Dr. Sepulveda (Carlos Agosti) is a nuclear physicist. He calls together a group of people to talk to them about a new invention. He has collaborated with brilliant scientist and wrestler Santo (Santo). They have invented a kind of time machine that will send people back to a previous life in a form of reincarnation.
Santo’s invention hasn’t been tested yet; his fellow scientists think the invention is ridiculous. Santo maintains that the machine will work, but it is dangerous and only a woman would be strong enough to survive. Sepulveda’s daughter Luisa (Noelia Noel) volunteers to test the machine.
Luisa is sent back in time and is reincarnated into the body of a young woman named Luisa Solar. Luisa is being converted to a vampire by Count Alucard (Aldo Monti). Alucard, who is really Dracula, has moved into the area and is creating an army of undead women. Alucard has decided to make Luisa his queen. Luisa’s father, Professor Solar (Jorge Mondragon), is visited by a vampire hunter named Professor Van Roth (Fernando Mendoza). Van Roth hunts down the vampire and drives a stake through his heart. He is about to do the same with Luisa when Santo manages to extract her from her previous life and return her to the present.
While she was in the 19th century Luisa was shown a vast treasure owned by the Dracula family. Santo wants to find Dracula’s treasure and use it for good. Unbeknownst to Santo, a masked villain is listening in and decides he wants the treasure for himself. When his attempts to get the information needed to find the treasure fail, the masked villain has the stake removed from the vampire’s heart and brings him back to life.
“Santo in the Treasure of Dracula” AKA “Santo and Dracula’s Treasure” AKA “Santo en El tesoro de Dracula” was released in 1969 and was directed by Rene Cardona. It is a Mexican science fiction horror movie and a luchador film.
Until recently, it was believed that the film was done in black and white and colored later. In reality the film was shot in color. Most of the versions available today, however, are the black and white. The color version is available through VCI Entertainment. There is also a version of the film that includes female frontal nudity. This version, “El Vampiro y el Sexo” is basically a nudie cutie and was released to the international market. It wasn’t available in Mexico until 2011.
There are two items the heroes needed to be able to translate the location of Dracula’s treasure, a ring and a medallion. Santo and the good guys have the medallion and the masked villain has the ring. To decide who gets both items, the two factions decide to wrestle for it. How else would you settle a dispute in a luchador film?
It is one of the campier and sillier Santo films but also one of the most fun. It is a blend of genres that everyone can enjoy. The only thing missing in this version are boobs.