Santo vs. the Evil Brain

This newly restored Cuban-Mexican horror-action cult classic opens with three gangsters cornering El Santo in a deserted alley and knocking him out. He is then taken to the laboratory of a crazed Doctor Campos and turned into a docile servant through a series of injections and electric shocks. Filming was done in late ’50s pre-Revolution Cuba and ended just the day before Fidel Castro entered Havana, and declared the victory of the revolution, forcing the filmmakers to flee prematurely (with the unprocessed 35mm negative smuggled inside a coffin).

Santo vs. the Evil Brain marks the cinematic debut of El Santo (Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta) and solidified his status as Mexico’s quintessential masked luchador through a whole network of pop culture spinoffs, including a comic book series and, most notably, the 52 wrestling-themed films that cemented his legend on the silver screen. His acting career spanned four decades, dazzling audiences from all around the world with his skills and talent.

Praised by Tarantino and B-cult movie lovers, Pragda’s El Santo film collection also includes Santo vs. the Riders of Terror (René Cardona, 1970) and Santo vs. the Infernal Men (Joselito Rodríguez, 1961), both in their newly restored versions.