First up is Federico Curiel's Las momias de Guanajuato (1972) in which cinema's greatest superhero, El Santo, is the destiny of his ancestor's opponent, 7'2'' Satan, a wrestler who sold his soul to the Lord of Darkness for fame but was thwarted by Santo's ancestor, who is now rising after a hundred years with his army of mummies to take revenge. Entering second is Gilberto Martínez Solares's Santo el enmascarado de plata y Blue Demon contra los monstruos (1970) in which cinema's greatest superhero, El Santo, attempts to thwart the assault of evil Dr. Bruno Halder (Carlos Ancira) and his legion of monsters against Santo's girlfriend, Gloria (Hedi Blue) and her father (Jorge Rado). Santo's opponents are the resurrected mummy of Satan and The Mummy, The Wolfman, The Vampire, The Cyclops, Frankenstein's Monster, and Las mujeres vampiro, respectively. Let us see how these flicks fare in Santo fashion, two out of three falls, while keeping in mind both films sing the sad ballad of under-appreciated cinematic superhero, Blue Demon.
Federico Curiel's Las momias de Guanajuato (1972) is a curious production. While Santo is the object of the villain's, Satan's, revenge, Santo only appears in the film's final battle and in a sublime, dream sequence by Satan, where he imagines meeting Santo in the ring during their heyday. Mexican wrestling legends, Blue Demon and Mil Máscaras, carry the film's first two acts in thankless fashion. In Las momias, Satan is wandering the city and breaking various necks of unsuspecting victims. The police believe, quite correctly, that perhaps the perpetrator is a professional wrestler. Satan, in an effort to fuel the police's theory and set them off track, attacks Blue Demon in a blindsided fashion and steals his wrestling gear. Satan commands one of his mummy minions to don Blue Demon's outfit, and the police happen to witness this minion commit a murder. Blue Demon becomes the prime suspect.
In Gilberto Martínez Solares's Santo el enmascarado de plata y Blue Demon contra los monstruos (1970), Blue Demon fares far worse. Santo and Blue Demon break after the last wrestling competition to both go on vacation. Santo is looking to spend time with his girlfriend, Gloria, while Blue Demon vacations alone. Like Santo, Blue Demon pursues justice at all times; so when Blue Demon witnesses suspicious behavior at a gloomy castle atop a hill, he breaks from his vacation to investigate. Not long after entering Dr. Bruno Halder's mad-scientist laboratory, Blue Demon is subdued by one of Halder's reanimated, monstrous henchmen. After his capture, Halder duplicates Blue Demon and through mind control makes him one of his monsters. For the majority of Los monstruos, Blue Demon must fight against his friend and rival only in the ring, Santo. In a very sad scene, all of the monsters are marching up a hill back to the castle with their heads down, having suffered a merciless defeat at the two hands of Santo. Blue Demon is the last in the line and before marching on, he gives a fleeting look back at the camera with a tearful, longing look in his eye.
Blue Demon may take comfort that his role(s) is not Blue Demon but a doppelganger Blue Demon. However, I would side with Blue Demon and say this is semantics. 
Never in the history of cinema has its iconic monsters suffered such a beating as they have in Santo el enmascarado de plata y Blue Demon contra los monstruos. Santo ruthlessly body slams The Vampire; jumps from the driver's seat of his convertible to take down Frankenstein's monster; and attempts a monkey flip on The Mummy only to have The Mummy plunge to his death from a rooftop. The Cyclops kills a victim near a lagoon's shore, and Santo correctly identifies the perpetrator, from its tracks, as a water-based organism. Santo treks underwater to find The Cyclops's lair. When he meets the legendary, Greek mythological character, Santo is relentless. Its one eye was totally unable to see the fury of Santo's fists. Dr. Halder has to perform emergency surgery to save The Cyclops.
