Forget Everything You Have Ever Seen...
Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Producer: Claudio Argento
A former circus artist escapes from a mental hospital to rejoin his mother – the leader of a strange religious cult – and is forced to enact brutal murders in her name.
122 min
Rating: 7.126/10
Released
Watch Trailer
Top Cast
Blanca Guerra
Concha
Guy Stockwell
Orgo
Thelma Tixou
The Tattooed Woman
Sabrina Dennison
Alma
Adan Jodorowsky
Young Fenix
Movie Info
Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Producer: Claudio Argento
Production Companies: Productora Fílmica Real, Produzioni Intersound
Countries: Italy, Mexico
Now Streaming On
Amazon Prime Video
Screambox
Night Flight Plus
Fandor Amazon Channel
Screambox Amazon Channel
FlixFling
Eternal Family
Cineverse
Midnight Pulp
Full Moon Amazon Channel
Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Troma NOW
Midnight Pulp Amazon Channel
Similar Movies
GIRL GONE SAVED!
Good Time
2017-08-11
Bingo: The King of the Mornings
2017-08-24
DOA: Dead or Alive
2006-09-07
Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight
1995-01-13
Hellbound: Hellraiser II
1988-12-23
Living in Oblivion
1995-07-21
The Four Feathers
2002-09-08
Poison Ivy
1992-05-08
Eraser
1996-06-21
The Sting
1973-12-25
Thesis
1996-04-11
Disturbing Behavior
1998-07-24
Caligula
1979-08-14
Vampire Hunter D
1985-12-21
Cookie's Fortune
1999-03-24
The Crow
1994-05-11
Le Divorce
2003-08-08
Glengarry Glen Ross
1992-09-10User Reviews
What Others Said
Wuchak:
_**Life is a colorful psychosexual circus in Mexico City**_
A man ends up in an asylum after a shocking experience as a boy in a traveling circus in Mexico. When he escapes he finds his maimed mother and falls under her negative influence. Guy Stockwell plays the grossly overweight circus owner.
Released in 1989-1990, “Santa Sangre” (meaning “Holy Blood”) is a surreal circus fantasy made by cult director Alejandro Jodorowsky, who’s known for “El Topo” (1970) and “The Holy Mountain” (1973). His son, Axel, plays the protagonist here, Fenix.
Surreal or not, I love circus/carnival-oriented flicks and this one works well in its bizarre way for the first half, but totally bogs down in the second. The colors are vibrant and there’s a lot of deep symbolism with a Christ figure, a giant snake and so on. The various women are displayed in a creative titillating manner (Thelma Tixou as the tattooed woman, Blanca Guerra as the lithe high wire artist, Sabrina Dennison as the innocent Alma and Gloriella as Rubi) and I suspect this is a key reason why a lot of guys hail the film.
Unfortunately, the second half is dreadfully dull. Fenix doesn’t develop as a character in any attention-grabbing way and the story isn’t compelling, unless you find Fenix using his arms to help Mommy interesting. It’s still worth catching if you appreciate eccentric cult flicks that dare to be different, just be prepared for a tedious time in the second hour.
The film runs 2 hours, 3 minutes, and was shot in Mexico City.
GRADE: C