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Axel Jodorowsky, Blanca Guerra, Sabrina Dennison, Adan Jodorowsky, Guy Stockwell ... see more see more... , Thelma Tixou , Faviola Tapia , Jesus Juarez , Sergio Bustamante , Brontis Jodorowsky , Teo Jodorowsky

Circus horrors cross over into the mundane world in this terrifying, psychedelic film from Alejandro Jodorowsky, the man who brought you the infamous El Topo. Fenix (Adan Jodorowsky, the director's so... read more read more...n) is the son of a circus strongman (Guy Stockwell) and an aerialist (Blanca Guerra). One night, the mother sees from her high perspective that her husband is fooling around with the tattooed lady. She later confronts him and throws acid on him in retaliation. He saws off her arms in return and kills himself. Fenix, witness to all this, runs away raving. Years later, Fenix (now played by older brother Axel Jodorowski) is released from an insane asylum by his armless mother. She wants to go on a murderous revenge spree, and maybe play a little piano, and she needs Fenix to be her arms for both tasks. Though the film has some of the hallucinatory qualities of Jodorowsky's earlier films, Santa Sangre doesn't quite have the same punch, particularly in terms of cerebral and emotional impact, despite its fine visuals. Santa Sangre is available in both R-rated and NC-17 edits. ~ John Voorhees, Rovi

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87% liked it

6,335 ratings

Critics

83% liked it

23 critics

R, 2 hr. 3 min.

Directed by: Alejandro Jodorowsky

Release Date: June 1, 1990

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DVD Release Date: March 28, 1991

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Blanca Guerra Adan Jodorowsky Adan Jodorowsky - Fenix
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Flixster Reviews (563)

  • flixsterman
    April 28, 2012
    flixsterman
    Part Dario Argento, part Pedro Almodóvar, part Quentin Tarantino. What a macabre work of art!
  • YLOWBSTARDreturns
    October 6, 2010
    YLOWBSTARDreturns
    A new favorite of mine.
  • djdemersseman
    August 9, 2010
    djdemersseman
    Once you make it through the first half, there's plenty of good creepy, strange, and disturbing material. But you have to make it through the first half to get there.
  • 366weirdmovies
    March 4, 2010
    366weirdmovies
    In between hallucinations a young man kills at the telepathic command of his armless mother. Jodoworsky's takes a stab at making a surrrealist slasher flick, and the result is his most accessible film.
  • SirPant
    December 7, 2009
    SirPant
    Typically laced with bizarre religious symbolism and gory, disturbing yet somehow, beautiful violence. Alejandro Jodorowsky's long awaited return (16 years, via his film Tusk that didn't do so well) is just as disturbing and glorious as El Topo and The Holy Mountain, just not as ... read moregood. This almost seemed mainstream compared to his older 'Cult' films, not a bad thing, it just doesn't seem as special. I remember hunting down a dodgy copy of El Topo in the early 90's, it took ages but when I got it, it was a good feeling, I totally understood what the underground fans had been going on about all that time. I rented Santa Sangre loads of times quite easily, thus never really having the same impact. Still, it's all good and I hope the rumours are true and that he's going to be making a new one soon! (Hurry up Mr. Jodorowsky, you're not getting any younger!)
  • DrBenway
    March 17, 2008
    DrBenway
    Set in the world of travelling-circus sideshows, Santa Sangre already promises us circus-midgets, freaks and mutilations.

    And if the plot isn't strange enough, Jodorowsky decides to throw in an elephant burial, a Temple of Blood, some naked zombie-bride, a fat hooker doing t... read morehe tango, and a field trip to the redlight district sponsored by the insane asylum.

    Not quite on par with El Topo or Holy Mountain, Santa Sangre is a linear story that will burn images into your mind for days to come.
  • matertenebraum
    January 11, 2008
    matertenebraum
    After a long absence Jodorowsky returned with this surreal but more accessible offering than his earlier work, focusing on a circus and starring Jodorowsky's son and grandson as Fenix, a young boy who witnesses his father cut off the arms of his mother before committing suicide. ... read moreThen we see Fenix grown up and finding his mother again, and she uses him as her slave, using his hands for her various needs and also to commit murder. There are the trademark Jodorowsky images in parts with deformed people on a trip out from an asylum, and powerful scenes like the elephant being savaged for food. But it somehow has a more warmer and humble feel to it than his previous work