When Santo does appear in Guanajuato in Las momias, he is aided by both Blue Demon and Mil Máscaras in the final battle against Satan and his mummy army. However, in the battle scenes (shot clumsily, by the way), Santo appears to be a one-man army unto himself. Any pipe dream that Satan may have had of revenge dissolves in minutes. When Santo is ready to end the battle, he tells Mil Máscaras to get the guns from the passenger side of his convertible. Mil Máscaras returns with three golden ray guns which emit streams of fire. Amazing.
Santo el enmascarado de plata y Blue Demon contra los monstruos is a true comic book come to life and is the superior film. The film has so many wonderful flourishes, too numerous to continue here. My favorite sequence in the film, which I have to mention, is when the classic monsters first appear in Los monstruos. Doppelganger Blue Demon and his reanimated crew investigate Dr. Halder's castle, and this investigation becomes a de facto recruitment party: they find The Vampire just chilling in a crypt; happen to open a coffin with The Mummy sleeping; and Dr. Halder melts a wall behind which is The Cyclops. Las momias de Guanajuato is b-movie fare but many of the sequences are sublime; and it is well-worth seeking out. Extremely fun movies from cinema's greatest superhero, El Enmascarado de Plata, the multitude's hero, El Santo.
Tony (Harry Baer) works for Luigi (Edmund Purdom), a fearful, small-time crime boss, as a debt collector. Tony only comes home to sleep as he prefers to work the streets of Rome from his obnoxiously orange dune buggy. Tony's appearance is as unassuming as his attire, t-shirt and jeans, yet he is wholly proficient in his work. (He gives a mechanic a severe beatdown at his garage when he refuses to pay.) In addition to being proficient, Tony is completely under-appreciated and underestimated by Luigi. Luigi's suck-up and hulking thug, Peppe (Enzo Pulcrano) balks at Tony when asks for more lucrative work but eventually shuts his mouth when Tony kicks his ass. One evening at Luigi's gambling den (which he operates in addition to a pool hall), another young kid, Rick (Al Cliver) is playing cards at a table and is cheated by the dealer. Rick gets tossed out when he accuses the dealer of cheating. Soon after, Rick's boss, Scarface powerfully makes an entrance and begins gambling at the table. Scarface asks the house to accept a check for three million lira and the house accepts. Scarface splits, and his crew gives Rick a beatdown for getting cheated and boots him from the organization. Tony helps Rick recover. Scarface's check bounces, and Tony asks Luigi to let him enforce the debt. Luigi reluctantly accepts. Rick has a plan to help Tony.
"Keeping in mind all the exaggerations required in cinema," says di Leo, "I think I've made realistic films. Or putting aside my merit, more realistic than other films. Absolutely, all my characters are much more real. Much more real psychologically. Both petty criminals and big Mafia bosses. Even the film 'Mister Scarface' is very realistic. It's less known than my other films but that lifestyle, those ways, those robberies, muggings, characters...the life of crime is full of them. I will always claim that realism. Of course, in shootouts, instead of two shots, there are fifty. But guys, that's cinema."
I padroni della città again shows di Leo's overwhelming love for the outsiders at society's fringes. Those "petty criminals" who are often nameless victims in cinematic shootouts take center stage. Di Leo gives Tony and Rick and their compatriots the cinematic reverence reserved for upper-echelon Mafioso types with a loving eye to detail. One of di Leo's signature characters appears, the tramp, a Falstaffian, witty character who provides both humor and commentary in the form of Napoli, portrayed by Vittorio Caprioli. Caprioli's Napoli breathes life into this culture: he was born a small-time hustler and still is. Napoli is a survivor, perhaps because he adheres to an old code of friendship, loyalty, and honor. His humorous commentary is often spot-on, but few, especially Tony and Rick, are listening. It is unsurprising when Purdom's Luigi is missing (supposedly gone into hiding) and Peppe assumes power that Napoli is the lone dissenter among the crew.
