Customer Reviews

Santa Sangre [VHS]

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What is a movie? Is it an entertainment? A work of ART? Is a motion picture only a lure to get you to engage in a mass spectacle of consumerism? Is it the catharsis of a crowd in the dark?

Are you an intellectual? Are you passionate? Have you even been interested in Archetypes and Collective unconscience? Do you know that when you take the journey with a story--that that story will always stay with you?

In 1989, a lot of things changed in my life. I really can't explain what they all were, but between August and December of 1989, my hair went from black to white, and I started on the life that I lead today. Then came Santa Sangre.

Allesandro Jodorowsky is what is frequently called a 'visionary' film director. What he is is a wizard and a shaman. Jodorowski is a Jungian psychiatrist who writes comic books and directs movies. He started way back in the sixties, and was actually the first person to direct for the beatle's Apple Corporation. As a result his first film (El Topo) is almost impossible to acquire or see. Like everything from Apple--there is an immense legal battle over it's soul.

And this guy's work has got SOUL that won't quit. Take the little number we are discussing today. Here you have the story of Fenix, raised in a circus by his parents Orgo (a hypnotic knife thrower played by guy stockwell) and Alma(who hangs by her hair and worships at the shrine of HOLY BLOOD hence the film's title.) Fenix cries as his pet elephant dies, gets a tattoo with a bowie knife from a quart jar of ink while biting on a stick,cavorts with a little girl mute tightrope walker, sees his mother's cult of blind women being driven away as their 'shrine' is demolished, and, finally, witnesses his own parents murder suicide over an affair with a tatooed woman. That's all in the prologue..

Vaudeville. Strippers. Murder. Clowns. Dwarfs. The Invisible Man. Chuco hoods. Illusion. Mime (mime?) Chemistry. Madness. Denoument. Samba-ing Down's syndrome children. Reincarnation of painted corpses as ducks or swans. ritual crucifixion. Taxidermy. Every bottle of booze has a dead crow on the label (just something I personally noticed) Ventriloquism. Symbolism.

And it's based on the stories of a real serial killer.

Jodorowski is not slick (although this is by far his slickest work) He is in no way pretentious. This film is bone deep and meant to stop your cognitive process, to derail and reboot your mind.

Allessandro Jodorowski is what we get less of in today's cinema--it is the real deal. A human soul laid bare by art. You might cry when you watch this. You will probably laugh. But if you know what's good for you, you will watch it again.

persevere,

Alejandro Jodorowosky has been making films since the 1960s.Though he has made only a handful of films(7 in all),given the quality of "Santa Sangre",a visionary and haunting work,one wishes he was more prolific.It is not possible to describe "Santa Sangre" with due justice within such a small review;the only succinct way of describing it:it as if Pedro Calderon had written "Psycho",or that Alfred Hitchcock had directed "La Vida es Sueno".Influenced by Freudian and Jungian psychoanalysis,the mordant satire and wit of Luis Bunuel and the beautiful baroque pageantry of Fellini,"Santa Sangre" tells the story of a reluctant serial killer(!) controlled by his dominating and insane mother and details his struggle to be liberated from her.The mother worships an imaginary saint,whose hagiography and devotion entails repression,guilt and false self-sacrifice.The son's attempt to attain romantic and sexual normalcy achieves(surprisingly,given the subject matter)much pathos.The ending is transcendent and the film contains many memorable images.Despite the criticisms leveled against the film's violence,"Santa Sangre" is not gory-it artfully suggests rather than explicates.However,if your idea of cinematic excellence are movies like:"The Towering Inferno","Terms of Endearment" or "Ghost"-then probably this film is not for you.However,if films like:"The Exterminating Angel",Satyricon",The Devils" and "Wild at Heart" are for you compelling and important works of art,then "Santa Sangre" is definitely to be experienced.

Wow,this film blew me away the first time I saw it. It is 10 times easier to watch than El Topo and 1000 times easier to watch than Holy Mountain (by the same director). Although as disturbing as the aforementioned, it maintains a discernable plot along with the surreal imagery for which Alejandro Jodorowsky is best known. It is a strange story with bleeding elephant, circus performers (i hate clowns and the circus, but the presentation in this film made it easy to watch), a fully tatooed woman, cult religion which worships an armless saint, a crazed mother with a son who is obviously too attached to mama, and a visually disturbing rite of passage into manhood. All of the nightmarish scenery is somehow manipulated through the camera by mr. jodorowsky to bring us a beautifully disturbing film with a wonderful story and a great plot twist ending. Not for all people, but if you are sick of the loads of big-budget schlock that really has no redeeming value like I am then this will come as a nice and refreshing suprise to you.

