Kattiera Nana
I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Reptileenbu
Did you people see the same film I saw?
ShangLuda
Admirable film.
Sabah Hensley
This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama
gorf
The Diabolical Hatchet is a movie you should watch in the dark when you're home alone. While it's not as good as Santo in the Wax Museum, The Diabolical Hatchet is much scarier. The satanic villain in this movie has the ability to pop up anywhere. His lair, where he worships a bat-demon is straight out of a nightmare. The whole movie feels like a bad dream. And the fact that the main character Santo is a crime-fighting wrestler just makes it even more bizarre.It's interesting how Santo's origin (in this movie) is like that of The Phantom. The silver mask is handed down from father to son. It would have been fun to see more movies about Santo's ancestors!If you like scary old black and white horror movies, wrestling/fight scenes or heroes like Batman and The Phantom, watch this.
poe426
Significant entry in the Santo canon because it manages (through the use of time travel, back to the year 1603) to provide our hero with an origin story. Like The Phantom ("the first costumed super hero") and The Green Hornet (a descendant of none other than The Lone Ranger), El Santo comes from a long line of masked heroes. (As with the origin of The Lone Ranger- as shown in the television episode, ENTER THE LONE RANGER-, Santo1603 never shows his face. He first appears wearing a silver domino mask and later, during a duel, is careful not to present his mug to the camera. Huerta, like other performers before him- Clayton Moore as The Lone Ranger, who rarely appeared in public sans mask, or Harpo Marx, who wouldn't speak in public- understood the value of Image... and so hid his own from view.) The only real problem I had with this one was the time travel angle: I would've preferred a straight period-piece telling of his origin. A quibble, perhaps, but a quibble, nonetheless.
jjjjjjjjjjjjj-4
The most straight forward & linear Santo film I've seen. Much like Italian horror films of that period. Enjoyable despite its lack of really quirky elements common to Santo films. The special effects are typically dreadful and funny.If Mario Bava directed a Santo film it might look like thisSlow at times & with an annoying near constant therimin squeal; at least the wrestling matches are connected to the plot.Another annoyance is the amount & quality of "day for night" filter filming. This was, of course, a common failure in many B&W films & TV shows of that period.Time travel technique copied from Roger Corman's THE UNDEAD.Love the beehive hair!Not enough beautiful women, unlike most Santo films
Brian Lindsey
This B&W adventure isn't quite as enjoyably goofy as most of the other Santo titles recently brought to DVD, but true fans of El Enmascarado de Plata will definitely want to check it out. In EL HACHA DIABOLICA ("The Diabolical Axe"), the wrestling superhero not only faces a most unusual villain but has his origin explained as well. Finally, the question "Where did Santo come from?" (at least the luchadore's movie incarnation) is answered. Turns out he's the Mexican version of America's purple-suited crimefighter The Phantom, inheriting the superhero mantle down through the ages. And did you know that Santo's wrestling costume has magical properties? These revelations occur in the shoddiest-looking cave set in film history - it's just badly painted plywood and a little stucco. (Yes, even the caves in EEGAH! and DEATH CURSE OF TARTU were better.) The rubber bats used here make the critters in SCARS OF DRACULA look like CGI.
