As far as swan songs go, one would've liked to have seen the venerable Santo (and Company) go out with a bit more class- but it was not to be. Although Santo himself would go on to appear in nearly half a dozen more movies, MYSTERY IN BERMUDA goes a long (long) way toward closing the book on the career of the silver-masked man. Blue Demon and Mil Mascaras are also along for the (downhill) ride (into oblivion), but the trio combined couldn't possibly hope to save this one: the filmmakers were determined, it seems, to do away not only with our heroes but the entire Lucha Libre genre as well. Everything goes up in a radioactive mushroom cloud at film's end- but the most arresting scene of all (at least for Santo fans like myself) comes near the very beginning when the famous silver mask is fished out of the ocean. It's hard to imagine a more dramatic way to end a superhero's career.
8 Reviews
Run-of-the-mill but agreeable Mexican action/adventure with the tree famous heroes : Santo , Blue Demon and Mil Mascaras
ma-cortes20 December 2021
Mexican production about the three famous wrestlers and shot in Port Isabel, Texas, USA . The Bermudas Triangle disappearances are not the main issue of the movie at first . Instead , Santo, Blue Demon and Mil Máscaras are secret agents/wrestlers who have agreed to help protect a Karateka princess who is going incognito , the latter's attempted to be killed by a bunch of international criminals . She's a princess from Irania , a distant country whose king is trying to sign a nuclear treaty with Mexico, that's because nasty international killers are attempting to murder his daughter . Shot on natural locations i
A routine Santo movie and this time accompanied by Blue Demon and Mil Mascaras , packing noisy action , adventures , thrills , fights and a lot of wrestling at the usual scenarios with plenty of public . It is a simple and plain story that isn't too hard to follow , as our popular join forces to combat a band of killers and along the way saving the damsel in distress. Stars El Santo , Blue Demon and Mil Mascaras who face off a lot of villains while attempting to kill a princess . Standing out the ordinarily spectacular and usual combats among the hunk wrestlers and the most successful scenes were Santo , Blue Demon , Mil Mascaras against their contenders . The picture has little to do with the Bermudas Triangle . However , they aboard a ship along with the rescued princess and ending amongst the vanished boats within the Bermuda Triangle.
El Santo character is actually based on a true person : Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (1917 -1984), known profesionally as El Santo , he was a masked professional wrestler, actor and folk hero. In 1952, the artist and editor José Cruz started a Santo comic book, turning Santo into the first and foremost character in Mexican popular literature, his popularity only rivalled in the 1960s by the legendary Kalimán character. The Santo comic book series ran continuously for 35 years, ending in 1987. Also in 1952, a superhero motion picture serial was made entitled The Man in the Silver Mask, which was supposed to star Santo, but he declined to appear in it, because he thought it would fail commercially. The film was made instead with well-known luchador El Médico Asesino in the lead role, wearing a white mask similar to Santo's silver one. A villain named "The Silver-Masked Man" was introduced into the plot at the last minute, thus the title of the film strangely became a reference to the villain, not the hero. In 1958, Fernando Osés, a wrestler and actor, invited Santo to work in movies, and although Santo was unwilling to give up his wrestling career, he accepted, planning to do both at the same time. Oses was planning on playing the hero in these two films, with Santo appearing as his costumed sidekick, "El Enmascarado". Fernando Osés and Enrique Zambrano wrote the scripts for the first two movies, The Evil Brain and The Infernal Men (1958), and directed by Joselito Rodríguez. Filming was done in Cuba, and ended just the day before Fidel Castro entered Havana and declared the victory of the revolution. Santo played a masked superhero-type sidekick to the main hero (who was called El Incognito) in these two films, and was not the