Santo el Enmascarado de Plata vs 'La invasión de los marcianos'

Do you remember The Day the Earth Stood Still? I’m talking about the 1951 version, not the more recent and useless remake. Well, now we’re in 1967, and probably some descendant of Klaatu stayed on Earth and decided to head off to Mexico.

This isn’t a spoiler—after all, what do you expect from a movie (like many others from the great El Santo) that already explains the plot in the title?

So, these invaders are here for the same reason as the old Klaatu: to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons for war purposes. And they threaten to wipe out a few people.

But as the story progresses, their leader, Argos, reveals that they are here to kidnap El Santo, take him to their planet, and discover the secret of his strength.

In the end, what do they really want? Don’t worry, El Santo’s got it covered.

Maybe our hero should have also helped Rafael García Travesí, who wrote the script, drawing inspiration (a bit more than just inspiration) from Wise’s film but also from the contemporary El Planeta de las mujeres invasoras, creating some confusion.

The confusion starts right from the poster, which shows the usual goofy green-skinned aliens that aren’t even in the movie. But, again, let’s leave room for our hero.

Argos and his crew approach Earth, interrupting television broadcasts, including one where actor and singer Demetrio González is performing a ranchera song and warning all the Earthlings. As we all know, they ask us to stop creating nuclear weapons, establish a global government, adopt a universal language, and live in peace. If we don’t accept these conditions, they will destroy us because we’re a danger to the entire solar system.

No one believes him. Maybe they even make fun of him for how he looks, especially for the helmet he wears. Who knows? So Argos sends one of his men down to a sports complex, where El Santo is, and they kill several people, including children. Then they fight with our hero and flee, returning to the spaceship.

Argos goes back on television and says they will land in Mexico because they’ve given up on nuclear weapons (though they’ve already killed some people).

The rest of the story is the usual fight between El Enmascarado de la Plata and the villains of the day, who kidnap Mexicans but eventually run out of the pills that allow them to breathe oxygen.

Thus, El Santo saves the Earth once again. And Mexico comes out victorious. But, saved? I mean, these guys just asked us to stop with the nuclear weapons and war, and considering what’s happening as I write this review, can we really blame them?

Of course, the whole thing is filled with the usual low-budget effects (or lack thereof) and improvised, trashy solutions that, however, are very funny.