In a brilliant street sequence, Tony goes to collect a debt in a small neighborhood from an old geezer holed up with his favorite prostitute. The old geezer plays dumb, and Tony cuts him a break to collect later in the day. Back at his dune buggy, the kids are playing in and around it. Tony makes a few jokes with the children and has enough time to notice the old geezer has summoned some buddies to attack Tony and steal his money. Tony handles the thugs quite easily. Watching the children, wide-eyed and curious, cheer on Tony after his battle is a fantastic touch. Di Leo tops it by having Tony pay a visit to the prostitute before exiting. In super-cool fashion, "maybe later," she says.
I padroni della città is by far not a romantic portrayal. When Tony is beating the garage mechanic at the beginning, despite the fact that Tony's cracking jokes, it is fairly disturbing to watch him severely beat the man. Tony and Rick often get the upper hand on Palance's Scarface, but Palance's character is never portrayed as a buffoon. Jack Palance comes off as extremely cold, calculated, and violent. Di Leo shares this anecdote about him: "I had an argument with Palance. He was important in cinema, he was cinema. I asked him not to look his co-stars in the eye when he was talking to them. In Southern Italy it is a sign of disrespect. It's like saying you're much lower than I. But he just couldn't get that through his head. I had to argue with him because he wouldn't stop it. He'd say: 'You wanted Jack Palance, I know what I'm doing.' No! Much later, after it was released he once came up and broke a pipe in half. I decided to give him two, I showed him the material and that's when a real actor understands. He realized I'd helped him grow, I'd improved him. (gestures hat removal) Chapeau."
If the plot of I padroni della città seems incredulous, that two impulsive, wise-cracking street thugs could topple a large mafia organization, neither Tony nor Rick nor, especially, di Leo cares. Cliver's Rick is motivated by a single desire, revenge, and willing to die for it. During the film's incredible and violent finale at the slaughterhouse, Rick gives Tony and Napoli an opportunity to exit before Scarface and company arrive. Both Tony and Napoli show their true colors: Tony's carefree and impulsive, and the violence before him isn't a problem. Napoli will stand by his friends (and make a few jokes along the way). I padroni della città is a rich portrait of societal and cinematic outsiders in playful, flippant di Leo fashion. 
The Italian Raro 
Capolicchio is Stefano, a university professor from Rome, who is heading to Venice to see his brother, Don Paolo (Craig Hill), the priest of the local parish. (Although the film is set in Venice, Bido admits that he only shot one scene in the city. Solamente is actually filmed on the Venetian island of Murano.) Aboard the train, Stefano meets Sandra (Casini), also from Rome who is returning to the town of her childhood. Stefano meets Don Paolo who misses his younger brother and is also eager to share with Stefano the local gossip (almost letting slip information that Don Paolo learned in the confessional). Over dinner, Stefano sees an older woman dining alone. Don Paolo informs Stefano that the woman is a spiritualist who hosts seances for a select group of the locals. Stefano receives a sinister vibe from the woman. That evening, Stefano retires, along with Don Paolo in the rectory. Don Paolo is awakened by screams coming from the window. It is dark and rainy, and at his window, Don Paolo witnesses what he believes to be a murder, a strangling of a woman in the street. Don Paolo summons his assistant and Stefano to investigate the scene, but no corpse is found. The following morning a corpse is found across town, the body of the sinister spiritualist, strangled in the same manner as a young woman many years ago. The case of the young woman was never solved. Don Paolo begins to receive threatening and cryptic letters, and Stefano becomes sleuth--determined help his brother by learning what happened to the sinister spiritualist and also, the murder of the young woman years before.
Adrian Luther-Smith in his essential 
Solamente Nero (The Bloodstained Shadow) is a very handsome production. The Murano setting of the film is essential not only to its atmosphere but its overall success. Bido, along with cinematographer Mario Vulpiani, was able to capture the isolation of a small town and its few inhabitants. The essential theme of Solamente is the dark, hidden secret of the town's past becoming exposed and revealing itself anew. So while amateur sleuth Stefano searches for present clues, he is uncovering important past ones (relating to the girl's death years before) and vice versa. Even if Bido would have been unsuccessful in tying his themes to his location, like Pupi Avati in La casa dalle finestre che ridono, Bido's authentic location would have created its own atmosphere. It is that beautiful and powerful. In a wonderful, signature giallo sequence, Casini's Sandra is being followed through the city's narrow alleyways and covered walkways. The stalker's point of view is focal, shot perfectly with handheld camera work. The claustrophobic feeling is inherent in the tight framework while the location only makes it more uncomfortable by being so genuine. 
