After 200 years a coven of vampire women are awakened. Led by a priestess named Tundra (Ofelia Montesco) the vampires, looking like so much dried up oatmeal, have a mission. According to the prophecy the Queen of the vampires, Zorina (Lorena Velazquez), must have a successor to her throne. Once that is accomplished she can return to the underworld and be with her husband the lord of darkness. Previously Tundra attempted to capture a woman named Rebecca but failed. Having waited 200 years she must now capture the woman’s granddaughter Diana Orlof (Maria Duval).
First she appeals to Selene, the goddess of the moon, to restore her beauty so she can accomplish her mission. Suddenly the oatmeal face is gone. Then she awakens three male minions to assist her. They attack a couple and bring the man to their underground lair. They draw off his blood and have it blessed by Selena. The blood is then given to Zorina to restore her beauty. Then all the other witches in the coven drink from the chalice of blood and are also restored. The oatmeal vampires are now beautiful busty women.
Diana will be turning 21 and at her birthday party will also be announcing her engagement to Jorge (Xavier Loya). Diana’s father, Professor Orlof (Augusto Benedico) is well aware of the legacy that Diana is tied to. He knows that Diana’s life is in danger and takes steps to try to protect her. First he contacts his friend Inspector Carlos (Jaime Fernandez) but he can’t tell him that vampires are after his daughter knowing that the inspector will think he is crazy. Next he sends a message to Santo (Santo) asking him to help.
Santo is well aware of the prophecy and of the danger that Diana faces. When Santo arrives the professor also gives him more information that he has been able to discern from ancient writings. It seems that 200 years ago when the priestess tried to capture Rebecca she and her minions were foiled by a strong and brave man. The professor tells Santo that the man was one of Santo’s ancestors and that he may be the only one who can save Diana. It is a dangerous task and could cost Santo his life.
“Santo vs the Vampire Women” AKA “Santo vs las mujeres vampiro” was released in 1962 and was directed by Alfonso Corona Blake. It is a Mexican horror lucha libre film. It was the seventh Santo film done at the time. Producer Alberto Lopez contracted Santo for a series of four films. The other films Lopez produced were “Santo vs the Zombies” 1961, “Santo in the Wax Museum” 1963 and “Santo vs the Strangler” 1965.
“Samson vs. the Vampire Women” was one of four Santo films dubbed into English and released in the United States, and one of two Santo films released by K. Gordon Murray. El Santo was renamed "Samson" by producer Murray for the English dub. Murray changed many of the character names in the films he dubbed to better appeal to American audiences. The name change from “Santo” to “Samson,” was a reference to the biblical strongman who was also popular in the Italian sword-and-sandal style films.
Although Santos is not as involved in this film as he is in some of the other films he did there are still wrestling matches inside and outside the ring. One match pits him against one of the vampire minions who when unmasked in the ring turns into a werewolf before eventually turning into a rubber bat and flying away. I’m not sure where the werewolf concept came from but lucha libre films are nothing if not varied.
The atmosphere in the castle and its dungeon is really good. Lots of cobwebs, coffins and spooky stuff. The lighting is great. You can see what’s going on. It’s quite gothic. Even the make-up is decent, oatmeal and all. The production values for this film were amped up a bit and it adds a lot to the film. It’s still campy but that’s part of the fun. The ending is a little syrupy but if you are a fan of the mixed genre this one is good.