What do you get when you mix masked wrestlers, spies, superheroes, and a total disregard for logic and common sense?
This crazy flick, featuring a hero who is equal parts Santo, James Bond, and Batman. I first discovered this bizarre Italian/Spanish co-production on New York City's Channel 5 Saturday movies at noon (where I first encountered the Starman series of films) when I was a wee lad. So many, many, many years ago.
German lobby card for Superargo Versus Diabolicus. The German title translates to The Red Phantom Strikes.
Superargo is a masked wrestler, like Mexico's Santo. In fact, he's the World Champion, having one 123 matches in a row. Also like Santo, he never removes his mask. However, where Santo will wear suits and regular clothes with his mask, Superargo NEVER takes his costume off.
Superargo's girlfriend, Lydia, encouraging her sweetie to mow down some bad guys.
In the opening of the film Superargo is in the wrestling ring defending his title from the vicious El Tigre. Superargo defeats El Tigre by throwing him out of the ring. However, El Tigre lands on his head and dies. Wracked with guilt, Superargo quits and spends the next several days moping about his house - still in his mask and costume!
Diabolicus preparing to torture Superargo.
His girlfriend, Lydia, can't stand to see him in such a state. She puts Superargo in touch with an old friend, who is now in charge of the Secret Service. Seems there's a problem with some villain named Diabolicus that the Service needs help with, and Superargo is just the man they need.
It's then that we learn that Superargo is not just any masked wrestler. He has greater-than-normal strength; super stamina; his blood coagulates super fast, so wounds heal almost instantaneously; he can hold his breath for longer than 7 minutes; he is immune to extreme hot and cold; and he can regulate his blood pressure to stay normal even under great exertion. He is vulnerable to electricity (aren't we all?) but, while it can hurt him, it can't kill him.
He is also allergic to bullets. So the Secret Service outfits him with a new, bulletproof costume, as well as several gadgets typical of the spy movies of the day, including a Geiger counter disguised as a cocktail olive! To sweeten the deal, they also throw in a nifty new sports car. Then Superargo is sent on his way to track down and stop Diabolicus' mad plan for world domination.
"What is that plan?" you ask.
Well, in a nutshell, Diabolicus had discovered a way to turn base metals into gold. He then wants to flood the markets with the gold, destroying the world economy and bringing civilization to its knees.
There is just one problem: in order to make the fake gold Diabolicus needs plutonium. Lots and lots of plutonium. Hence the martini olive.
No, Superargo's not trippin' on LSD. This is part of the bizarre credit sequence at the beginning of the film.
After that, the film follows the typical Eurospy movie formula: car chases, fights, beautiful dames, fights, the hero confronting the villain on his secret island base, the hero fights the hordes of villainous minions, and the secret villain headquarters getting blowed up.
Let's be clear about one thing: this ain't no cinematic masterpiece. But it is an amusing, entertaining little flick. And it contains two things things that give it extra panache: a totally whacked-out opening credit sequence that is kinds disturbing to watch, and the absolute worst secret island headquarters miniature you'll probably ever see. I think the director's kid made it in an afternoon and filmed it in the family pool.
It's worth checking out if you're in the mood for some superhero silliness. Last time I checked it was streaming on Amazon, and there's a blurry version of Youtube.
"The Mummy of the legendary wrestler Satan awakes 100 years after his death, as Satan was also a powerful sorcerer who vowed to take revenge over the City of Guanajuato before dying."
old Patreon image featuring Tina and Gabriel! Tina usually prefers to win her matches in a more traditional manner, but a victory's a victory! She'll buy Gabriel a beer afterwards and they'll laugh it off.
Full-size image and .sai2 project file can be found on Patreon for just $2: https://www.patreon.com/posts/80390441
I made this compilation of over a dozen sleeper holds from the annals of classic televised wrestling. What total domination, to put another man to sleep, literally holding him at your mercy, and then to refuse to release the hold even after he's clearly out cold! Now do you see why I was got so wrapped up in wrestling while growing up?!
For me, the contrivance of new names for these same old holds just added to my wonder and fascination. We hear several variations called out: the Russian Guillotine, the Cobra Hold, the Shanghai Sleeper, the Japanese Sleeper. I wanted to learn them all so I could apply all of them on somebody.