Watch Santo in the Vengeance of the Mummy For Free

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Please don't spend money on this.

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Santo and his tag-team partner win two out of three falls and then it's off to the jungle with a party of scientists in search of an ancient tomb. The local villagers, of course, think that Santo and Company are mucho loco en de cabasas, but that never stopped Santo nor any of his scientist friends before... En route to the aforementioned final resting place, Santo tussles with a (very young) black panther, tossing the child around like a bean bag. They finally find the mummified body of "Nonoc, the great Opache prince," and in a flashback that incorporates a couple of nice stock shots from another movie, we learn of his fate (which parallels that of another Mexican horror star, THE AZTEC MUMMY). Before long, the mummy is wreaking havoc on the group. "Fear is a bitch," the stalwart overseer tells Santo- just before he gets killed. The extended tussle between Santo and the mummy is good and there's a bit of a twist ending. Also notable is the fact that the boy is actually Santo's real-life son. Not bad.

To my mind, prolific but very competent director René Cardona made two minor mistakes with this entry. I found his variation on the zip pan (the camera buzzes into colored beads or baubles) distracting and I thought he gave away the plot far too early (halfway through to be reasonably exact). But it seems I was mistaken in this latter belief for nobody else seems to have noticed the particular close-up concerned (which is held for at least five or six seconds). I've just read a scad of reviews in which all the writers expressed surprise at the way the story is worked out. Presumably, all were too frightened or in such a state of shock, they failed to notice the giveaway details Cardona deliberately chose to reveal in the particular angle he selected for this camera set-up. And I will certainly agree that Cardona does keep the plot moving at such a fast clip that even in possession of the director's giveaway information, you really don't have time to work out the complete aspects of the resolution before it actually happens on the screen.Another thing that didn't grab my wholehearted enthusiasm were the boring wrestling bouts with which the main story was enclosed. Scrupulously choreographed though they were, it's easy to see how punches were pulled by undercranking the camera to speed up the action and then adding a loud soundtrack from the effects library.Once we delved into the story proper, however, my interest perked up considerably. Mind you, despite his silver mask, I found Santo himself to be an indifferent performer. Fortunately, in his capacity as co-producer, he does allow the other players a fair share of the running. The charismatic Eric del Castillo really impresses as the helpful engineer, the two girls are attractive, and (despite criticism from a number of fans) I really enjoyed the comic relief provided by Carlos Ancira as an absent-minded professor.However, to my mind, the player who actually walks away with the picture's acting honors figures right down at the bottom of the official cast list: Amado Zumaya brings a great deal of dignity to the role of the reluctant guide and translator. The scene in which he reads from the scroll is one of the most telling in the whole picture.As usual, production values are top drawer. Carrion's outstandingly atmospheric music score, however, deserves a special commendation.

'Santo In The Vengeance Of The Mummy' is bookended by sequences of Santo, the silver masked wrestler turned crime fighter, wrestling opponents in front of a large and enthusiastic audience. However the movie is mainly concerned with an expedition led by Santo's friend Professor Romero. Romero wishes to explore the tomb of long dead Indian warrior Nonoc which is hidden deep in the jungle. Despite warnings that there is a curse on anyone who disturbs Nonoc's remains Romero doesn't hesitate in his quest for knowledge. Romero's crew includes his secretary, an eccentric fellow scientist Professor Jiminez (responsible for lots of lousy "comedy"), Sergio an engineer, a female photographer (love interest for Santo) and a local Indian guide and his young grandson Jorgito, who becomes Santo's protege (and is in fact played by Santo's real life son who subsequently took over the long running franchise after his father's death). Romero and Santo become baffled when their colleagues are picked off one by one, seemingly the victims of a resurrected Nonoc. I can't say I enjoyed this as much as 'Santo And Dracula's Treasure' but it was still reasonably entertaining, despite an unconvincing surprise ending. Santo is very cool and macho, and the movie has quite decent production values. Not great, but fun.

Bouyed by interesting pink and green advertising art which shows a close-up f the mummy's distorted face and a color insert of Santo fending off the monster with a blazing torch, this promises to be an exciting lucha title. While mummies had been heavily used in Mexican cinema (and, in fact, Santo faced them in another outing), the ad art on this film suggested a decent budget and an ambitious presentation. The mummy mask/make-up was also worlds above the job done on the Aztec mummy, being both unsettling and actually a bit alarming.While the film is good, it's inexplicably one of the few Santo features which pulls its punch. Considering the wild excesses of the lucha film genre, the twist ending, which does anything but satisfy, makes little or no sense.Santo is enlisted for Professor Romero's (Caesar del Campo) expedition to the lost tomb of Nonoc, an Aztec warrior. As usual, this is a cursed tomb and the dead warrior had been entombed and cursed for loving a maiden designated for the gods' use. This aspect is scarcely new, having already been covered in the Aztec Mummy series and other genre films.The expedition also includes an old native guide (Amada Zumaya)and his grandson, two girls, and hunter Sergio (Eric del Castillo).Arriving at the tomb, they find a scroll which explains that, by entering, they are now officially cursed. Nobody attaches much importance to this announcement, which is a mistake. Shortly thereafter, the party is being stalked and killed off by the avenging mummy -- or so it seems.A decent adventure flick. Worth the watching.