Review: Samson vs. the Vampire Women (1961)

In the late '50s and early '60s, American producer K. Gordon Murray imported, dubbed and re-edited numerous horror films from Mexico, some of which feature a popular wrestler named El Santo ("The Saint"). El Santo's face was never seen, hidden beneath a silver mask, and he had (and has) an enormous cult following, with many appearances on TV and in movies and comic books. For the American market, though, El Santo was renamed Samson (even though, in one scene at a wrestling ring, the crowd can clearly be heard chanting "SANTO! SANTO! SANTO!").

In this movie, El Santo...er, Samson fights against the stunningly beautiful vampire women, whose queen is seeking a successor in the daughter of a professor. The professor dials up his videophone(!) and tries to call Samson, but our hero isn't working in his crime lab (professional wrestlers have crime labs?), so the professor leaves a message. Yes, Samson has an answering machine. (Wonder what his message is like..."Hello. You have reached the Samson residence. I'm out fighting crime right now, but if you leave your name and number and state the nature of your emergency at the sound of the beep, I'll get back to you as I can. Thank you and have a pleasant day.") Samson shows up later to confer with the professor, then goes off to battle the vampire women, who have resurrected some hunky male vampires for Samson to tangle with. (Who knew half-nelsons were so effective against the living dead?)

One of the male vampires takes the place of Samson's opponent at the evening wrestling match and proceeds to kick our hero's ass. The vampire/wrestler even tries to tear Samson's mask off! The fiend! When the vampire/wrestler's own mask is finally removed, he's turned into a werewolf! The crowd runs in terror and, when they can't get out one way, they run in the opposite direction! When the werewolf is surrounded by Samson and the police, he turns into a bat! (I'm using way the hell too many exclamation points, aren't I?)

Of course, Samson triumphs in the end, burning the vampire women (and men) before driving off in his silver sports car (to match his mask and cape?), only to return to fight evil again another day. Like most Mexican horror films of the period, this one looks like a Universal picture from the '40s, with nice gothic sets, decent cinematography and respectable model work. But the sheer craziness of the plot is overwhelming, and the dubbed voices (most of whom sound like radio announcers) add to the hilarity.

All in all, Samson vs. the Vampire Women is wild fun, as are most of the El Santo movies, many of which are now available on DVD--some in their original language and widescreen!