This is one of the best of the Santo masked wrestler hero films, and almost impossible to find. Santo, El Enmascarado De Plato (silver masked hero)is called to Haiti to fight a match while a gorgeous voodoo queen (Sasha Montenegro, the Raquel Welch of Mexico and wife of a recent Mexican president) brings the dead back to life and plans a nuclear annihilation! This flick has wrestling zombies, dance numbers, voodoo murders, wild 70's latin fashions and the tallest hairdos this side of Sonora! You'll freak at the climactic battle between dueling voodoo goddesses for Santo's very soul! The soundtrack is great too. Plus the everpresent Carlos Suarez as one of Sasha's henchmen. This flick is also known as Santo Vs. Black Magic Woman in some circles. If you can find it, check it out. Sasha also appeared in several other Santo flicks including Santo Vs. The Space Blob (Asesinos De Otros Mundos) plus in about 20 movies of her own.
Reviews
4 Reviews
Santo vs. Black Magic Woman
(1973)
Hairhopper Voodoo Babe & Zombies vs. Santo Wrestler Hero!
3 October 1999
Night of the Comet
(1984)
Comet that wiped out dinosaurs wipes out humanity!
1 October 1999
On first glance, this film seems to have been made to capitalize on the success of Valley Girl with an end-of-the-world twist. Who knew the end of the world could be funny? And its the kind of funny you get when you are in shock and laugh hysterically because you just chopped off your finger, not because its REALLY funny. The casting is what ultimately makes the film. Besides the two young starlets Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney, we have Sharon Farrell from It's Alive; Mary Woronov (who brings her I Hate Men style of acting to a new level here); Robert Beltran (of Eating Raoul); and Geoffrey Lewis (of Lust In The Dust and many other films). The dialogue is a bit twisted at times, which adds to the eerieness of the whole thing. One of the best bits is by L.A. poet Ivan Roth as the stockboy Willy who becomes some sort of psychotic new wave villain a memorable sequence. The effects are low budget but effective, like the Rolls Royce parked in the middle of the street playing Christmas music... Its also one of Mary Woronov's best films, and her fans will be pleased.
Abby
(1974)
Wild Blaxploitation Twist On The Exorcist!
29 September 1999
ABBY DOESN'T NEED A MAN -- THE DEVIL IS HER LOVER NOW!! This very rare film which I was lucky enough to see the one week it played here in downtown Los Angeles during the Seventies (the prints were destroyed soon after the makers of The Exorcist sued for copyright infringement and won) is not only a great entry into the possession genre, but also one of the prime examples of true blaxploitation cinema. It stars William Marshall of Blacula fame as the exorcist, Carol Speed from The Big Bird Cage as the possessed woman, Austin Stoker from Assault On Precinct Thirteen, Terry Carter, and Juanita Moore from Imitation Of Life... truly an exceptional cast brought together in a film that must be seen to be believed.
Carol Speed portrays the girl named Abby who is a minister's wife and marriage counselor, qualities that do not prevent a demon from entering her body in one unusual shower scene. Abby then spouts foul language, goes nuts in a church, scares a white woman to death, jumps a funeral director in a hearse, acts like she's on drugs and generally gets very weird throughout. William Marshall is the man who must deal with the demon, and here his Shakespearean training shows. Austin Stoker is the friend who helps Terry Carter deal with a possessed wife. Juanita for some reason keeps talking about having a good man and eating fried chicken. All the cliches are in this one, and only the truly jaded won't be offended in some way!
SEE Abby throw a man across a room! SEE Abby seduce a man in a hearse! SEE Carol Speed talk like Isaac Hayes! SEE one obviously derivative yet well done scene after another! SEE an exorcism in a disco! SEE Abby fight her way out of a hospital! SEE Juanita Moore look like she wished she was elsewhere! Try and catch this one if you can, and become one of the initiated!
Carol Speed portrays the girl named Abby who is a minister's wife and marriage counselor, qualities that do not prevent a demon from entering her body in one unusual shower scene. Abby then spouts foul language, goes nuts in a church, scares a white woman to death, jumps a funeral director in a hearse, acts like she's on drugs and generally gets very weird throughout. William Marshall is the man who must deal with the demon, and here his Shakespearean training shows. Austin Stoker is the friend who helps Terry Carter deal with a possessed wife. Juanita for some reason keeps talking about having a good man and eating fried chicken. All the cliches are in this one, and only the truly jaded won't be offended in some way!
SEE Abby throw a man across a room! SEE Abby seduce a man in a hearse! SEE Carol Speed talk like Isaac Hayes! SEE one obviously derivative yet well done scene after another! SEE an exorcism in a disco! SEE Abby fight her way out of a hospital! SEE Juanita Moore look like she wished she was elsewhere! Try and catch this one if you can, and become one of the initiated!
Messiah of Evil
(1974)
Haunting 70's twist on the living dead genre!
20 September 1999
Messiah Of Evil (title I saw this film under in a theater in 1974) is a haunting twist on the living dead genre. From the first moment when a girl with Down's syndrome slashes a man, to the frozen meat scene in the supermarket, to the people with the bonfires on the beach, you will not be able to turn away! Sure its got only limited gore, but when you see kindly old ladies bleed from their eyes and albinos talk about beach creatures as a delicacy, much of the horror in this film will take place right inside your own head.
The casting is inspired! Michael Greer (a fine actor who appeared in THE GAY DECEIVERS and FORTUNE IN MEN'S EYES) travels with Anitra Ford (early Price Is Right model who also starred in INVASION OF THE BEE GIRLS and THE BIG BIRD CAGE) and Joy Bang (star of NIGHT OF THE COBRA WOMAN and CISCO PIKE) to a lonely beach town under the spell of a 100 year dead stranger. They meet beautiful Marianna Hill (star of THE BABY) and a strange love triangle begins. Marianna waits for her father (veteran character actor Royal Dano) to return while the isolation factor and the blood red moon drive everyone mad. Even House Of Haunted Hill star Elisha Cook Jr. turns up in this horror classic. Its not easy video to find, but your best bet is under the Messiah Of Evil title. One of the great spooky screen gems of the Seventies!
The casting is inspired! Michael Greer (a fine actor who appeared in THE GAY DECEIVERS and FORTUNE IN MEN'S EYES) travels with Anitra Ford (early Price Is Right model who also starred in INVASION OF THE BEE GIRLS and THE BIG BIRD CAGE) and Joy Bang (star of NIGHT OF THE COBRA WOMAN and CISCO PIKE) to a lonely beach town under the spell of a 100 year dead stranger. They meet beautiful Marianna Hill (star of THE BABY) and a strange love triangle begins. Marianna waits for her father (veteran character actor Royal Dano) to return while the isolation factor and the blood red moon drive everyone mad. Even House Of Haunted Hill star Elisha Cook Jr. turns up in this horror classic. Its not easy video to find, but your best bet is under the Messiah Of Evil title. One of the great spooky screen gems of the Seventies!
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