Bido admits tension is essential to a thriller, and if he were to shoot one, today, there would be certain scenes that he would not include. Bido cites his love scene between Sandra and Stefano as the type of sequence that he would exclude. That scene is quite lovely, actually, and quite welcomed. I would disagree with Bido that this is the type of scene which slows the film's tension. For example, why Dario Argento was so adept at creating gialli was because his characters were focal in driving the narrative. It was through the eyes of the amateur sleuth which led the viewer through the plot. Whatever deficiencies existed in the plot, they were often overcome by a very close and obsessive main character. What the main character sees is more important than what is shown. David Hemmings in Profondo rosso (1975), one of Argento's masterpieces, is a perfect example. When The Bloodstained Shadow is away from Stefano and scenes are shown to further the plot (to give clues to the viewer), the tension is lessened. However, this is a minor quibble and may be an inherent flaw in plot-driven (or even mystery) cinema. Or it could be that Capolicchio and especially Casini are so very likable and watchable, their performances carry the film on equal footing with the narrative.
As in any good giallo, the real relish is reserved for the murder sequences. These are the most memorable scenes of many gialli, and The Bloodstained Shadow does not disappoint. Bido admits "Argento was his teacher," and like Argento, there is a real dedication to the subtlety of an elaborate killing. Hiding the killer's identity is essential in the scene, and the creative fun comes from quick shots of black gloves lovingly gripping a knife or some black shoes walking in the same rhythm of its victim. Frequently, all the meticulous small shots come together in an over-the-top, excessive killing crescendo. In gialli, murder is an orchestra.
The Bloodstained Shadow is stylish and, above all, smart. I originally purchased the DVD as part of the Anchor Bay Entertainment 
A writer also shares the floor with Sun-yeong and Yong-hyun and whatever novel he is writing is based upon events which occurred in their apartment building. Yong-hyun's apartment, number 504, houses some dark secrets.
Yong-hyun takes Sun-yeong on a trip to an abandoned village early in their relationship where Yong-hyun likes to visit often when he's alone. Yong-hyun is initially depicted in Sorum as a little weird and a loner. He has a real fondness for spontaneously imitating Bruce Lee's animated facial expressions, fight poses, and battle cries. He also has a pet mouse of which he is quite fond. "What is so great about him," Yong-hyun tells Sun-yeong about the mouse, "is that I can leave him alone for a week and he survives." At the village, he attempts a high kick, Bruce Lee- style for Sun-yeong's entertainment. He slips, and she doesn't laugh. She walks over and tells him to stand still and ties his shoe laces. This act by Sun-yeong may be the catalyst for their subsequent intense relationship.
So what do these two lovers talk about when they talk about love? While Yun likes to depict his two lovers in various scenarios (which speak louder than their dialogue), when Sun-yeong and Yong-hyun do speak, they talk about tragedy. In a moment of vulnerability, Yong-hyun shares with Sun-yeong perhaps his biggest secret and the one past event which has shaped him the most. As they begin to open up to each other over the course of their relationship, the secrets between the two become revealed. Sun-yeong has a very tragic secret, about which Yong-hyun questions her uncomfortably; and Yong-hyun admits to some very dark and sinister behavior. 
While the Korean setting and culture may be alien to outsiders, nearly every viewer who has ever lived in a metropolitan area can relate to a Sun-yeong or Yong-hyun. Jong-chan Yun in Sorum is presenting two characters, like the convenience store night clerk and taxi driver, who all metro dwellers have encountered. They are representative characters of the myriad people met in fleeting interactions yet often, like most people, have complex lives and experience-filled pasts. In other words, there is a concrete reason(s) why the pretty night clerk is sad and there is a concrete reason(s) why the kooky taxi driver is kind of weird.
