As far as movies featuring Santo the masked Mexican wrestler/superhero are concerned, I thought this one was fair enough, and it's far from the worst in this very long-running series. Here, a professor enlists the aid of Santo in exploring the ancient tomb of an Indian warrior named Nanoc. What qualifies the world famous champion to join such an expedition makes no sense to me, but we're watching a Santo film, after all, so I guess it doesn't really matter. Santo travels to the jungle (man, doesn't he ever get hot sporting that ever-present mask?), with a small entourage, one of these rocket scientist's being a really irritating "funnyman" scientist who tries without much luck to add comic relief. Once entering the forsaken tomb, all sorts of killings start to occur every now and then by the mummified corpse of Nanoc who's apparently up and alive, shooting a bow and arrow through his victims. The production values for this type of thing aren't too bad, though the ending feels a bit of a letdown. ** out of ****
9 Reviews
Santo Mummy Vengeance - brief
user-142-63262529 October 2014
Warning: Spoilers
An ancient tomb is discovered deep in the Mexican jungle and a expedition team is assembled. Professors, overseers, chef, porters, camera girl, secretary, and a masked wrestler. You never know when you might need those luche libra skills, and need them bad. Warning outside the crypt: Do not enter lest the curse --- Of course they enter. Then on the Olmec mummy: Do not touch the sacred necklace or --- They remove the necklace. Deaths follow soon and often, as the mummy proves adept with bow and arrow. Plot races by, and the mummy back story has stock footage of an uncredited Aztec movie. Lengthy wrestling matches in Mexico City Arena bookend the film.
My very first movie starring El Santo!
Laserdome-AMH23 September 2003
Famous Mexican wrestling hero Santo takes part in an expedition which leads him and his friends to the tomb of Opache prince Nonoc, who has been buried alive because he wanted to escape with a maiden who was destined to be sacrificed to a god named Xucul. It doesn't take long time until the expedition members start dying one by one... Has the mummy come back to life?
This was my first time to experience a movie starring legendary Mexican superhero, Santo El Enmascarado De Plata. Having heard so much about him, I wondered what to expect. It's an entertaining film with surprisingly decent production values and make-up - however, as a big fan of supernatural horror movies, I was a bit disappointed in the ending. Still, it was fun to watch and I'm looking forward to see more of Santo. He himself was very cool in this one.
This was my first time to experience a movie starring legendary Mexican superhero, Santo El Enmascarado De Plata. Having heard so much about him, I wondered what to expect. It's an entertaining film with surprisingly decent production values and make-up - however, as a big fan of supernatural horror movies, I was a bit disappointed in the ending. Still, it was fun to watch and I'm looking forward to see more of Santo. He himself was very cool in this one.
Not a remake of "The Mummy" after all!
JohnHowardReid8 December 2006
Warning: Spoilers
To my mind, prolific but very competent director René Cardona made two minor mistakes with this entry. I found his variation on the zip pan (the camera buzzes into colored beads or baubles) distracting and I thought he gave away the plot far too early (halfway through to be reasonably exact). But it seems I was mistaken in this latter belief for nobody else seems to have noticed the particular close-up concerned (which is held for at least five or six seconds). I've just read a scad of reviews in which all the writers expressed surprise at the way the story is worked out. Presumably, all were too frightened or in such a state of shock, they failed to notice the giveaway details Cardona deliberately chose to reveal in the particular angle he selected for this camera set-up. And I will certainly agree that Cardona does keep the plot moving at such a fast clip that even in possession of the director's giveaway information, you really don't have time to work out the complete aspects of the resolution before it actually happens on the screen.
Another thing that didn't grab my wholehearted enthusiasm were the boring wrestling bouts with which the main story was enclosed. Scrupulously choreographed though they were, it's easy to see how punches were pulled by undercranking the camera to speed up the action and then adding a loud soundtrack from the effects library.
Once we delved into the story proper, however, my interest perked up considerably. Mind you, despite his silver mask, I found Santo himself to be an indifferent performer. Fortunately, in his capacity as co-producer, he does allow the other players a fair share of the running. The charismatic Eric del Castillo really impresses as the helpful engineer, the two girls are attractive, and (despite criticism from a number of fans) I really enjoyed the comic relief provided by Carlos Ancira as an absent-minded professor.
However, to my mind, the player who actually walks away with the picture's acting honors figures right down at the bottom of the official cast list: Amado Zumaya brings a great deal of dignity to the role of the reluctant guide and translator. The scene in which he reads from the scroll is one of the most telling in the whole picture.
