Santo in "The Mummy's Revenge"

Popular luchador Santo who wrestled in Mexico from the 1930's to the early 80's also had a prolific film career. For Halloween, I've decided to review 1970's The Mummy's Revenge.

We begin at a wrestling match. The match differed from many that I've seen because there were rounds. Each round was won by pinfall or submission, and it appeared that to win the match you had to score two out of three falls. I don't know if this is standard in Lucha Libre because I've not watched enough. Santo and his partner win, and this establishes that he is tough and that he is our hero. 

The basic plot of this film is that Santo is asked by professors to join an expedition to excavate Prince Nonoc's tomb. The team is supposed to bring back artifacts to put them in the museum to preserve them for posterity. We've heard this plot before. It's the basic plot of every horror movie that involves a mummy. 

The group hires an old man from a nearby village to guide them. This is where they learn the legend of the curse on Nonoc's tomb. The old man is reluctant to help them, however, he is persuaded when the group promises they will pay for his grandson's education after his death. He and his grandson join their expedition. Other characters include a beautiful female photographer, a secretary, a handsome intelligent professor, a crazy absent minded professor who has no clue where he is but who knows a lot about tombs and mummies, and a chef. 

My favorite part of their journey to the tomb was when they encountered a black panther in the jungle. One man pulls out his gun and aims at the beast. Santo decides to attempt to wrestle with the panther. This shows the audience how brave, strong, and heroic he is. 

When they begin searching the tomb, they come across a scroll that tells the story of Nonoc's death. He fell in love with a girl who was promised as a virginal sacrifice. He kidnapped her and they attempted to flee the area so they could be together. They were caught, she was killed, and he was buried alive.  His last words swore revenge on the descendants of the high priest who sentenced him. 

The old man is a direct descendant of the high priest. He warns the scientists not to disturb the tomb.When a scientist says they plan to put the items in the museum for all of civilization, the old man scoffs and says "You mean the white man's civilization." Not certain if that was just related to native mexican/spanish relations or if that was allusion to Mexico's relationship with the United States. 

The old man is the first person to die that night, as the mummy does attack. This part struck me because he is the only living relative of the little boy, Agapito. The boy runs and screams for help after witnessing his grandfather's neck broken by a mummy. Everyone is trying to figure out what happened, however, no one offers sympathy or condolence for the child. In a later scene, he and Santo are talking about it and Santo tells him he can cry now, but after this he must cry no more because to do so would not be manly. He then tells Agapito that he is not alone in the world, but that he will now take care of him.

Like all good movies with a hero, there is also a love interest. The love interest in the film is the photographer Susanna. There is no build up of a relationship over the course of the film, but one night after someone had been killed they are sitting outside at their camp, and Santo tells Susanna his feelings for her. She responds in the silliest way I've ever heard. She says "You are such a manly man that a girl would be honored even to receive just a little of your love." He's a masked man. You've never seen his face. Sure he's protecting you from a mummy and maybe you've seen a few of his wrestling matches. But this makes you wonder, does he wear the mask even during intimate relations. I speak of course of the character Santo, not the man behind the mask. At least this girl means it when she says she prefers someone's inner character to their looks.

The rest of the party is killed in various stages, except for Santo, Susanna, and Agapito. It's pretty predictable. At the end as they are fleeing the village, there is a final confrontation between Santo and the mummy. Santo makes quick work of the mummy and kills it. He unmasks it, and we find out there was no mummy at all. There was just a member of their party who wanted to kill everyone so he could have the treasure for himself.

We end at another wrestling match where we find out that Santo is still keeping his promises to both Susanna and Agapito.

Overall I enjoyed the film for its silliness. The two wrestling matches were the best part. I will likely watch more of his films just for fun.