    couldn't tell why Alexandro Jodorowsky would disown this film. Even though he was not as involved as in most of his projects with everything in the production of this movie, and is not as strong and violent, still has the same elements of the rest of his work, even though it wasn't written by him. It states more,as his other movies,through symbolic imagery than with the plot and the dialogues, and, in my opinion, this work is where he best applied his experience as a pantomime and circus clown he once was, even more than in Santa Sangre. While in Santa Sangre the circus world was the background of the main character, in this movie, the whole settings work in whole as a carnival or a circus. To me, It seems like a metaphor of Christ as the teacher he was, and what paradise is really and wealth is really like. A real teacher, in the word of Jodorowsky, seeks the disciple and waits to be not only outlearned by him, but destroyed. These are all elements that we can find in El Topo, The Holy Mountain and Fando y Lis, even though it was not written by him. Many times Jodorowsky gives examples through parables involving dogs, and this is one of them. What it lacks in violence, it makes up in weirdness and imaginative situations,absurd and funny. And the Tarot as an instrument for self-acknowledgment is there, too! For a director who had such bad experience as a "hire" with "Tusk" and not the need to support his children (i assume, because by then most of them were adults and experienced actors) as bad as in the past, It wouldn't have been worth it to repeat the same experience. Jodorowsky, again, is not trying to get through your concioussness, but your subconciouss, and like he said, every time he wants to reach a wider audience; we all can understand his message.
  • YosemiteSamFan
    September 27, 2007
    YosemiteSamFan
    I really liked this movie. The story was more coherent than Jodorowsky's previous "El Topo", "Fando & Lis" and "The Holy Mountain" - and the imagery was less-revolting.

    When I first saw the bare monkey-man in the tree of the mental hospital, I thought "Oh gosh, this is going to ... read morebe another messed-up film like 'The Holy Mountain'!" But soon my fears were quashed, as Santa Sangre turned out to be a moving story with love, sadness, beauty, passion, horror and mental illness colorfully woven together. There was plenty of violence, but the set pieces and characters were very engaging. In "Santa Sangre", the beauty outweighed the filth.

    The first half of the film details the trauma experienced by a young circus boy named "Fenix" when he witnesses the loss of his parents in an incident of heated passion. Fenix is confined to a mental hospital where he acts like a primitive ape.

    Things change when his armless mother returns to free him. Fenix and his mother begin a strange theatre act, where he stands behind and supplies the arms for her performing talents.

    Trouble emerges when Fenix shows attraction to other beautiful women; his jealous mother assumes control of his arms and slaughters them, with the ladies' bodies being buried in a ghoulish crypt. It's bizarre and surreal.

    The horror and fantasy scenes have the feeling of a Dario Argento directed film. I liked the scene with the zombie women rising out of their graves, with the 80's synth music. All of the music really works for this film; it accompanies scenes of beauty and horror nicely.

    The scenes of Fenix and his mother living together could've been trimmed down to improve the pacing.

    The climax where Fenix's angelic childhood love girl navigates the twisted chambers of the manor to rescue him, was a moving experience. I felt cleansed at the end when Fenix came back to reality.
  • nuheart
    January 6, 2007
    nuheart
    Okay, Stephen King told me about this movie -- he didn't necessarily recommend it, but when the King says a movie is weird, you naturally want to check it out. It's fifteen years on, and I couldn't tell you a lot about it, but yeah, weird is pretty much how I'd describe it.
  • ryguy4738
    April 25, 2011
    ryguy4738
    9.4/10

    This is what I'm talking about. "Santa Sangre" is the surrealistic horror film that I never thought I'd see, and I never thought such a magnificently disturbing, whimsical, and psychedelic film could be made by man. And I never thought that such intense vi... read moresual perfection could apply to a darned horror film, but here we are. Here we are indeed.

    There are many, many special qualities to a movie such as "Santa Sangre", and luckily for you, I don't intend to spoil too many of them. However, as this is indeed a review for a film, I must respectively warn you when a film is not for all tastes, and people, do we EVER have a film that "isn't for all tastes"! Here is a gruesome, gory, and macabre horror feature that will not appeal to those with weak stomachs. You could stare at such imagery and interpret it as art, or you could just keep your barf-bag close and hope for the best.