I am also a big Evil Dead fan so I must be right about this one! (Evil Dead is in no way similar to this film with the exception of maybe the gore)

The first time I watched this film I was completely taken aback by something that has never happened to me before while watching a movie: at the midpoint of the film I could not guess what was going to happen next! In every other film I had seen to that point I could always make a good guess on where the plot was going, and what could be expected of the main charater(s). Not in this movie! And that alone to me made the movie that much more worthwhile and enjoyable. I am a great fan of what little work of Jodorowsky's that I've seen and read, he has an insight on humanity that would frighten many, but the truth will do that.

Presumably if you are on this page, then you know what the film is and want to know about the disc. This is a Chineese release (NTSC Region 0) that will work fine in US players and unlike other Chineese releases there is not 20 minutes of worthless stuff before the menue. This disc was obviously set up to be sold in the English market (no Chineese text anywhere).

The actual movie itself is the un-cut version but runs 120m or so due to uncorrected Pal speed up (I would presume?). Nothing's missing I actually did scene by scene comparisons with the questionable parts and everything's there.
The film is anamorphic widescreen and looks infinately better than the old VHS tapes. The sound is fine with a stereo 2.0 track and a 5.1 track but unfortunately doesn't contain the commentery from the region 2 Anchor Bay Relese. A minor annoyance is that there are only 6 chapter breaks for a film so long.

The second disc contains:Louis Mouchet's Documentary "La Constellation Jodorowsky"; A Filmed On Stage Interview with Jodorowsky; Deleted Scene With Commentary; "Echek" A Short Film Directed by Adan Jodorowsky (son of Alejandro and one of the stars of Santa Sangre.

I'm not sure if this is a legitimate relese or not but untill some one makes a proper region 1 disc, I'd reccommend this cheaper priced version. Unless you are obsessed with Jodorowsky "spill everything over-analytical" commenteries.

Santa Sangre is an unforgettable Mexican horror/art film made by Alejandro Jodorowsky, not only is it visually stunning but it also happens to be one of the best films I have ever seen. The disturbing and bizarre images have been stuck in my mind for a long time, Alejandro Jodorowsky is known to have made some weird artsy films like El Topo and The Holy Mountain which I haven't seen yet but heard alot of great things from other reviewers when Alejandro decided to make Santa Sangre he wanted to make it more accessible so mainstream audiences would have a better understanding of what was going on instead of going from one bizarre sequence to the next without having a plot or proper storyline. Santa Sangre was a wonderful masterpiece that has great camera work, inspiring cinematography, style and brilliant acting and it was quite emotional as well. It is very essential to those who like both art-house and horror films as I think that its going to appeal to both fans and Alejandro Jodorowsky definitely deserves some recognition for this.

A bizarre love triangle turns deadly when circus ringmaster Orgo is caught with the tattooed lady by his wife Concha a trapeze artist, soon a furious Concha turns violent and psychotic and starts to spill acid on Orgo's genitals he then mutilates her by chopping both her arms and then commits suicide by taking his own life. Unfortunately their son Fenix played by Axel Jodorowsky (the directors son) witnessed the carnage and is soon committed to an institution and treated for insanity, his psychotic and armless mother later arrives when Fenix is much older and she beckons him to escape and join her but later on it seems like shes been using him as a method of exacting revenge on the world for her unfortunate incident. Through out the course of the film it becomes more horrific and there were a couple of creepy scenes, this film is unlike anything I've ever seen before and there were some nicely shot sequences that were very surreal and bizarre, Alejandro's vision is a bit difficult to describe since there are some symbolic images that are very Freudian and stuff like that. The film also has a love story where Fenix falls in love with Alma one of the circus performers who also acts as a mime and is mute and shes also been abused by her mother the tattooed lady, Fenix tries to give her some hope that one day he'll take her away and protect her. We witness both characters who either go through a psychotic or nervous breakdown as more bodies keep piling up and Fenix is falling deeper and deeper into his mothers control, he starts hallucinating at a nearby graveyard where he sees dead people in white sheets rising from their graves and a white horse suddenly appears which is very weird I'm still not sure what it means but I thought it was pretty cool.

Probably the most famous scene is where the circus performers attend the elephant funeral and in one of the most unforgettable moments in the film the mourners lift the huge casket and dump it down a cliff into the ravine where hundreds of starving villagers cut of the carcass to eat this obviously symbolizes death giving way to life and you may also notice that it has inspired Marylin Manson's music video Man that you fear. Santa Sangre was a great masterpiece that had a unique and original storyline that contained elements from other films like Psycho and some films from Dario Argento like Susperia so its a very smart and entertaining horror film and its very memorable and does not look dated at all there was some humor, one scene in particular has a female wrestler who flirts with Fenix and they start going out on a date, this female wrestler obviously looks like a huge guy in a bad wig.