main character . The films apparently could not find a distributor for several years. Santo's film career really took off in 1961 with his third movie "Santo vs The Zombies." Santo was given the starring role with this film, and was shown for the first time as a professional wrestler moonlighting as a superhero. When Santo's film career took off in 1961, the producers of the first two films slyly entered Santo's name into the titles and finally got them released. Santo eventually wound up appearing in 52 lucha libre films in all . The style of the movies was essentially the same throughout the series, with Santo as a superhero fighting supernatural creatures, evil scientists, various criminals/ secret agents and so on. The tones were reminiscent of U. S. B-movies and TV shows, perhaps most similar to the old Republic Pictures serials of the 1940s. Many of the later films depicted Santo in simulated sex scenes during which he continued to wear the mask. His best-known movie outside of Mexico is also considered one of his best, 1962's Santo vs. The Vampire Women, which was also featured in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 .In this movie, the production values were better, and there was an attempt at creating more of a mythos and background for Santo, as the last of a long line of superheroes. It was an enormous success at the box office. Only four of the 52 Santo films were ever dubbed into English, the other 48 being only available in Spanish. The English-dubbed Mexican films of that time period were imported to the United States through the efforts of K. Gordon Murray who changed the name of Santo to "Samson" for some of his releases. Most of Murray's imported Mexi-films went directly to late-night American TV. Santo's most financially successful film was The Mummies of Guanajuato (1970), which co-starred Blue Demon and Mil Mascaras. The Santo film series inspired the production of similar series of movies starring other well-known luchadores such as Blue Demon, Mil Mascaras, Superzan, and the Wrestling Women , among others. Santo even co-starred with Blue Demon and Mil Mascaras in several of his movies. When Blue Demon invited Santo to co-star with him and Mil Mascaras in the "Champions of Justice" movie trilogy, however, Santo was too busy making other films to participate. By 1977, the masked wrestler film craze had practically died off, but Santo continued to appear in more films over the next few years. His last film was Fury of the Karate Experts, shot in Florida in 1982, the same year he retired from the ring. Seventeen years after Santo's death, his real-life son played the lead role in a brand new Santo movie called Infraterrestre (2001), which co-starred Mexican wrestler Blue Panther.
The motion picture was regularly directed by prolific director Gilberto Martinez Solares . He debuted as a cinematographer in Adiós Nicanor (1937) and as a director with El señor alcalde (1939) , and following : Los tres mosqueteros y medio (1957), Las Leandras (1961) ,El mundo del los muertos (1970) , Chanoc en el foso de las serpientes (1975) , Satanico Pandemonium: La Sexorcista (1975) . He has directed more than 140 films and has written approximately half that number . He has received a variety of awards , among them the "Festival of the Three Continents" in Nantes, France ; an award given at this festival for new directors bears his name , Prix Gilberto Martinez Solares .
A routine Santo movie and this time accompanied by Blue Demon and Mil Mascaras , packing noisy action , adventures , thrills , fights and a lot of wrestling at the usual scenarios with plenty of public . It is a simple and plain story that isn't too hard to follow , as our popular join forces to combat a band of killers and along the way saving the damsel in distress. Stars El Santo , Blue Demon and Mil Mascaras who face off a lot of villains while attempting to kill a princess . Standing out the ordinarily spectacular and usual combats among the hunk wrestlers and the most successful scenes were Santo , Blue Demon , Mil Mascaras against their contenders . The picture has little to do with the Bermudas Triangle . However , they aboard a ship along with the rescued princess and ending amongst the vanished boats within the Bermuda Triangle.
