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 | Murder | Blood | Suicide | Pimp

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

Colour:

Colour

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 movie Fenix is watching is the 1933 classic The Invisible Man (1933) starring Claude Rains.

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:

Marcha zacatecas

a masterpiece, indeed

This is a startling work, a truly artistic masterpiece, which did achieve some mainstream recognition for Jodorowoski but not what the film deserved. Filled with unsettling images, grotesque displays of violence and sexuality, and subtle but comic references, Santa Sangre is Jodorowoski's most coherent work. It is also a thoroughly artistic work, with a greater emphasis on representation than drama or morality. If you have not seen this movie, rent it. You will not soon forget it whatever your final evaluation might be. Too bad its not available on DVD (hint).