I also found the music to be great whether it was the Latin music played in the streets or in the background or the slow but very atmospheric synth that plays during the most suspenseful moments, the film was great and it will definitely leave an impact with the viewer its to bad that Alejandro doesn't make anymore films. After this film Alejandro Jodorowsky continued to live in France writing sci/fi novels and also teaches in classes about spirituality and he uses tarot cards as you'll see in the documentary, the region 2 two disc dvd by Anchor Bay was brilliant and had tons of special features in it including some interviews that were very fascinating and a short film done by Adan Jodorowsky called Echek, a deleted scene, photo and art gallery, theatrical trailer and Louis Mouchet's documentary La Constellation Jodorowsky. Santa Sangre is one of the greatest films I have ever seen and I'm not kidding the only problem with this film is that its quite rare but there might be a region 1 dvd release coming soon so who knows if you can find it then its definitely worth the effort, I highly recommend this film and its also better to watch it after midnight cause its so bizarre and wonderful.

Very different from "El Topo" and "The Holy Mountain", "Santa Sangre" goes beyond the wakening of the inner self and rather shows a psychological horror drama. It's a betiful film, one of the best endings, music, everything is great!
Great director commentary track, also includes an on stage inerview and deleted scenes.

Based on the real-life diary of a south-of-the-border serial killer, "Santa Sangre" is a revelation. Directed by visionary film maker Aljandro Jodorowski, "Santa Sangre" tells the demented story of a mind gone south into the abyss of Opidial incest, murder and guilt.
In Jodorowski's film-- nothing is as it seems. Only in the final scene do we understand how sick the world, we humans call home, really is.
This is Jodorowski's most accessible film and probably the best intellectual slasher/horror flick since Hitchcock's "Psycho".
Don't miss it.

Santa Sangre already has cult status as it is directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky, a multiply skilled artist who does not consider himself to be an artist. Jodorowsky has not made more than six films over a 40-year span as he has had problems with producers and other people working in film. El Top is a cult classic made by Jodorowsky in the early 70s where he is also the main character. Allen Klein bought the rights to El Topo and was hoping for more films by Jodorowsky that could make him much money. However, the business deal between Klein and Jodorowsky drew bad blood between them and as a result Klein refuses to ever release El Topo and now it is being withheld for public viewing by Allen Klein and his production company. Santa Sangre is therefore one of his more accessible films as it has been applauded by large number of film critics as well as Jodorowsky's own followers.

Santa Sangre (Axel Jodorowsky) is a macabre horror tale surrounding a small circus where Fenix worked as magician when he was a young boy. His dad, Orgo, was the manager and a knife thrower who also had a large appetite for women. Concha, Fenix's mother, was in charge of a small cult that has gone into submission to a made-up saint whose arms were cut off and body raped. When Concha caught Orgo cheating on her she attacked Orgo who in rage cut off Concha's arms followed by him slitting his own throat, and the whole gruesome event was witnessed by Fenix. Fenix was institutionalized as he deeply suffered from the traumatic experience. Years later his armless mother returns and helps him escape and together they become a murderous duo of enormous proportions.

Jodorowsky created a bizarre psychedelic horror story that visually connects the characters in a very sublime manner, which seems to seep into the subliminal consciousness of the audience. The cinematic signs and syntaxes used in the film enhance the connection between the characters instead of the elaborately prolonged dialogues that often connect the characters in many films, which also is a trade mark of regular stage plays. The young miming trapeze girl with a white painted face whom Fenix adored as a child, the tattoo's, and the symbolic knife are some examples of Jodorowsky cinematic genius as he enters the minds of the audience with this terrifying tale. It is interesting to see that Jodorowsky casted his son as the lead character, which he performs elegantly. In the end the audience is to experience a dazzling cinematic event as it brings the audience suspense, horror, desire, and much more to think about as the film unfolds.

Santa Sangre is a bizarre HORROR-art film from the
gifted director Jodorowsky. Young Axel Jodorowsky
is a circus performer who acts as the arms of his
armless mother,committing a series of brutal murders
for her as well. Imagine a cross between Psycho &
Freaks with the atmosphere of Suspiria. I have not
seen HORROR directed so beautiful other than Sir Argento,
but Jodorowsky has proven me wrong. I love when a brilliant
director crosses the line a dabbles in HORROR! Directors
like Richard Donnor,Jonathan Demme,William Friedkin,
Ridley Scott,Ken Russell & Jodorowsky have only done
one HORROR picture to my knowledge. And there one
has been BRILLIANT!! If only all the GREAT directors
could give us one true CHILLER PICTURE I'd be in Heaven!
YA READING THIS TERRY GILLIAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!