“I’m sorry… I was having an hallucination…” That explains a lot! Join your faithful Grue Crew – Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, Jeff Mohr, and guest host Scott Wells – as they take in Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Santa Sangre (1989), a disarming film tattooed with symbolism … including the disarming part.

Decades of Horror 1980s
Episode 259 – Santa Sangre (1989)

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 A former circus artist escapes from a mental hospital to rejoin his armless mother – the leader of a strange religious cult – and is forced to enact brutal murders in her name as he becomes “her arms.”

• Directed by: Alejandro Jodorowsky
• Writing Credits: 
  • Original Story by: Alejandro Jodorowsky
  • Adapted for the Screen by: Roberto Leoni
  • Screenply by: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Roberto Leoni, Claudio Argento
• Producer: Claudio Argento
• Selected Cast:
  • Axel Jodorowsky as Fenix
  • Blanca Guerra as Concha
  • Guy Stockwell as Orgo
  • Thelma Tixou as The Tattooed Woman
  • Sabrina Dennison as Alma
  • Adan Jodorowsky as Young Fenix
  • Faviola Elenka Tapia as Young Alma
  • Teo Jodorowsky as Pimp
  • Mary Aranza as Fat Prostitute (as Ma. De Jesus Aranzabal)
  • Jesús Juárez as Aladin (as Jesus Juarez)
  • Sergio Bustamante as Monsignor
  • Gloriella as Rubi (as Gloria Contreras)
  • S. Rodriguez as The Saint
  • Zonia Rangel Mora as Trini
  • Joaquín García Vargas as Box-Office Attendant (as Borolas)
  • Teo Tapia as Business Man
  • Edgar E. Jiménez Nava as Monsignor’s Chauffeur (as Edgar E. Jimenez Nava)
  • Jacobo Lieberman as Monsignor’s Secretary
  • Héctor Ortega as Doctor (as Hector Ortega Gomez)
  • Brontis Jodorowsky as Orderly 1
  • Valérie Crouzet as Orderly 2 (as Valerie Crouzet)
  • Óscar Serafín Álvarez as Soldier 1 (as Oscar Serafin Alvarez)
  • Billy Motton as Soldier 2
  • Hilario ‘Popitekus’ Vargas as Wrestler 1
  • Guadalupe ‘TNT’ Aguilar as Wrestler 2
  • Arturo ‘Rinoceronte’ Contreras as Wrestler 3
  • Gustavo Aguilar Tejada as Beggar
  • Roger Fayard Arroyo as Beggar

In this episode, Jeff, Chad, and Bill welcome guest-host Scott Wells to review the 1989 “avant-garde surrealistic psychological horror film” from director Alejandro Jodorowsky. While the film is in English, Santa Sangre is a Mexican and Italian co-production that features a truly bizarre tale that has to be seen to be believed. The less said here, the better – it’s so much better to join the Grue-Crew to revisit this unpredictable, gorgeous, must-see mind-bender.

At the time of this writing, Santa Sangre is available to stream from Shudder, AMC+, Screambox, Kanopy, and Tubi, and is available on physical media from Severin in three releases: Blu-ray (2011), 2-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray (2021), and a 4K Ultra HD 4-Disc Limited Edition Collector’s Set (2021). Both 2021 releases are made from a 4K scan of the original negative supervised by the director.

Every two weeks, Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1980s podcast will cover another horror film from the 1980s. The next episode’s film, chosen by Crystal, will be The Boogey Man (1980), directed by Ulli Lommel and featuring the formidable John Carradine … and a mirror? This should be a fun one!

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