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Santa Sangre
[Blu-ray 4K]
Blu-ray ALL - United Kingdom - Severin Films Review written by and copyright: Eric Cotenas (29th July 2024). |
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The Film
 Fenix (director Alejandro Jodorowsky's son Adan) is a child magician in the circus of his alcoholic knife-throwing ringmaster father Orgo (The Plainsman's Guy Stockwell) who had to take his show South-of-the-border after allegedly killing a woman. Too sensitive for his father's lechery and brutality, Fenix's only friends are dwarf Aladin (Jesús Juárez) and Alma (Faviola Elenka Tapia), the deaf-mute charge of The Tattooed Lady (Thelma Tixou). When his religious fanatic mother Concha (The Beginning of the End's Blanca Guerra) returns to the circus after her shrine to an uncanonized patron saint – a young girl who had her arms cut off by her rapists – is deemed blasphemous and bulldozed by order of the local Bishop, she becomes part of her son's magic act whereupon she notices her husband's philandering ways. When she catches them in the act, Concha emasculates Orgo and scars The Tattooed Lady with acid; whereupon Orgo severs both of her arms with his throwing knives before slitting his own throat. A traumatized Fenix grows into young adulthood (Adan's older brother Axel) in a mental hospital, mute and seemingly harmless enough that he is allowed the company of the hospital's Down Syndrome residents. When he is allowed to tag along with them to the cinema, he spots a grown Alma (Sabrina Dennison) who is being sexually exploited by The Tattooed Lady who returned to prostitution after fleeing the circus. When Concha reappears in Fenix's life, he escapes the hospital and becomes her arms in a pantomime act. Concha's control over his arms is such that she can compel him to use the knife-throwing skills of his father to murder any young woman who threatens their mother-son bond. After The Tattooed Lady is slashed to death, Alma flees and searches for Fenix who is going to self-destructive ends to free himself from his mother's hold on him. If approached as a suspense film, Jodorowsky's Santa Sangre is bound to disappoint as an arty take on Psycho, something the Italian giallo genre still had not been able to shake off by even in its waning years (particularly in the case of this film with Dario Argento's producer brother Claudio behind the scenes here). It is quite obvious that his mother is a figment of his imagination even in scenes where it appears that other people should be able to see her – for instance, the pantomime act based on a piece written by Jodorowsky for Marcel Marceau – and there is no question about the identity of the assailant of the Argento-esque stalk-and-slash set-piece (the reality of some other figures in his life is more questionable). Although he only "dresses up" as his mother on a figurative level, his yearning for escape finds expression early on in the film with his seeming belief that he is a bird while later it takes the form of his attempts to pay homage to The Invisible Man, even attempting to create a formula that will allow him to disappear (he almost believes he is invisible with his mother convincing him that no one sees him because he is nothing without her). On the other hand, if one accepts from the start that Fenix has been seriously warped by familial trauma, then the film could be seen to encompass the original "trilogy" Psycho films as it should have ended: with Norman recovering control of his mind and body after stabbing his mother's effigy – without the third film's last minute camera wink – as seen here in Fenix's moving reaction to being ordered to raise "his" hands. The casting of Jodorowsky's sons extends to elder child Teo (who died in 1995 at age twenty-four) as the hospital attendant/pimp who diverts Fenix and the Down Syndrome residents from a screening of Rene Cardona Jr.'s Robinson Crusoe to a visit to Mexico City's Red Light District. Apart from the murder sequences, Simon Boswell moves largely away from his Italian horror synths towards a combination of stabbing mariachi horns and mournful guitar, not unlike his subsequent score for Alex de la Iglesia's Perdita Durango. The sometimes dazzling, sometimes stark photography was the work of Daniele Nannuzzi (The Caller), son of Armando Nannuzzi (The Damned). Other Argento associates include dubbing director Nick Alexander – who voices Fenix's psychologist – and executive producer Angelo Iacono who served as production manager on Argento's films from Cat O'Nine Tails through Phenomena but who had also formed a partnership in the late seventies with Cardona Jr. that netted The Bermuda Triangle and Cyclone (Cardona is also credited here as executive producer). Danish character actor Lars Bloch (The Wild Eye), who spent the sixties and seventies as a jobbing actor in Italy, is credited as associate producer. 
