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Movie Review - Santa Sangre

Updated: Mar 12, 2023


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Today, I’m going to cheat.

Yes, yes, I’ll give at least a little bit of my opinion on Jodorowsky’s Santa Sangre…but I’m going to take the easy way out for two reasons. First, there’s a review out there that pretty much sums up my feelings written by someone much better than me…an actual “professional”. This “professional”, by the way, this is my second reason, is someone that I think anyone that reads this website should know of, and if you don’t…well, it pleases me to be your gateway into a very interesting world. The fellow that wrote this review is an authority on horror and B cinema, exploitation and the like…but at the same time is incredibly literate (and that’s saying something, given he’s a Texan!). I am of course referring to John Bloom…better known to many as Joe Bob Briggs of Monstervision and Drive-In Theatre fame.

So, my thoughts? As I continue down the dark rabbit hole that is Jodorowsky’s filmography, well, I figured my next step should be with his horror movie Santa Sangre, mainly because I’d heard about how long it had been impossible to get on home video or just see in general. Not so much anymore, as I bought my copy off Amazon. Sitting and watching it, the first thing I thought was he should do more of these. In my El Topo review, I criticized Jodo for always going full bore, his distinct lack of subtlety. If there’s one genre that rewards such a view, it’s horror. Horror doesn’t have restraint (okay…sometimes it does…but it doesn’t HAVE to). You can get away with absolutely zero subtlety, with everything being over the top. Maybe I should make the pun “with everything being over the big top”…as much of the film has to do with the circus. And since this is a Jodorowsky film, since we have a circus (and later on a mental health institution) of course we have our dosage of…well, we’ll use Jodo’s term, ‘genetic imagination’. It’s got everything a horror movie could want, even if it borrows its twist ending from other films, and worth checking out.

But enough of my blathering on. Check out what Joe Bob has to say. As for me, I’ll try to not be as lazy on my next review!


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