Samson vs. the Vampire Women (1962)

- Santo vs. las mujeres vampiro
A big, heaping serving of cheese, 22 May 2006

I've only seen a handful of the Santo films, but Samson vs. the Vampire Women is so far my favorite. It's a cheese-filled extravaganza. The state of Wisconsin is jealous of the amount of cheese on display in this movie. What do you expect when you mix Santo, the masked Mexican wrestler, with a bevy of beautiful vampires? I don't know about you, but I expect pure, delicious cheese.

Going through a plot summary or analyzing the positives and negatives seems a bit silly with a movie like Samson vs. the Vampire Women. Instead, I'll try to hit on some of the more fun, but bizarre, moments from the movie:

1. Even though he's called Samson by everyone in the movie and the title lists him as Samson, someone forgot to tell the crowd at the wrestling arena who seem overly exuberant in chanting "Santo!"

2. Apparently, Santo has a closed circuit television camera mounted to the front of his impossibly small sports car.

3. You simply must watch the dubbed version. The dubbing is so bad that it adds a whole other dimension to the movie.

4. Mexican vampire women are the hottest.

5. Santo has an uncanny knack of showing up just after the person he's protecting has been kidnapped. Why not just stay put and be there when the bad guys make their move?

6. Why does Professor Orlof ask the police for their help throughout the movie? They seem to be incapable of even the most routine of police activities.

7. Don't feel bad about fast forwarding through the incredibly long and dull wrestling matches. It makes watching Santo that much more enjoyable.

8. It's odd that Santo can do battle with three vampire goons and come out on top, yet when going one-on-one in a wrestling ring, he gets the snot beat out of him.

There are more, but you get the idea. Watching Santo is best done with an open mind and the notion that nothing is to be taken seriously. If you do this, you're bound to have a good time with Samson vs. the Vampire Women.

6/10