Santo and the Treasure of Dracula

Professional wrestler and scientist Santo has invented a time machine that allows him to travel into the body of an ancestor. Since women are better suited for the rigors of time travel, he sends his girlfriend Luisa on the trip, who finds herself in a stately mansion. Recently, their friend Mara has died with two bite wounds on her neck. Luisa is also suffering from bouts of weakness. Professor Van Roth, who is called in, quickly realizes that this must be the work of a vampire who is now targeting Luisa. He is right in his suspicion that it is Count Alucard, who lives nearby. He possesses a magic ring and an amulet with which some women are transformed into willing servants. Just as he is about to do the same to Luisa, she is brought back by Santo. Through time travel, Luisa has knowledge of the whereabouts of Dracula's treasures, which Santo now wants to recover. The masked boss of a crime syndicate has secretly observed the time travel and also sets out to find the treasure.

The Mexican wrestler El Santo, whose career lasted several decades, is considered an icon in his home country. His perpetual fight for justice has been stylized in films and comics. He has appeared in a total of 52 films. One of them is Santo en el tesoro de Drácula, a wild mixture of sci-fi, horror and wrestling. The time travel part is very much based on Dracula. The rest is entertaining nonsense about the search for Alucard's treasure. A crime syndicate mixes things up, culminating in some brawling and a wrestling scene that is extremely contrived in content.

French VHS with many film tears

Two versions were made of Santo en el tesoro de Drácula. In addition to the family-friendly version that was intended for the Mexican market, there is an export version that includes some nude scenes of Alucard and Luisa's servants. Santo is said to have agreed with director René Cardona that only the harmless version would be released. The export version was considered lost for a long time until it was rediscovered in the archives of the production studio Cinematographic Calderón. The export version was supposed to premiere at the Guadalajara International Film Festival in March 2011 under the new title El vampiro y el sexo, but it was canceled due to unresolved licensing issues. In addition, Santo's son El Hijo del Santo opposes it because he was worried about his father's reputation. After the legal problems were resolved, the export version premiered on July 25 at the Diana Theater in Guadalajara. This was followed by a broadcast on Mexican television and further releases, be it on DVD and now on Blu-ray. The film was shot in color, but the Mexican DVD by Zima Entertainment shows the film in black and white.

The French VHS by Colombus also contains the Mexican version in color. Judging by the running stripes and film tears, the source was a theatrical print with some imperfections that are listed in the following report. The opening credits on the French VHS were replaced by a simple title insert. By the way, the cover motif of the VHS comes from the film The Brain (1988).

Picture Comparison:

French VHS:

Mexican DVD:

Runtimes:

French VHS: 74:37 min.
Mexican DVD: 82:05 min.

Comparison between the French VHS by Columbus and the Mexican DVD by Zima Entertainment.

[00:00:00][00:00:00]

The French VHS begins with the title overlay.

The Mexican DVD has the original opening credits.

FR: 7 sec.
Mex: 1:35 Min.


[00:05:50][00:07:37]

Film tear: Luisa goes to Santos.

Mex: 2 sec.


[00:14:47][00:16:59]

Professor Van Roth asks Soler if he has heard of the vampire legends from Europe.

Mex: 7 sec.


[00:17:51][00:20:18]

Alucard marks the first of his priestesses with his ring. Then he moves on to the next one.

Mex: 7 sec.


[00:27:29][00:30:29]

The coffin is opened further.

Mex: 4 sec.


[00:33:05][00:36:25]

Alucard and Luisa run into the crypt.

Mex: 16 sec.


[00:45:52][00:50:05]

Santo shines a light in the face of the masked man, who also sneaks through the doorway. Luisa screams. Santo jumps at the man.

OV: 11 sec.


[00:49:15][00:53:50]

The professor says to Santo that they forgot the ring they need to decode the words. Santo wants to go back to get the ring. Luisa begs him not to do this and to bring back the medallion.

Mex: 32 sec.


[00:50:18][00:55:27]

Perico goes on to say that he wants to stay at the house to watch the girl. Santo says that he should come with him. Perico understands.

Mex: 11 sec.


[00:50:21][00:55:41]

Santo and his friends run to the coffin of Alucard.

Mex: 11 sec.


[00:53:32][00:59:14]

Santo goes on to tell Equis that he needs help. The latter says that he can count on him and his wrestling friends.

Mex: 7 sec.


[01:05:46][01:12:07]

Luisa gets out of bed and follows Alucard. She puts on her nightgown before leaving the room. The sleeping gardener Jose can be seen earlier.

Mex. 35 sec.


[01:07:13][01:14:12]

Jose walks to the house earlier.

Mex: 7 sec.