Immediately recognisable by his distinctive silver mask, the heroic wrestler known as El Santo (‘The Saint’) was Mexico’s most popular luchador, becoming a folk hero and the star of a hugely popular series of action films. Enter Santo: The First Adventures of the Silver-Masked Man presents the two earliest cinematic excursions of this icon of Mexican popular culture.
In Santo vs. Evil Brain (Santo contra cerebro del mal, 1961), the dastardly Doctor Campos is kidnapping and brainwashing scientists. When undercover detective Santo falls prey to Campos’ scheme, Lieutenant Zambrano (Enrique Zambrano) and El Incognito (Fernando Osés) must come to his assistance to foil Campos’ plans.
Meanwhile, in the same year’s Santo vs. Infernal Men(Santo contra hombres infernales), the trio of Santo, El Incognito, and Zambrano team up once again to fight a band of drug smugglers.
Shot in Cuba in the final days before Fidel Castro entered Havana, these two films represent the celluloid birth of a true screen legend, and spawned a further fifty Santo films. Beautifully restored in 4K from the original negatives, these thrilling films finally receive their world Blu-ray premieres in this individually numbered Limited Edition two-disc set, complete with new and archival extra features, including a feature-length documentary, a poster, and an 80-page book.
Extras
Limited edition exclusive 80-page book with a new essay by Luciano Castillo, an archival newspaper article on Mexican wrestling, Christian Cymet on the history of the mask in Mexican wrestling, extracts from Carlos Monsiváis’ The Rituals of Chaos and Jimmy Pantera’s Los tigres del ring, an archival interview with Griselda Cruz, daughter of comic-book writer José G Cruz, Michael Donnelly on Perdida, an archival interview with Viviana García Besné and Alistair Tremps, and film credits
Limited edition exclusive double-sided poster
Limited edition of 6,000 numbered units for the UK and US
Santo Vs. Evil Brain
4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negatives
Original mono audio
Looking for El Santo (2023, 31 mins): Viviana García Besné’s search for filming locations in Havana, Cuba and the true story behind the making of the first two Santo films
A League of Gentlemen (2023, 12 mins): previously unseen interview, filmed in 2009, in which co-star Joaquín Cordero reminisces about his experience acting alongside El Santo and his friendship with producer Jorge García Besné
Mascára vs. mascara (2023, 33 mins): the Killer Film, el critico enmascarado (the Masked Critic) discusses the early years of Mexican lucha libre, the birth of the luchador film genre and El Santo’s transition from wrestler to film star, cultural icon, and national treasure
New English subtitles
World premiere on Blu-ray
Santo Vs. Infernal Men
4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negatives
Original mono audio
Perdida (2011, 96 mins) feature-length documentary by Viviana García Besné, granddaughter of Jorge García Besné and Mate Calderón, exploring her family’s major contribution to Mexican cinema, including initiating the Santo series
Perdida image galleries: rare and extensive collection of photographs and promotional materials from the Calderón family vaults