El Santo character is actually based on a true person : Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta (1917 -1984), known profesionally as El Santo , he was a masked professional wrestler, actor and folk hero. In 1952, the artist and editor José Cruz started a Santo comic book, turning Santo into the first and foremost character in Mexican popular literature, his popularity only rivalled in the 1960s by the legendary Kalimán character. The Santo comic book series ran continuously for 35 years, ending in 1987. Also in 1952, a superhero motion picture serial was made entitled The Man in the Silver Mask, which was supposed to star Santo, but he declined to appear in it, because he thought it would fail commercially. The film was made instead with well-known luchador El Médico Asesino in the lead role, wearing a white mask similar to Santo's silver one. A villain named "The Silver-Masked Man" was introduced into the plot at the last minute, thus the title of the film strangely became a reference to the villain, not the hero. In 1958, Fernando Osés, a wrestler and actor, invited Santo to work in movies, and although Santo was unwilling to give up his wrestling career, he accepted, planning to do both at the same time. Oses was planning on playing the hero in these two films, with Santo appearing as his costumed sidekick, "El Enmascarado". Fernando Osés and Enrique Zambrano wrote the scripts for the first two movies, The Evil Brain and The Infernal Men (1958), and directed by Joselito Rodríguez. Filming was done in Cuba, and ended just the day before Fidel Castro entered Havana and declared the victory of the revolution. Santo played a masked superhero-type sidekick to the main hero (who was called El Incognito) in these two films, and was not the main character . The films apparently could not find a distributor for several years. Santo's film career really took off in 1961 with his third movie "Santo vs The Zombies." Santo was given the starring role with this film, and was shown for the first time as a professional wrestler moonlighting as a superhero. When Santo's film career took off in 1961, the producers of the first two films slyly entered Santo's name into the titles and finally got them released. Santo eventually wound up appearing in 52 lucha libre films in all . The style of the movies was essentially the same throughout the series, with Santo as a superhero fighting supernatural creatures, evil scientists, various criminals/ secret agents and so on. The tones were reminiscent of U. S. B-movies and TV shows, perhaps most similar to the old Republic Pictures serials of the 1940s. Many of the later films depicted Santo in simulated sex scenes during which he continued to wear the mask. His best-known movie outside of Mexico is also considered one of his best, 1962's Santo vs. The Vampire Women, which was also featured in an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 .In this movie, the production values were better, and there was an attempt at creating more of a mythos and background for Santo, as the last of a long line of superheroes. It was an enormous success at the box office. Only four of the 52 Santo films were ever dubbed into English, the other 48 being only available in Spanish. The English-dubbed Mexican films of that time period were imported to the United States through the efforts of K. Gordon Murray who changed the name of Santo to "Samson" for some of his releases. Most of Murray's imported Mexi-films went directly to late-night American TV. Santo's most financially successful film was The Mummies of Guanajuato (1970), which co-starred Blue Demon and Mil Mascaras. The Santo film series inspired the production of similar series of movies starring other well-known luchadores such as Blue Demon, Mil Mascaras, Superzan, and the Wrestling Women , among others. Santo even co-starred with Blue Demon and Mil Mascaras in several of his movies. When Blue Demon invited Santo to co-star with him and Mil Mascaras in the "Champions of Justice" movie trilogy, however, Santo was too busy making other films to participate. By 1977, the masked wrestler film craze had practically died off, but Santo continued to appear in more films over the next few years. His last film was Fury of the Karate Experts, shot in Florida in 1982, the same year he retired from the ring. Seventeen years after Santo's death, his real-life son played the lead role in a brand new Santo movie called Infraterrestre (2001), which co-starred Mexican wrestler Blue Panther.
The motion picture was regularly directed by prolific director Gilberto Martinez Solares . He debuted as a cinematographer in Adiós Nicanor (1937) and as a director with El señor alcalde (1939) , and following : Los tres mosqueteros y medio (1957), Las Leandras (1961) ,El mundo del los muertos (1970) , Chanoc en el foso de las serpientes (1975) , Satanico Pandemonium: La Sexorcista (1975) . He has directed more than 140 films and has written approximately half that number . He has received a variety of awards , among them the "Festival of the Three Continents" in Nantes, France ; an award given at this festival for new directors bears his name , Prix Gilberto Martinez Solares .
Late adventure of the man in the mask of silver.
Mozjoukine24 September 2004
This late adventure of the Luchadores is pretty ropy. Our three masked wrestler heroes reminis about past triumphs while tacking the menace of the badly matching special effects which are bringing down jet liners in the Bermuda Triangle. There's a razor slashing heavy that gets into a rather nasty scene with the Persian princess and one of the cuties is abducted by space men in fuzzy silver suits. Throw in some turbaned Indians and Mil appearing without his mask (from the back).
