Santa sangre (1989)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Alejandro Jodorowsky

Writers:

Alejandro Jodorowsky (story)
Roberto Leoni (adaptation)

Release Date:

27 June 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Forget Everything You Have Ever Seen

Plot:

A young man is confined in a mental hospital. Through a flashback we see that he was traumatized as a child...

Plot Keywords:

Circus | Blood | Suicide | Murder | Cocaine

Awards:

1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

Axel Jodorowsky	...	Fenix
Blanca Guerra	...	Concha
Guy Stockwell	...	Orgo
Thelma Tixou	...	The Tattooed Woman
Sabrina Dennison	...	Alma
Adan Jodorowsky	...	Young Fenix
Faviola Elenka Tapia	...	Young Alma
Teo Jodorowsky	...	Pimp
María de Jesús Aranzabal	...	Fat Prostitute (as Ma. De Jesus Aranzabal)
Jesús Juárez	...	Aladin
Sergio Bustamante	...	Monsignor
Gloria Contreras	...	Rubi
S. Rodriguez	...	The Saint
Zonia Rangel Mora	...	Trini
Joaquín García Vargas	...	Box-office Attendant (as Borolas)

Also Known As:

Holy Blood (International: English title)

MPAA:

Rated R for bizarre, graphic violence and sensuality, and for drug content. (edited version)

Runtime:

123 min | 120 min (cut version)

Country:

Mexico | Italy

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:R (1991) (edited version) | USA:Unrated (1990) (rating surrendered) | USA:NC-17 (uncut video version) | South Korea:18 | Italy:VM14 | Australia:R | Canada:18+ (Quebec) (uncut version) | France:-16 | Germany:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | Canada:R (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Estudios Churubusco Azteca, Mexico City, México D.F., Mexico

Company:

Productora Fílmica Real

Trivia:

The project was launched when Alejandro Jodorowsky was commissioned to write and direct a film based on real-life Mexican criminal named Gregorio Cárdenas.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the elephant is dying, all the close-ups of its trunk bleeding show the trunk to be clean. All the long shots of the elephant show it's trunk covered in blood.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[Fenix crouches naked atop a tree trunk in his barren asylum room]
Doctor: [enters along with orderlies pushing a food cart] Fenix. Please...
[offers him a normal meal]
Doctor: Eat like a human being.
[pause]
Doctor: [puts the tray back down and offers him a raw fish]
Fenix: [howls]
[jumps down and grabs the fish]
Fenix: Grr!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things (2004)

Soundtrack:

Cucurrucucu paloma

Close to perfect

First let me say that this is my frist movie by the director. I have not seen El Topo, or any of his others. This is a great movie, in my opinion. Not quite perfect, but still great. It, more than any other movie I have seen, exudes the most raw emotion without saying a single word. One of the movies characters is a deaf mute. There is hardly any dialogue, but it is all the better without it. It oozes the emotion that it needs to pass by through camera work, style, and acting.

The story is not your normal story, and in fact is a bit creepy. I will not tell you one single part of it, because I only knew very little going in to see it. But, let me tell you that it is not for the weak of mind or heart. But, the emotion of the movie is completely there, and I highly recommend this to the people who don't mind thinking to be slightly scared. And this is a movie that doesn't feel it has to explain everything away, and so is all the better for it.

9/10