Santo contra Cerebro del Mal

Santo vs Evil Brain

Forum 2018

Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta alias El Santo was one of the most famous luchadores in Mexico, contributing greatly to the hype around the sport. In his forty-year career as a wrestling superstar and actor, he never once took off his iconic silver mask and was even buried in it. Even today, Santo is a legend, thanks in part to a series of superhero comics. Outside the ring, he also fought zombies, vampire women, mad scientists and monsters across both formats. In his first film, Cerebro del Mal, he was still referred to as ‘El Enmascarado’. Rendered compliant by a scientist and his gangsters via a serum and mysterious rays, he is forced for the opening act to be a henchman for the evil forces who want to take over the world. The film has great historic value, due also to its impressive exterior shots of pre-revolutionary Cuba.
The Permanencia Voluntaria Film Archive, where many copies of the popular luchador films were held, was heavily damaged in the massive earthquake that struck Mexico in 2017. A restored version of Cerebro del Mal has now been prepared in collaboration with the Academy Film Archive, allowing an important piece of Mexican pop culture to return to cinemas.

by Joselito Rodríguez
with El Enmascarado, Joaquín Cordero, Norma Suárez, Enrique J. Zambrano, Alberto Inzúa, Fernando Osés, Enrique Almirante, René Socarrás, Mario Texas Mexico / Cuba 1959 Spanish 73’ Black/White

With

El Enmascarado (Santo)
Joaquín Cordero (Dr. Campos)
Norma Suárez (Elisa)
Enrique J. Zambrano (Lt. Zambrano)
Alberto Inzúa (Gerardo)
Fernando Osés (El Incognito / Polizeibeamter)
Enrique Almirante
René Socarrás
Mario Texas

Crew

Director	Joselito Rodríguez
Screenplay	Fernando Osés, Enrique J. Zambrano
Cinematography	Carlos Nájera
Editing	Jesús Echeverria
Music	Salvador Espinosa
Sound	Modesto Corvison
Producers	Enrique J. Zambrano, Jorge García Besné, Jesús Alvariño, Carlos Garduño G.

World sales

Viviana García Besne

Joselito Rodríguez

Born in Mexico City in 1907. He developed what was at the time the lightest portable sound equipment, weighing just twelve pounds. The first recordings using his equipment took place in Mexico in 1929, and Joselito Rodríguez began marketing his technology as the Rodriguez Bros. Sound Recording System. He directed his first film in 1940, and subsequently worked on numerous films as director and screenwriter. Joselito Rodríguez died in Mexico City in 1985.

Filmography (selection)

1940 El secreto del sacerdote 1941 ¡Ay, Jalisco, no te rajes! 1948 Angelitos negros 1949 Café de chinos 1952 Huracán Ramírez 1961 Santo contra Cerebro del Mal