Santo was letting the associates do all the heavy lifting by this time.
These films were among the work least hampered by ruled of logic or laws of physics and it's always disappointing when they come out like trashy B movies rather than flamboyant strip cartoon adventure.
Santo was letting the associates do all the heavy lifting by this time.
These films were among the work least hampered by ruled of logic or laws of physics and it's always disappointing when they come out like trashy B movies rather than flamboyant strip cartoon adventure.
I think this was written by drug-abusing chimps!
planktonrules14 June 2009
Warning: Spoilers
I went to Mexico several years ago and loved every minute of it. I also took several years of Spanish in high school and college. So, please do NOT assume I am anti-Mexican when I say "Oh, those wacky Mexicans"! This film is something no other country could or would make, but it also is a weird little film that you just have to see to believe.
First, some background. In Mexico, their wrestling ('Lucha Libre') is much faster and more physical that American pro wrestling. However, oddly, some of the biggest heroes of the sport are mask-wearing heroes! In fact, these men are national heroes of the magnitude few outside the country realize. So popular, in fact, that many luchador films have been made over the years starring such folk heroes as el Santo and Blue Demon. Oddly, in all these films, these heroic guys NEVER take off their masks. They eat, drink, shower, sleep and make out in masks--always staying in character. My assumption for them doing this was so they could easily replace each luchador if they asked for too much money or wanted to retire! Or, perhaps the guys in these roles are too embarrassed to show their faces! What I really like is that on their off time, they mostly solve mysteries, fight injustice, take on monsters and, in this case the disappearance of aircraft in the Bermuda Triangle!! Hmmm...now that I think about it, they sound a lot like Scooby Doo and the gang!
This film begins with a strange device coming up from the ocean. As an airliner flies overhead, the device pulsates and the plane vanishes!! However, the disappearances are not the main theme of the film at first. Instead, Santo, Blue Demon and Mil Máscaras are secret agents who have agreed to help protect a princess who is going incognito. Hmmm....so you don't want her identity compromised so you have three guys that ALWAYS wear luchador masks to escort her! Great plan! Before the mission begins, Mil Máscaras is attacked by three guys and robbed. However, the real reason for the attack is to beat him up and for an evil (but sexy) agent to come to his rescue. Later, she introduces her two friends (also sexy spies) to Mil Máscaras' two luchador friends. Now here's where it gets REALLY weird. Two guys dressed in silver magically appear from no where and kidnap one of the girls! So, like knights in shining armor, the three masked heroes give chase--and end up in a weird sci-fi like underwater land hidden within the Triangle!! Apparently, the land is within some sort of bubble, but how they have grass and sunlight is beyond me.
How all these strangely divergent plot points all work together is certainly NOT something the average non-drug abusing person can fathom. So, be sure to see the film yourself to see how it all works out. In fact, the last five minutes of the film might just be the worst written and most incomprehensible in film history! Apparently, the luchadores are taken prisoner to Atlantis and the apocalypse arrives! The film ends with a giant nuclear explosion!! How all this relates to the rest of the film STILL is beyond me! I am afraid if I try to understand this (or the whole mask thing), my head will explode!!
The film is goofy and makes hardly any sense at all. However, for this genre, believe it or not, this isn't a particularly strange or fantastic plot!! Heck, the flip side of this DVD has a group of luchadores fighting scientifically enhanced midget wrestlers and trying to rescue beauty queens who were kidnapped and placed in suspended animation!!! And there are Santo films where he battles Frankenstein, the Wolf Man and Dracula!!! So, in the scheme of things., this one is pretty normal! Now a normal (sane) person probably won't watch such schlocky films, but it is practically required for lovers of bad cinema and cheese.
