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Rather
than tangling with mad scientists and/or classic
movie monsters like Dracula and the Wolf Man,
this time Mexican superhero El Santo goes up against
a creature lifted from the traditions of his native
country's folklore. He's also teamed with an unusual
partner —
José "Mantequilla" Nápoles, a real-life
Cuban boxer who was apparently quite popular in
Latin America during the 1970s.
Santo is contacted by a respected expert on
Mexico's folk legends, Prof. Lira (Alfonso Castana).
The academician seeks Santo's help in opening
the secret tomb of a disgraced noblewoman, Doña
Eugenia Esparza, who died nearly 300 years ago.
As Lira explains it, Eugenia made a pact with
Lucifer in order to get revenge on the man who
dumped her for another woman. She poisoned the
sons she bore him, and then herself, with a deadly
potion given to her by Satan's emissary. Before
killing her children and committing suicide, however,
Doña Eugenia stole the gold doubloons her
lover, the king's colonial treasurer, was readying
for transport back to Spain. (She hoped to frame
him for the theft.) A medallion buried with her
corpse is said to contain a map to the hidden
treasure.
At first the virtuous
Santo balks at the plan. He's disgusted at the
idea of graverobbing and could care less about
the gold. But when Lira tells him that the entire
fortune will be turned over to the national health
care fund for children, Santo changes his mind.
The professor goes on to explain that his goal
is not entirely altruistic... Since Eugenia's
lover was pardoned by the crown and went on to
sire more children, her ghost has periodically
risen from the grave to strangle the first-born
son of each generation of his offspring. Whenever
her spirit walks the earth it wails in grief over
the children she herself murdered —
thus the legend of La Llorona, the "Crying
Woman." The professor is himself a descendant
of this cursed family. His oldest son was killed
by the vengeful phantom and now he fears for the
life of his grandson Carlitos. The only way the
curse can be broken is if the stolen gold is recovered
and used for charity. El Santo agrees to help
in any way he can... though oddly, given all the
monsters, demons and witches he's battled in a
score of movies, he actually expresses disbelief
in the supernatural!
The silver-masked luchador
asks his pal, pro boxer Nápoles, if he'd like
to tag along on the expedition to the tomb. They
escort the prof to a cave out in the sticks —
in the middle of the night, of course — in which
lies the coffin of Doña Eugenia Esparza,
unaware that a gang of hoods waits nearby in ambush,
sent by a mobster who wants to get his hands on
the treasure map. The medallion secured, the trio
moves to depart the cave when Mantequilla swears
he saw the mummified corpse move...
The usual Santo shtick is on display here
— ridiculous story, laughable production values
(you'll only know it's nighttime because cars
use their headlamps and characters carry flashlights;
otherwise it looks like noon), long, frequent
fight scenes, cornball dialog, a couple of pointless
wrestling matches (a boxing match for Mantequilla
is thrown in as well), and a very goofy monster.
Santo's real-life manager, Carlos Suarez, makes
his zillionth appearance in a luchador
flick as a bald, scar-faced henchman who looks
like G. Gordon Liddy. In the case of Vengeance
of the Crying Woman you can add to the
mix a couple of irritating child actors (one is
dubbed by an adult speaking in a squeaky, high-pitched
voice) and a mucho bizarro music score.
Though the film doesn't reach the giddy heights
of other Santo vs. Monster movies, fans of the
masked hero and his cheesy adventures will be
entertained. The film's weak point is Nápoles,
who just doesn't make a very good partner for
Santo. (Where's Blue Demon when you need him?)
The pugilist can't act a lick and throws more
than a few obvious air punches in the brawling
scenes. (As a boxer, perhaps he feared he might
actually connect and really K.O. a stuntman.)
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