Beyond Naschy #18 - SANTO VS DOCTOR DEATH (1973)

This episode of Beyond Naschy has us coloring outside the lines in a couple of different ways. We are covering a Mexican wrestling film starring the magnificent El Santo which puts us well outside of our usual area of expertise. So, to add some well needed context and background, we called up our buddy Juan from the Creepy Swamps to help us understand the world of Santo and his amazing career. If you have ever listened to the excellent B-Moviecast show you will be aware of Juan and his deep knowledge of cinema. His lifelong fascination with horror and science fiction movies has made him a great resource for information on classic (and not so classic) b-flicks and we are thrilled he agreed to join us for this discussion. We talk about SANTO VS DOCTOR DEATH as well as El Santo comic books and I even get him to list his favorite movies from the great masked wrestler's career. Then. of course, Troy and I put the film under the microscope and marvel at its high quality. Filmed mostly in Spain it stars several Spanish actors familiar to fans of Paul Naschy. In fact, this movie feels a lot more like a Euro-Spy film than a typical Santo adventure but it fits comfortably in both worlds. We talk about the great secret life Santo has as a freelance Interpol agent, the joys of Mexican style wrestling, the ability to fly on commercial aircraft wearing a mask, what accommodations you can expect when you buy a castle and just how far some people will go to own art. Both of us were impressed with the well choreographed fight scenes throughout the film and any movie that ends with a combination boat/helicopter chase is obviously a classic! Be aware that we spoil the entire film so if that is something you wish to avoid you might want to stop the show at about the two hour mark. Sadly, that means you will miss the mailbag section which is packed with some great information regarding our last three shows. And if you have any information for us the email address is naschycast@gmail.com or you can find us over on the Facebook page. If you subscribe through iTunes please consider rating and reviewing the show over there. Thanks for downloading and listening!