First, some background. In Mexico, their wrestling ('Lucha Libre') is much faster and more physical that American pro wrestling. However, oddly, some of the biggest heroes of the sport are mask-wearing heroes! In fact, these men are national heroes of the magnitude few outside the country realize. So popular, in fact, that many luchador films have been made over the years starring such folk heroes as el Santo and Blue Demon. Oddly, in all these films, these heroic guys NEVER take off their masks. They eat, drink, shower, sleep and make out in masks--always staying in character. My assumption for them doing this was so they could easily replace each luchador if they asked for too much money or wanted to retire! Or, perhaps the guys in these roles are too embarrassed to show their faces! What I really like is that on their off time, they mostly solve mysteries, fight injustice, take on monsters and, in this case the disappearance of aircraft in the Bermuda Triangle!! Hmmm...now that I think about it, they sound a lot like Scooby Doo and the gang!
This film begins with a strange device coming up from the ocean. As an airliner flies overhead, the device pulsates and the plane vanishes!! However, the disappearances are not the main theme of the film at first. Instead, Santo, Blue Demon and Mil Máscaras are secret agents who have agreed to help protect a princess who is going incognito. Hmmm....so you don't want her identity compromised so you have three guys that ALWAYS wear luchador masks to escort her! Great plan! Before the mission begins, Mil Máscaras is attacked by three guys and robbed. However, the real reason for the attack is to beat him up and for an evil (but sexy) agent to come to his rescue. Later, she introduces her two friends (also sexy spies) to Mil Máscaras' two luchador friends. Now here's where it gets REALLY weird. Two guys dressed in silver magically appear from no where and kidnap one of the girls! So, like knights in shining armor, the three masked heroes give chase--and end up in a weird sci-fi like underwater land hidden within the Triangle!! Apparently, the land is within some sort of bubble, but how they have grass and sunlight is beyond me.
How all these strangely divergent plot points all work together is certainly NOT something the average non-drug abusing person can fathom. So, be sure to see the film yourself to see how it all works out. In fact, the last five minutes of the film might just be the worst written and most incomprehensible in film history! Apparently, the luchadores are taken prisoner to Atlantis and the apocalypse arrives! The film ends with a giant nuclear explosion!! How all this relates to the rest of the film STILL is beyond me! I am afraid if I try to understand this (or the whole mask thing), my head will explode!!
The film is goofy and makes hardly any sense at all. However, for this genre, believe it or not, this isn't a particularly strange or fantastic plot!! Heck, the flip side of this DVD has a group of luchadores fighting scientifically enhanced midget wrestlers and trying to rescue beauty queens who were kidnapped and placed in suspended animation!!! And there are Santo films where he battles Frankenstein, the Wolf Man and Dracula!!! So, in the scheme of things., this one is pretty normal! Now a normal (sane) person probably won't watch such schlocky films, but it is practically required for lovers of bad cinema and cheese.
Way too talky
dbborroughs16 March 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Santo, The Blue Demon and Mil Mascaras investigate strange goings on in Bermuda or a Bermuda stand in thats near the Bermuda triangle (like Texas...) while their women look on.
One of the last of the Santo films is one of the dullest. Even the fight scenes are lackluster (they aren't bad, they just aren't exciting like almost all of the action sequences). The problem is that much of the film is either way too talky or has nothing going on. This would be great if you wanted to see people go from place to place, but if you don't this film is a bit of a bore.
While not as horrible as some of the similar films I've seen recently, I'd probably take a pass given the opportunity to see it.
One of the last of the Santo films is one of the dullest. Even the fight scenes are lackluster (they aren't bad, they just aren't exciting like almost all of the action sequences). The problem is that much of the film is either way too talky or has nothing going on. This would be great if you wanted to see people go from place to place, but if you don't this film is a bit of a bore.
While not as horrible as some of the similar films I've seen recently, I'd probably take a pass given the opportunity to see it.
Pure magic
BandSAboutMovies15 May 2020
Warning: Spoilers
You have to give it to Santo.
He'd only have a few more movies after this - The Fury of the Karate Experts, The Fist of Death, Chanoc and the Son of Santo vs. the Killer Vampires and Santo vs. the TV Killer - but you have to give it to him to keeping up on the trend and heading off to the Bermuda Triangle.
