Review of Santa Sangre (1989) by Wut S — 26 Jun 2007

My third Judorowsky's film (after El Topo and the Holy Mountain).

I love El Topo but Santa Sangre might as well topple it. The film is, yet again, very creative and allegorical, but this time Judorowsky modernizes the film by introducing a less surreal environment (from post-apocalyptic to a milder, yet chaotic neo-Mexico). The modernization also tones down the violence theme you might expect from El Topo, which I find refreshing, because El Topo and the Holy Mountain were definitely hard to watch for its many disturbing scenes; Santa Sangre still has shocking scenes, but it has more continuity that of a western society than the director's previous films.

Not as haunting as John Lennon and Yoko Ono's personal choices, but if the director could tone down the gore (which is definitely one of his signature strengths) without losing the creativity and the sense of strong philosophical structure, to me this film is superior to El Topo.