    The film tells a timely tale of a child who was born of parents who both worked in the Circus business. The boy was named Fenix, and during his youth, he grew up, fell in love, and witnessed his mother lose her limbs and his father commit suicide. Fenix saw some pretty bad situations in his time, but nothing could compare, or prepare, him for what was to come later on.

    So Fenix grows into a semi-healthy young man, who is only really "semi-healthy" because his childhood has traumatized him and earned him a spot in the loony bin. It's evident that our hero is a whole lot more sane than anyone else in the "loony bin", although the doctors don't seem to care. One day, he escapes and returns home to momma.

    And momma is pretty good when it comes to "welcome home" gifts. Fenix and mother begin to do circus shows together again, with Fenix acting as his mother's arms for an attraction. Fenix soon happens upon a horrifying discovering; his mother can now fully control his arms in place of her own. The worst part about this is mother's murderous tendencies towards the women who enter Fenix's life and pose a "threat" to him and his momma.

    Yes, I know: this sounds like a slasher flick. And yes, I also know that it kind of is one. However, "Santa Sangre" is not what most would think of when they visualize the generic slasher flick, often times dealing with the darkly beautiful, the bizarre, and the grotesque. Instead of standard horror fare, we get a new classic; a bold, graphic, disturbing, and masterful portrayal of deep fear. "Santa Sangre" does not really care whether you want to watch it or not; as only the best art-house pictures can have such a twisted mentality. Who would want to make a film that ISN'T for everyone? Believe it or not, there are many filmmakers out there, and director Alejandro Jodorowsky is one who is not afraid of what others think.

    I'll be honest: I loved this film. I love films that use gore as art (example: Argento's earlier works), and I love me a good horror film at any time. I wasn't sure how to approach "Santa Sangre", but maybe that WAS the approach in itself. This is a rare film which I would love to call "movie magic", although what's so magical about someone getting their arms chopped off? Also, what's so entertaining about a movie that keeps the blood flowing, and depicts unflinching acts of sorrow and violence? All I can really say for that is this: "Santa Sangre" is meant to entertain, surprise, and intoxicate; and that is what it does. It's a film unlike any I've ever seen, complete with dazzling and imaginative visuals and a timley performance from actor Axel Jodorosky, and helmed by a man who has taken obvious influence from past cinematic magicians such as Fellini. This film is just as good as a Fellini film; if not better than some. Again, not for everyone's taste, but for all its worth, "Santa Sangre" scared me, shocked me, entertained me, and left me in awe.

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Critic Reviews

Jonathan Rosenbaum
February 26, 2008
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

The Mel Brooks of vulgar surrealism, Jodorowsky's basic principle is that if you throw 30 outrageous ideas at the audience, 2 or 3 are bound to make an impression. Full Review

Kevin Thomas
March 16, 2007
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

A mishmash of religious and Freudian symbolism amid torrential bloodshed topped with Fellini flourishes. Full Review

Caryn James
May 20, 2003
Caryn James, New York Times

Mr. Jodorowsky offers a very polished game of interpretation. His eccentric film relies on the viewer's willingness to play along. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The quality that Jodorowsky has above all is passionate sincerity. Apart from his wildly creative style, apart from his images, apart from his story inventions, he has strong moral feelings. Full Review

Hal Hinson
January 1, 2000
Hal Hinson, Washington Post

The result is nonsense of a very extravagant, alienating, private sort. Full Review

Anton Bitel
March 23, 2011
Anton Bitel, Movie Gazette

Put Luis Buñuel, Federico Fellini and Dario Argento in bed together, and their perverted offspring might grow up to be something like 'Santa Sangre' - a murderously surreal masterpiece of blood and ci... Full Review

Christopher Long
February 26, 2011
Christopher Long, Movie Metropolis

A ridiculous, pretentious, fascinating, and unforgettable horror film from one of cinema's true originals. Full Review

John Beifuss
February 16, 2011
John Beifuss, Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

A surreal circus of invention, pretension and astonishment that, like many carnivals, touts the talents of its performers but knows most customers came to gawk at the freaks. Full Review

Sean Axmaker
February 13, 2011
Sean Axmaker, Parallax View

... certainly the most accessible "Jodorowksy film," a vision filled with circus imagery, surreal scenes, grotesque violence and psycho-sexual trauma. Full Review

Rob Humanick
January 31, 2011
Rob Humanick, Slant Magazine

An essential work of phantasmagorical cinema. Full Review

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