1961's "Invasion of the Zombies" introduced El Santo to both Mexican and American audiences, literally translated by the dubbing as 'The Saint,' actually the first Santo feature to be filmed in Mexico following two Cuban-shot entries in which he played supporting roles ("El Cerebro del Mal" and "Hombres Infernales"), and also the one to finally establish his comic book persona as a crime fighter to the big screen (the Santo comic began publishing in 1952, lasting until three years after his death at age 66 in 1984). Wrestling professionally since the mid 30s, El Enmascarado De Plata (The Silver-Masked One) was already a formidable champion with several belts by the early 40s, and with his new superhero persona firmly established in the public eye had resisted the possibility of becoming a flop in cinema. "Invasion of the Zombies" was not only a decent introduction to the champion in the ring, it also set the precedent of allowing him to wear his cape outside the arena like Batman, complete with his own literal Batcave, enabling him to spy on his equally masked adversary by closed circuit TV (neither one is able to keep secrets from the other!). The opening match occupies an entire reel before the plot gets underway, both the cops and The Saint becoming involved after a renowned expert on voodoo is kidnapped upon his return from Haiti, though the villain has already unearthed the corpses of deceased criminals to use as an undead army to commit a series of jewel robberies (later sent to kidnap children from an orphanage). It isn't voodoo but mad science that motivates these burly creatures, wearing remote controlled belts around the waist to obey commands and impervious to bullets, difficult foes to dispatch even for our white-caped crusader. Unlike Las Luchadoras (Wrestling Women), El Santo never needed a double for his bouts, lending authenticity to every move and reaction in the ring, at least for those patient enough not to use the fast forward button. There aren't many tight spots for our hero to get out of, though he does defeat a zombie wrestler by short circuiting his belt, the key to eventual triumph with the authorities incapable of nothing but firing blanks. This was fittingly the first Santo feature to be dubbed into English, possibly by K. Gordon Murray but not distributed by him (only three more received the same treatment, including "Samson vs the Vampire Women" and "Samson in the Wax Museum"). The zombies are sadly a rather unscary looking bunch, notable cast members including Carlos Agosti, soon to play Count Frankenhausen in both "The Bloody Vampire" and its sequel "The Invasion of the Vampires," and voluptuous Lorena Velazquez, graduating to Wrestling Woman Gloria Venus in "Doctor of Doom" and "The Wrestling Women vs the Aztec Mummy."
Review of Santo vs. the Zombies