As usual, production values are top drawer. Carrion's outstandingly atmospheric music score, however, deserves a special commendation.
Another thing that didn't grab my wholehearted enthusiasm were the boring wrestling bouts with which the main story was enclosed. Scrupulously choreographed though they were, it's easy to see how punches were pulled by undercranking the camera to speed up the action and then adding a loud soundtrack from the effects library.
Once we delved into the story proper, however, my interest perked up considerably. Mind you, despite his silver mask, I found Santo himself to be an indifferent performer. Fortunately, in his capacity as co-producer, he does allow the other players a fair share of the running. The charismatic Eric del Castillo really impresses as the helpful engineer, the two girls are attractive, and (despite criticism from a number of fans) I really enjoyed the comic relief provided by Carlos Ancira as an absent-minded professor.
However, to my mind, the player who actually walks away with the picture's acting honors figures right down at the bottom of the official cast list: Amado Zumaya brings a great deal of dignity to the role of the reluctant guide and translator. The scene in which he reads from the scroll is one of the most telling in the whole picture.
As usual, production values are top drawer. Carrion's outstandingly atmospheric music score, however, deserves a special commendation.
Santo and son...
poe4269 August 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Santo and his tag-team partner win two out of three falls and then it's off to the jungle with a party of scientists in search of an ancient tomb. The local villagers, of course, think that Santo and Company are mucho loco en de cabasas, but that never stopped Santo nor any of his scientist friends before... En route to the aforementioned final resting place, Santo tussles with a (very young) black panther, tossing the child around like a bean bag. They finally find the mummified body of "Nonoc, the great Opache prince," and in a flashback that incorporates a couple of nice stock shots from another movie, we learn of his fate (which parallels that of another Mexican horror star, THE AZTEC MUMMY). Before long, the mummy is wreaking havoc on the group. "Fear is a bitch," the stalwart overseer tells Santo- just before he gets killed. The extended tussle between Santo and the mummy is good and there's a bit of a twist ending. Also notable is the fact that the boy is actually Santo's real-life son. Not bad.
Entertaining Mexican masked-wrestler horror effort
kannibalcorpsegrinder29 October 2012
After a friend makes a special discovery, a masked wrestler is brought along by friends on a journey to recover a mummy's petrified remains, but the party's presence awakens the creature from its slumber and forces him to protect them from the creatures plans as it rampages through the group.
This one falls just short of the best of the masked wrestler movies from Mexico but still has a lot of enjoyment on hand. Among the film's strongest features is that it moves along at a nice enough pace to not be boring, providing plenty of fun moments here. The flashback to the original mummified figure stealing the girl and being chased by the imperial soldiers through the woods and then showing their capture and eventual sacrificial rites allows for some a strong start by giving this a real localized flavor. As well, the mummy's rampage on the villagers is quite fun with it using a bow and arrow to silently strike before resorting to more traditional hand-to-hand measures to strike everyone it can. Their eventual search for the missing individuals once they realize what's going on has some fun to it and once the mummy is released the frequent battling between the two is highly enjoyable and entertaining. On top of that, there's enough care in the rest of the film to stand out. The atmosphere here is a big part of that, with their digging through the catacombs adds a real sense of the underground filled with falling rocks and dirt before getting to the grand burial tomb which is pure Gothic splendor and feels like an elaborate ceremonial room. The camp where all the stalking of the villagers goes down is pretty decently used for setting up some suspenseful moments where the figure emerges from the darkness to terrorize the helpers on the expedition. Several of the nighttime encounters in the jungle offer some suspenseful stalking here, from an encounter with the mummy inside a corridor in the cave to the later wrestling matches that take place which adds atmospheric action to the mix. Along with the great look of the mummy costume that's effectively tattered rags and dried-out skin, there's enough to like to hold this one up. There are some minor problems with this one. Among the biggest issues is the build-up to the mummy's release in the party taking way too long to get to the tomb, as the Adventure Film surroundings seem like time-padding and only there to feature the titular hero wrestling with animals that threaten the group. This could've been trimmed down somewhat to allow an explanation for why he's even there in the first place which is never brought up and makes no mention of why they even need him specifically even though he does prove his worth eventually. As well, this one changes his behavior around pretty drastically to where the virtuous hero is now talking down to the villagers and dismissing their mummy claims as pure superstitious which is completely out of his character to not be supportive of his heritage. The twist ending is a little hard-to-follow in terms of adhering to storyline continuity, but beyond that, there's a lot to like as it's pretty solid.
Rated Unrated/R: Violence and Language.