Two beautiful women, Silvia and Sandra, have disappeared thanks to some aliens who can disappear with a touch of their belts, much like the aliens in Santo vs. the Martian Invasion.
It's up to our pals Santo, Blue Demon and Mil Mascaras to battle the evil Dr. Gro and find them amongst the vanished ships within the Bermuda Triangle.
The best part of this movie is when the trio gets interrupted while they are lifting weights and then follow the evildoers in a series of cars. Check out Mil's ensemble - tight shorts, no shirt, a cumberbund and original Nikes.
Keep in mind that Santo was 60 when this was made and he could still kick alien ass. There's also Iranian karate princesses and assassination, all within a movie supposedly about pro wrestlers and the Bermuda Triangle. There's also a scene where Mil is carrying home his groceries and a bunch of rudos attack him on the docks, so he throws an entire brown bag of his purchases at them and then does all of his trademark spots. It's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in a film.
The end of this movie blows my mind. After a beginning where a child finds a Santo mask covered in seaweed, this entire movie has been one long story that ends with a guy saying, "And they were never seen again. The predictions of the apocalypse are coming true. The end of the world is near."
Then, a nuke goes off. Movies like this make me so happy and I am so overjoyed to share this level of absolute malarky with you, dear friend.
He'd only have a few more movies after this - The Fury of the Karate Experts, The Fist of Death, Chanoc and the Son of Santo vs. the Killer Vampires and Santo vs. the TV Killer - but you have to give it to him to keeping up on the trend and heading off to the Bermuda Triangle.
Two beautiful women, Silvia and Sandra, have disappeared thanks to some aliens who can disappear with a touch of their belts, much like the aliens in Santo vs. the Martian Invasion.
It's up to our pals Santo, Blue Demon and Mil Mascaras to battle the evil Dr. Gro and find them amongst the vanished ships within the Bermuda Triangle.
The best part of this movie is when the trio gets interrupted while they are lifting weights and then follow the evildoers in a series of cars. Check out Mil's ensemble - tight shorts, no shirt, a cumberbund and original Nikes.
Keep in mind that Santo was 60 when this was made and he could still kick alien ass. There's also Iranian karate princesses and assassination, all within a movie supposedly about pro wrestlers and the Bermuda Triangle. There's also a scene where Mil is carrying home his groceries and a bunch of rudos attack him on the docks, so he throws an entire brown bag of his purchases at them and then does all of his trademark spots. It's one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in a film.
The end of this movie blows my mind. After a beginning where a child finds a Santo mask covered in seaweed, this entire movie has been one long story that ends with a guy saying, "And they were never seen again. The predictions of the apocalypse are coming true. The end of the world is near."
Then, a nuke goes off. Movies like this make me so happy and I am so overjoyed to share this level of absolute malarky with you, dear friend.
Not as Bermudian as one might expect.
ONenslo5 January 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Though I do not understand much Spanish, this story was not too hard to follow. I was fascinated by the enigmatic presence of the Bermuda Triangle plot line. Mysterious storms and vanishments are caused by a mirrored sphere arising from the waves. A fisherman finds Santo's silver mask on the end of his line. Perhaps the whole intervening story is being told by the fisherman to his friend, I'm not sure, but they show up again in what seems to be the conclusion of a framing sequence. After saving the fisherman from a shark, Santo, Blue Demon, and Superzan are hired as bodyguards for a Karate-expert Iranian princess. A criminal organization sends three women after the heroes, but one of them is kidnapped by teleporting men in silver who take her away in a boat to the Bermuda Triangle where she finds her long-lost father. It seems that this resort hotel where a lot of people in silver clothes hang out is a Utopia of peace and immortality, and there she stays. There is no other apparent connection to the ongoing battles against would-be assassins of the Iranian Karate Princess. Internal evidence indicates that it was all filmed on South Padre Island off the Texas Gulf Coast, not Bermuda at all. The world map which opens and closes the film is in German, just to add to the confusion. This is available as part of a six-film set "Los Luchadores Invencibles" which I got from the public library.
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