for collectors only, and if you've never heard of Santo my opinion is to not bother.