Now to change things up a little bit, here’s a completely normal movie. No, I’m just kidding – SANTA SANGRE is about as weird as they get. Not HOUSE weird. But close.
SANTA SANGRE is the life story of a circus performer named Fenix. We first see him played by director Alejandro Jodorowsky’s son, Axel, as an adult in an insane asylum, but we quickly flashback to his days as a child magician in a Mexican circus, now played by the director’s other son, Adan. Fenix is traumatized early on when he witnesses the result of his knife-throwing father’s (Guy Stockwell) affair with the Tattooed Woman (Thelma Tixou). Fenix’s mother (Blanca Guerra), a religious cult leader by day and trapeze artist by night, disfigures his father with acid, and his father responds by chopping off her arms and slitting his own throat. The Tattooed Woman escapes with her life, dragging along her adopted daughter, Fenix’s best friend and young love, a deaf/mute tightrope walker (Faviola Elenka Tapia).
After this set up, we cut back to the present, as Fenix (Axel again) breaks out of the insane asylum with the help of his armless mother, starts a new act with her, and begins exacting murderous revenge on her behalf. In the stage act, the revenge plot, and in domestic scenes at home, Fenix acts as his mother’s arms, standing behind her, putting his arms through her sleeves, and performing all of her wants and needs for her, whether it’s playing the piano or stabbing a hooker to death. Meanwhile, we see that Fenix’s childhood love has grown into a pretty young woman forced into prostitution (Sabrina Dennison).
As I watched SANTA SANGRE unfold, I couldn’t help but be reminded of THE UNKNOWN from earlier in Horrorfest – that was the flick with Lon Chaney as the armless (and murderous) knife thrower. I wonder if Jodorowsky ever saw that one?
This movie is never boring. Much like the other Jodorowsky flick I’ve seen, the equally infamous and weird EL TOPO, the narrative seems to reinvent itself once every 15 minutes or so. It is one long story that makes sense, sure, but we follow Fenix through so many settings and adventures that it’s almost like we’re watching six movies about his life instead of just one. For every plot device and twist, there are even more stunning images, including a tragic elephant funeral, a nightmare in which Fenix’s victims rise from the grave, and a shocking finale in which Fenix’s circus clown friends help him exorcise his demons and claw his way back to sanity.
The interesting thing here is that despite the horrific things he does, the nightmarish visions, and the overall weird setting, Fenix comes off as a likable, sympathetic character who might be just as at home in a silent comedy as he is here. Part of this is thanks to the naïve, wide-eyed, affable double performance from Axel and Adan Jodorowsky.
Like HOUSE, SANTA SANGRE benefits from not taking itself too seriously. Like HOUR OF THE WOLF, SANTA SANGRE also benefits from seeming like it has something important to say about the human condition. Added up together, it is my favorite of the “weird” trilogy I’ve put myself through during this stretch of Horrorfest.
Note to self: watch everything else Alejandro Jodorowsky ever made as soon as possible.
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