Video
Branded with an NC-17 rating, Santa Sangre was only given a cursory theatrical release by Republic Pictures stateside before they released it on VHS and laserdisc by Image Entertainment in 1991 – although the running time of both transfers was just under two hours, it was not edited but time-compressed to fit on a T-120 tape and two sides of a single CLV laserdisc while Japan spread their release over two discs – and by Mainline Pictures in the U.K. followed by a Palace Video VHS. While the film was available on DVD in a loaded special edition from Anchor Bay in the U.K. since 2004, the film did not arrive stateside until 2011 when Severin Films released it on single-disc Blu-ray and two-disc DVD sets (along with a scaled-down single-disc DVD in 2014). That transfer left a little to be desired with grayish black levels but featured more extras than the U.K. Blu-ray from uneven boutique label Mr. Bongo including a new feature-length documentary by Severin's David Gregory (Mr. Bongo's documentary feature "Constellation Jodorowsky" had already been available stateside on Fantoma Films and Anchor Bay's respective releases of Fando y Lis). While Mr. Bongo had a darker, richer transfer, it only had a lossy DTS 2.0 stereo English track, but Region B-capable viewers could also have tracked down Koch Media's English-friendly Blu-ray/DVD/CD five-disc set. Jodorowsky's 4K restoration of the film was reportedly provided to Severin with SDR grading so it has not been given an HDR10 or Dolby Vision pass like their other 4K UltraHD releases such as the concurrent editions of Alex de la Iglesia's Perdita Durango and Day of the Beast. In 2021, Severin Films in the U.S. put out simultaneous four-disc 4K UltraHD/Blu-ray/CD and two-disc Blu-ray combo editions and their new concurrent U.K. four-disc 4K UltraHD/Blu-ray/CD combo and two-disc Blu-ray editions are direct ports with the only difference being the BBFC ratings certificates on the covers. While this is disappointing for those who have HDR-capable players, the 2160p24 HEVC 1.85:1 widescreen UHD and 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen Blu-ray sport the same grading but with obvious improvements in color gradation, black levels, highlights, and a sense of depth in the case of the SDR UHD. Compared to the earlier transfer, blacks are deeper (whether the original Severin Blu-ray was ungraded or in the wrong color space), reds are bolder, and the overall colors are warmer without looking as sickly yellow as the even earlier DVD master while the earlier Severin HD master looked bluer overall. The only questionable grading might be in some of the night exteriors where the neons bloom and seem to bleed into where there were once steely blues. 
Audio
Both UHD and Blu-ray include the original sync-sound English Dolby Stereo mix in conservatively remixed DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 stereo options – only a few supporting performances are dubbed including Fenix's psychiatrist who is voiced by dubbing director Nick Alexander who Italian horror fans will recognized voicing Al Cliver in ZOMBIE). The Italian and Spanish dubs are also included in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono. The English track is generally good quality although it is subject to some weaknesses of the original mix including some of the ADR re-voicing in which sibilance is painful to listen to in the case of Zonia Rangel Mora as the La India Maria-looking chemist who is lovesick for Fenix. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided but no subtitles for the Spanish or Italian tracks. 
Extras
Both the UHD and Blu-ray share the feature and the Anchor Bay-era audio commentary by director Alejandro Jodorowsky, moderated by journalist Alan Jones in which he discusses the gap in his filmmaking career following the production and release of Tusk, the difficulty in finding funding before meeting Claudio Argento who wanted to make a film without his brother Dario in which someone nevertheless kills "a lot of women." He covers the development of the script, the inspiration he drew from his meeting with Mexican serial killer Goio Cardenas and of the film Les enfants du paradis, the religious element of the film, the stipulation that the film be shot in English with direct sound, the casting choices, and the local extras including the prostitutes who were all men in drag. Also included on both the UHD and Blu-ray is "New Blood: Alejandro Jodorowsky on the restoration of Santa Sangre" (31:50) in which the director who cover some aspects of the commentary again, recalls the creative freedom on set, Boswell's scoring, and the film's restoration. Ported over from the Anchor Bay DVD are the deleted scenes with audio commentary by director Alejandro Jodorowsky, moderated by journalist Alan Jones (7:35) which include a few scene extensions from earlier in the film including Orgo teaching his son how to throw knives (a talent Fenix is only revealed to possess later in the finished film). The theatrical trailer (2:49) is also included.  