Doctor Satán

The "Doctor Satán" series is an interesting, not entirely successful melding of fantasy and James Bond-style intrigue. Both films lack a clear and logical motivation for the actions of the anti-hero protagonist, and both have curiously-small casts (which doesn't seem to have been a budget issue, since the production values are reasonably good otherwise). On the positive side, Joaquín Cordero turns in strong performances and there are many entertaining facets of the two movies. Dr. "Arozamena" is actually Plutarco Satán, a minion of the Devil. Plutarco has developed a serum which restores the dead to life as zombies under his control (however, he also seems to need supernatural assistance from the Devil to possess their souls, which he keeps in little wooden boxes). The zombies serve as henchmen for Plutarco, but his main scheme involves the smuggling of counterfeit dollars, which are produced overseas by an organization whose representative in Mexico is the sexy Luisa. Dr. Satán does include some fascinating set-pieces. Plutarco has two "interviews" with the Devil himself (basically groveling and asking for assistance). The Devil (whose face is never shown clearly) has horns and some impressive bat-wings. The scenes with the zombies are also interesting, and Plutarco "releasing" them to their eternal rest by giving them salt tablets is a nice touch (although it would have been nicer if they crumbled to dust or something instead of just vanishing completely, clothes and all). The production values are satisfactory. Most of the sets aren't that impressive, but the photography by Raúl Martínez Solares is quite good. One negative note is the over-use of "weird" electronic sounds at certain points on the soundtrack in an attempt to create an "eerie" atmosphere (it doesn't work). The performances are generally good, with Cordero standing out. José Gálvez, most often a villain (although he would occasionally do comedy and in fact worked on TV sitcoms prior to his death), is adequate as the chief good guy. Not a perfect movie or a classic, but unusual and entertaining. Trivia notes: the name "Dr. Satan" had been used previously--The Mysterious Dr. Satan was a Republic serial featuring a hero called "The Copperhead" and a boiler-shaped robot--and in recent years has cropped up as the name of a recurring villain in films and comics created by Rob Zombie. None of these satanic doctors are related. — DrLing at Latarnia Forums