The final act of Jong-chan Yun's Sorum is its most affecting. It begins very unassuming as Yong-hyun asks Sun-yeong for a day trip, as the two both have the day off. It begins with their dinner and goes well into the night to end the film. The richly-filled background idea of determinism comes to the forefront of the film as the credits roll. Jong-chan Yun has directed few films since. Sadly, Jin-Young Jang died in 
Crevenna seems to have a tough gig in front of him with Santo contra la magia negra. According to the final frame of the film where FIN appears, it is a co-production between Mexico and Haiti, shot on location in the latter. A huge, festive carnival was happening in the city, and obviously Crevenna and crew believed it would make an excellent backdrop for the film. Unfortunately, a lot of the festival footage is shot for coverage. Likewise, there are numerous dancing sequences, over which Bellamira presides before executing her voodoo magic, and these sequences are also shot for coverage. Finally, when Santo takes on a group of reanimated corpses, not Romero's gut-munchers but corpses-cum-puppets under Bellamira's voodoo strings, these sequences are also shot for coverage. By coverage it is to mean that it appears Crevenna shot everything wide, and more often than not also static, with the film becoming wholly uninteresting on a visual level. Santo contra la magia negra is like a cracked mirror, appearing documentary-like instead of Dogme. The contrived, dramatic scenes appear more artificial when offset by the coverage footage. As Crevenna could rarely manipulate the film's on-screen action, he is left with what is given to him...save when he films Montenegro's Bellamira.
Cardona's film does shine, perhaps in reflection, by creating a film where Santo is almost wholly ineffectual. When Prince Nonoc's mummy does rise, it begins systematic killing of everyone. Santo is a spectator instead of a bodyguard, as he mostly runs in on corpses while other on-lookers debate as to whether a mummy could have committed the crime. Interestingly, this plot shows our hero as more human, and there are two interesting scenes which emphasize this. The local guide's grandson, who accompanied the crew, is orphaned after the mummy kills the guide. The boy is crying alone, and Santo consoles him while also teaching him what it means to be a man. Likewise, during all the commotion, not knowing if they would live or die, Santo has to take a moment to express his burgeoning love to Susana (Mary Montiel), a photographer and journalist. Susana is touched by the gesture and feels the same. Both are seen ringside at the end of the film cheering on Santo in his wrestling match...only after they escape from the jungle, having buried almost everyone. 
Sasha Montenegro, as Bellamira, in Santo contra la magia negra has hypnotic beauty. When her character is described as having a profound influence over the country's populace, beyond her supernatural powers, it is believable. Crevenna's continued static shooting when it is of Montenegro gives the voodoo queen an angelic and reverent air. When she enters frame, regardless of the frame's other inhabitants, Montenegro's Bellamira becomes focal. She radiates charisma. Santo contra la magia negra should have dumped its perfunctory plot and become more minimal. As in Crevenna's later Santo y el aguila real (1973) with Santo and Irma Serrano, he should have focused almost solely on Montenegro and Santo and built the film around them. Montegro's Bellamira and Santo do have an understated final confrontation over a basket of poisonous snakes.
Cinema's greatest superhero, El Santo, Enmascardo de Plata, the mutitude's hero, is cool. Although I did not appreciate Cardona dropping a seemingly sedated panther on Santo's head in Santo en la venganza de la momia, so Santo could roll on the ground with it in mock battle. He picks the animal up by the throat and throws it. The panther deserves a rematch. I never tire from watching a Santo wrestling match within a film and I cannot immediately think of one where it is absent. How amazing it must have been in Santo's heyday to go and watch him wrestle in a large arena and then on the weekend watch Santo battle bigger-than-life, supernatural foes on the big screen. Watching the crowd carry Santo on their shoulders or hearing the crowd shout his name in the arena is emotional. While neither Santo en la venganza de la momia nor Santo contra la magia negra is great cinema, El Santo is still cinema's greatest superhero. 
