Week 34: Santo en Misión suicida (Santo in Suicide Mission, 1971)

       So another week, another unremarkable Santo movie. Sorry to reveal that so early in the review, but its true. This one, while not terrible, just isn't all that great, or even memorable. It's a damned shame too, as this time out, Santo clashes with escaped Nazi war criminals. It's an interesting subject for something as outlandish as the Santo movies to tackle. Unfortunately, there's no real attempt to do it with any finesse or style.

Santo trying to get the Spice channel.

     One of the more infamous Nazis to escape to South America was Josef Menegal, and one of the Nazi bad guys in this movie is obviously modeled after him. He's a scientist who was tasked with developing mind control program by the fuhrer. What sucks is that this guy is captured by another group of Nazis, who've become third rate bond villains. They want his mind control programs for their sleeper agents, but first they need to get him radical plastic surgery, to conceal him from Interpol. 

30 years BEFORE Inglourious Basterds!

     This is where Santo gets involved. Apparently these guys need the best plastic surgeon in the whole world to do this face job for them, so they kidnap him and his daughter. Santo agrees, reluctantly, to help Interpol retrieve this surgeon, and thwart this group's plans. It's interesting to see Santo, now older, vocalize a weariness in his dealings with Interpol. Too bad its never really explored beyond that. Santo being tired of doing the dirty work for these guys would be something interesting to see at this point in the Santo saga. 

Gun totin' bikini babes.

The whole movie just also feels sorta....cheap. A lot of action sequences are doing with quick cuts, to mask a scene being shot on a set and on location, with the actors never actually interacting. My guess is that the budget must've gone to pay for Santo's new ride, a sweet black Stingray corvette! Driving his busted old white convertible is his co-star, Agent Pisces, played by Lorena Velazquez. She also starred in two previous Santo films, Santo vs. the Vampire Women and Witches Attack, as Santo's main antagonist in each respective film. 

The phoniest movie shark, probably ever...

   Suicide Mission ends up being a movie filled with missed opportunities. Interesting ideas are put forth, but never really explored.  There are scantily clad assassins, super fake looking sharks, Nazi scumbags, and secret agent intrigue, but none of it ever really comes together to make something really entertaining. 

Enjoyment.

Two silver masks out of a possible five.

Fun Fact: There's actually a large immigrant population from Germany in South America, hence why a lot of Nazi war criminals felt safe in seeking asylum in various South American countries.