Cult Genealogies of El Santo Films

A ‘uniquely Mexican phenomenon,’ El Santo, El Enmascarado de Plata is ‘an instantly recognizable cult figure in Mexico and around the world.’ On 23rd September 2016 Google commemorated the 99th birthday of Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta – the silver-masked luchador’s real name – changing its logo to celebrate the global popularity of this Mexican national icon and popular hero. Displayed on Google’s U.S. homepage as well as on pages across Central America and most countries in South America, the doodle reached territories as far as Japan and Indonesia proclaiming El Santo as ‘the man credited with popularizing wrestling in Mexico [and] one of the greatest sports figures in Mexican history. Through his appearance in film and as the subject of many comic books, he became a cultural icon, representing justice and the fight against evil’ (2016). This chapter examines the circulation of El Santo across specific contexts of reception in Europe and the U.S. with a focus on Santo contra las mujeres vampiro / Santo vs The Vampire Women (Alfonso Corona Blake, 1962), arguably, ‘the most recognizable [El Santo film] to the world at large.’iv My aim is to historicize these sites of reception and of consumption that elevated this film, and, by extension, the figure of El Santo to cult status globally, and to supplement Euro-American cult appreciations of this fetishized film with readings coming from Mexican critical traditions. The chapter therefore provides a transcultural and nuanced approach to the existing Anglo-American cult canon and to cult film studies scholarship.