This one falls just short of the best of the masked wrestler movies from Mexico but still has a lot of enjoyment on hand. Among the film's strongest features is that it moves along at a nice enough pace to not be boring, providing plenty of fun moments here. The flashback to the original mummified figure stealing the girl and being chased by the imperial soldiers through the woods and then showing their capture and eventual sacrificial rites allows for some a strong start by giving this a real localized flavor. As well, the mummy's rampage on the villagers is quite fun with it using a bow and arrow to silently strike before resorting to more traditional hand-to-hand measures to strike everyone it can. Their eventual search for the missing individuals once they realize what's going on has some fun to it and once the mummy is released the frequent battling between the two is highly enjoyable and entertaining. On top of that, there's enough care in the rest of the film to stand out. The atmosphere here is a big part of that, with their digging through the catacombs adds a real sense of the underground filled with falling rocks and dirt before getting to the grand burial tomb which is pure Gothic splendor and feels like an elaborate ceremonial room. The camp where all the stalking of the villagers goes down is pretty decently used for setting up some suspenseful moments where the figure emerges from the darkness to terrorize the helpers on the expedition. Several of the nighttime encounters in the jungle offer some suspenseful stalking here, from an encounter with the mummy inside a corridor in the cave to the later wrestling matches that take place which adds atmospheric action to the mix. Along with the great look of the mummy costume that's effectively tattered rags and dried-out skin, there's enough to like to hold this one up. There are some minor problems with this one. Among the biggest issues is the build-up to the mummy's release in the party taking way too long to get to the tomb, as the Adventure Film surroundings seem like time-padding and only there to feature the titular hero wrestling with animals that threaten the group. This could've been trimmed down somewhat to allow an explanation for why he's even there in the first place which is never brought up and makes no mention of why they even need him specifically even though he does prove his worth eventually. As well, this one changes his behavior around pretty drastically to where the virtuous hero is now talking down to the villagers and dismissing their mummy claims as pure superstitious which is completely out of his character to not be supportive of his heritage. The twist ending is a little hard-to-follow in terms of adhering to storyline continuity, but beyond that, there's a lot to like as it's pretty solid.
Rated Unrated/R: Violence and Language.
Santo vs. a mummy
BandSAboutMovies10 July 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Only in a Santo movie can you find a masked wrestler go from a match in Arena Mexico to being part of Professor Romero's journey to explore some ancient ruins. Yes, imagine you are a famous learned man and you say, "My mummy expedition needs a chef, a doddering professor, a manly hunter, his grandson Agapito (shh...that's El Hijo del Santo without his mask) for comic relief, two attractive ladies and oh yeah - Santo."
The professor is looking for the body of Nonoca, an Apache prince who had a forbidden affair with the intended sacrifice Lua, making her impure before she is killed for the gods. Both are killed and mummified and the Universal Monster gods are pleased. Like morons, the archaeological party ignores the curse and takes the necklace off the mummy and this soon becomes a slasher as the back from the dead Nonoca shoots nearly everyone with arrows, but only after Santo has a match against a panther.
Within this movie, someone states that fear is a bitch and Santo tells the grieving Agapito that men don't cry. He also dresses in a safari outfit when it's blazing hot out and never takes off his mask and wears a belt over his safari shirt. I would honestly kill a human being if Santo asked me to.
Santo's battle against the mummified form of Nonoca was his 31st movie, directed by the dependable René Cardona Sr. Who made one of the best Santo movies, Santo en el Tesoro de Drácula.
There's a twist ending and I'm fine with it, as sometimes the supernatural exists in Santo's world and sometimes it doesn't. No matter what, Santo gets back to Arena Mexico and back to tapping out rudos like Goliat Ayala with his La de a Caballo.
An interesting note: Santo's tag partner in the opening match against Gori Casanova (who lost his hair twice to El Enmascarado de Plata) and Dik Angelo (who lost his mask to Santo), El Rebelde, did many of his stunts in 17 films. He would go on to lose his mask to Ultraman and achieve even greater fame as Charles Bronson Mexicano due to, you guessed it, his resemblance to Charles Bronson.
The professor is looking for the body of Nonoca, an Apache prince who had a forbidden affair with the intended sacrifice Lua, making her impure before she is killed for the gods. Both are killed and mummified and the Universal Monster gods are pleased. Like morons, the archaeological party ignores the curse and takes the necklace off the mummy and this soon becomes a slasher as the back from the dead Nonoca shoots nearly everyone with arrows, but only after Santo has a match against a panther.