The second Blu-ray disc features the bulk of the brand new and older extras starting with the feature-length 2011 documentary directed by Severin's David Gregory "Forget Everything You Have Ever Seen: The World of Santa Sangre" (96:36) in which Jodorowsky recalls meeting serial killer Goyo Cárdenas by chance and being intrigued by a man who murdered seventeen women, was institutionalized for ten years, and then became a writer and lawyer, as well as being happily married with a family. Screenwriter Roberto Leoni (My Dear Killer) recalls his idea being about the challenge of creating a serial killer to whom audience sympathy would shift from his victims. When he met with Jodorowsky in Paris, the director suggested that the "angel of stories" had passed the idea between them at the same time. Jodorowsky recalls the requirements of Claudio Argento in killing a lot of women and how the story served that purpose, but that he refused the proposed internationally-bankable stars Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston who wanted too much money anyway while he felt he was too old to act as he had in his earlier films and proposed his sons instead. Axel Jodorowsky discusses his training with Marcel Marceau in pantomime while Adan Jodorowsky recalls at eight the pressure from his father to be a good actor on the project. The director also notes the presence of his other sons Brontis as a nurse in the opening scene and the late Teo whose loss the director and his sons briefly convey. They, along with Guerra, Tixou, Dennison (who signs and is overdubbed), Tapia – along with her father Teo Tapia who was on set with his daughter but was also cast as the property owner who orders the bulldozers to demolish Concha's church – and publicist Greg Day (Two Evil Eyes) recall shooting in Mexico City among real prostitutes, pimps, thieves, and transvestites who Jodorowsky invited to the set after they asked him to present the prize for Miss Mexico – and the actors also individually recall being unnerved by Jodorowsky until they cottoned on to his style of directing (with Tixou's remark of her character being "the most unwanted woman in the world" shedding light on her evil character). Boswell also turns up discussing the score as a "pastiche of horror music" and how he once was embarrassed by using keyboards and samples to synthesize orchestral music but now realizes it is sometimes more effective. "Like A Phoenix" (38:22) is an interview with producer Claudio Argento who categorically states that the film is not in any way Italian horror even though it is an Italian co-production and was the high point of his career after parting ways with his brother. He had wanted to make a film with Jodorowsky and originally brought him a script about the Templars that proved too expensive and Santa Sangre was also hard to finance until it became a Mexican co-production with Cardona through Iacono who were also valuable in securing crew and locations. "Holy Blood" (42:08) is a new interview with cinematographer Danielle Nannuzzi who had not worked on any major international productions and was nervous about working with Jodorowsky who had seen his work on Young Toscanini and learned to go with his instincts while also being Jodorowsky's puppet. In discussing his lighting of a surreal version of Mexico City, he notes that none of the lighting inside or outside was unmodified by him whether diffusing sunlight of wetting down the streets to reflect more neon, that he used fast 500 ASA film, and that the look was never intended to be naturalistic. "Mexican Magic" (36:07) is a new interview with executive producer Angelo Iacono who had just finished working on Dario Argento's Phenomena and wanted to go back to Mexico City where he worked with the Cardonas when the Jodorowsky project came to him through Claudio Argento. He notes that Jodorowsky had been forced to leave Mexico after his earlier scandalous productions El Topo and The Holy Mountain and that he arranged for the director to be able to stay in Mexico for the twelve weeks of the shoot. He discusses the logistics of scheduling the actors, locations, and effects as well as originally wanting to cast an American actress who was already tattooed to save three hours a day of make-up but the audition did not go well and they went with Tixou who he asked to stop bathing so the make-up did not have to be reapplied every day. He also discusses the extras including a real armless girl that Jodorowsky had hanging around the set for weeks before not using her. In "The Language of Editing" (21:13), Mauro Bonanni (Steam: The Turkish Bath) recalls reading about the film's shooting in an Italian magazine and wondering who the editor was when Argento contacted him about a project that turned out to be Santa Sangre which had been cut up to a point by a Mexican editor. He discusses the difficult but rewarding working relationship in the cutting room with Jodorowsky who only spoke Spanish to him even though he did not understand, forcing him to learn as they worked on two more films afterward. "Innocence and Horror" (28:47) is a new interview with screenwriter Roberto Leoni who covers some of the material as the documentary but states that he was not chosen for Jodorowsky but that he and Argento chose Jodorowsky when they wanted to make a serious international production to get away from Italian horror, and that Jodorowsky's ideas happened to synthesize with his own. He speaks of their collaboration writing in Paris as harmonious and that Jodorowsky's intuitive ideas appealed to his own inner child, and they were able to utilize and enrich those visual and symbolic ideas in service of the plot from the tattooed woman's representation of sexuality to the armless motif. Also new to this set is "Santa Sangre 30th Anniversary Celebration at Morbido Festival, Mexico City" (10:00) shot in 2019. Ported from the earlier Severin Blu-ray is the 2011 documentary "Goyo Cárdenas Spree Killer" (17:40), an earlier interview with director Alejandro Jodorowsky (32:39), a "Jodorowsky on Stage Q&A" (25:40) from 2002, "ECHECK" (3:56) – a short film by Adan Jodorowsky with commentary by his father – "Simon Boswell Interviews Jodorowsky" (7:56), Boswell's music video "Close Your Eyes" (5:47), and a Boswell short "Blink Jodowrowsky" (2:01).  The fourth disc of the set is a ten track soundtrack CD by Simon Boswell which falls short of the British soundtrack release which included seventeen tracks but includes one track over Boswell's own Bandcamp download version.
Packaging
The four discs are housed in a digipack with eight lobby cards.
Overall
Alejandro Jodowsky's return to filmmaking after nine years with the comparatively mainstream Santa Sangre proved the surrealist provocateur was anything but "rusty".
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