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Johnny Vanguard

Who is Johnny Vanguard? Johnny Vanguard was born and raised in the outback town of Charters Towers in Northern Queensland. After various musical stints, Vanguard moved to Sydney where he joined the band that was to become a legend in Australia - Underlife. He quickly became a highlight of the band. In 1994 Vanguard went solo and since then has released albums like the critically acclaimed 'City Experiences' and 'Sunsets and Scrapheaps' Johnny Vanguard is here to stay!
 

Film Review: Santo Frente a la Muerte (Santo Faces Death)

Santo may Face Death but Johnny is looking at execution
Santo frente a la muerte (Santo Faces Death)
Stars: Santo (himself), Johnny Vanguard (Lt. Víctor Valle), Jo Beth Jo (Alicia), Denise (Lina), Fernando Osés (Agent X-25), Frank Braña (Mario)
Directed By: Tony C
Rating: One Star
(This review originally appeared in "No Sight or Sound" November 1999)
Australian audience will be waiting with anticipation to see Santo frente A la muerte (Santo Faces Death) which opens today across the country. Partly to see what Mexican wrestling movies have to offer, but mainly to see Johnny Vanguard in the film that split his relationship with long time girlfriend Jo Beth Jo for sultry newcomer, Denise.
Don’t hold your breath expecting another ‘Titanic’, this is definitely one of the worst Santo films ever, both for production values and general entertainment value. The plot is boring and muddled, Tony C's direction is awful, Santo doesn't have much to do, and Vanguard and Denise’s stormy ‘off screen’ relationship, which received so much press attention in this country last year, really doesn’t even rate a mention here... but more of that later.
A few words about the connection between Santo and Johnny Vanguard. Santo met Vanguard when he came out for a promotional visit to Australia in 1995. Vanguard immediately warmed to the masked wrestling giant, and the two became inseparable. Santo mentioned to Vanguard that maybe at some point he might like to play a part in an upcoming Santo feature – and this is the result.
Santo frente a la muerte begins with a raid on a Colombian emerald mine. A gang of crooks, led by female wrestler Alicia (Jo Beth), steals the huge "Cruz del sur" emerald. They have been hired by the mysterious "Gran Desconocido" (Great Unknown One), who is going to sell the stone overseas. Alicia is being forced to work for the Gran Desconocido because he is holding her father prisoner somewhere.
Santo arrives in Colombia and is met by Lt. Víctor Valle (Vanguard) of the local police. Valle is suspicious of Lina (Denise), a blonde who became acquainted with Santo on the flight. Santo and Valle 'team up' to find the diamond, Valle asks Santo to go undercover to find the crooks.
Santo's cover story requires that he wrestle in some matches. In the first one, an assassin in the employ of the Gran Desconocido tries to shoot him, but misses. This could be sheer entertainment, but Johnny Vanguard, who is standing in the background singing, ruins this scene.
The assassin reports to the Gran Desconocido in a nearby nightclub, which also happens to be the hangout for Lina. Valle spots Lina talking to the boss, which confirms his suspicions about her. In a scene which mirrors Johnny Vanguard and Denise's real-life events, Lina and Valle become romantically entangled, which enrages Alicia, who takes on Valle in a wrestling match. This hillarious match between Jo-Beth and Vanguard must be seen to be believed. Lina though saves Valle at the last moment, and takes the diamond.
Lina, Valle and Santo must now get the diamond out of the country and the rest of the film is about their escape to freedom, while the Gran Desconocido and Alicia pursue them at every turn.
There are a couple of musical numbers woven very obviously into the plot. Vanguard is a dreadful actor, but his voice isn't all that bad, especially when he sings his big love ballad “perla negra” with co-star Denise, while, ironically, Jo Beth Jo looks on. It’s at this point your heart will melt, or like most of the people I went with to this film, you will walk out of the theatre totally disgusted.
Another sore spot is the musical score by Vanguard which veers wildly from inappropriate jazz and big band style music to themes played on a marimba, to the aforementioned “perla negra”. Without a doubt, this is a real low point for Santo and even lower for Vanguard - he may have found a new wrestling partner for life in this film, but Vanguard's acting career is in dire need of a disqualification.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 18, 2008 at 8:52 pm. You can skip to the end and leave a response.

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