Within this movie, someone states that fear is a bitch and Santo tells the grieving Agapito that men don't cry. He also dresses in a safari outfit when it's blazing hot out and never takes off his mask and wears a belt over his safari shirt. I would honestly kill a human being if Santo asked me to.
Santo's battle against the mummified form of Nonoca was his 31st movie, directed by the dependable René Cardona Sr. Who made one of the best Santo movies, Santo en el Tesoro de Drácula.
There's a twist ending and I'm fine with it, as sometimes the supernatural exists in Santo's world and sometimes it doesn't. No matter what, Santo gets back to Arena Mexico and back to tapping out rudos like Goliat Ayala with his La de a Caballo.
An interesting note: Santo's tag partner in the opening match against Gori Casanova (who lost his hair twice to El Enmascarado de Plata) and Dik Angelo (who lost his mask to Santo), El Rebelde, did many of his stunts in 17 films. He would go on to lose his mask to Ultraman and achieve even greater fame as Charles Bronson Mexicano due to, you guessed it, his resemblance to Charles Bronson.
A mummy stalks Santo and an expedition into ancient ruins
kikaidar8 June 2000
Bouyed by interesting pink and green advertising art which shows a close-up f the mummy's distorted face and a color insert of Santo fending off the monster with a blazing torch, this promises to be an exciting lucha title. While mummies had been heavily used in Mexican cinema (and, in fact, Santo faced them in another outing), the ad art on this film suggested a decent budget and an ambitious presentation. The mummy mask/make-up was also worlds above the job done on the Aztec mummy, being both unsettling and actually a bit alarming.
While the film is good, it's inexplicably one of the few Santo features which pulls its punch. Considering the wild excesses of the lucha film genre, the twist ending, which does anything but satisfy, makes little or no sense.
Santo is enlisted for Professor Romero's (Caesar del Campo) expedition to the lost tomb of Nonoc, an Aztec warrior. As usual, this is a cursed tomb and the dead warrior had been entombed and cursed for loving a maiden designated for the gods' use. This aspect is scarcely new, having already been covered in the Aztec Mummy series and other genre films.
The expedition also includes an old native guide (Amada Zumaya)and his grandson, two girls, and hunter Sergio (Eric del Castillo).
Arriving at the tomb, they find a scroll which explains that, by entering, they are now officially cursed. Nobody attaches much importance to this announcement, which is a mistake. Shortly thereafter, the party is being stalked and killed off by the avenging mummy -- or so it seems.
A decent adventure flick. Worth the watching.
While the film is good, it's inexplicably one of the few Santo features which pulls its punch. Considering the wild excesses of the lucha film genre, the twist ending, which does anything but satisfy, makes little or no sense.
Santo is enlisted for Professor Romero's (Caesar del Campo) expedition to the lost tomb of Nonoc, an Aztec warrior. As usual, this is a cursed tomb and the dead warrior had been entombed and cursed for loving a maiden designated for the gods' use. This aspect is scarcely new, having already been covered in the Aztec Mummy series and other genre films.
The expedition also includes an old native guide (Amada Zumaya)and his grandson, two girls, and hunter Sergio (Eric del Castillo).
Arriving at the tomb, they find a scroll which explains that, by entering, they are now officially cursed. Nobody attaches much importance to this announcement, which is a mistake. Shortly thereafter, the party is being stalked and killed off by the avenging mummy -- or so it seems.
A decent adventure flick. Worth the watching.
Santo and friends battle a mummy hell bent on revenge.
Infofreak11 April 2004
'Santo In The Vengeance Of The Mummy' is bookended by sequences of Santo, the silver masked wrestler turned crime fighter, wrestling opponents in front of a large and enthusiastic audience. However the movie is mainly concerned with an expedition led by Santo's friend Professor Romero. Romero wishes to explore the tomb of long dead Indian warrior Nonoc which is hidden deep in the jungle. Despite warnings that there is a curse on anyone who disturbs Nonoc's remains Romero doesn't hesitate in his quest for knowledge. Romero's crew includes his secretary, an eccentric fellow scientist Professor Jiminez (responsible for lots of lousy "comedy"), Sergio an engineer, a female photographer (love interest for Santo) and a local Indian guide and his young grandson Jorgito, who becomes Santo's protege (and is in fact played by Santo's real life son who subsequently took over the long running franchise after his father's death). Romero and Santo become baffled when their colleagues are picked off one by one, seemingly the victims of a resurrected Nonoc. I can't say I enjoyed this as much as 'Santo And Dracula's Treasure' but it was still reasonably entertaining, despite an unconvincing surprise ending. Santo is very cool and macho, and the movie has quite decent production values. Not great, but fun.
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