Santa Sangre

"Forget Everything You Have Ever Seen..."

1989 2h 2m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

★7.2TMDB · 526

HorrorDramaThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A former circus artist escapes from a mental hospital to rejoin his armless, cult leader mother, and is forced to enact brutal murders in her name.

“Forget Everything You Have Ever Seen...”

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Cast

Axel Jodorowsky
Fenix
Blanca Guerra
Concha
Guy Stockwell
Orgo
Thelma Tixou
The Tattooed Woman
Sabrina Dennison
Alma
Adan Jodorowsky
Young Fenix
Faviola Elenka Tapia
Young Alma
Teo Jodorowsky
Pimp

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Writers: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Roberto Leoni
Languages: English, Spanish
Countries: Italy, Mexico

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

37 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Italy, Mexico.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky, shot by Daniele Nannuzzi. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Simon Boswell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Mauro Bonanni shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Axel Jodorowsky and Blanca Guerra and Guy Stockwell carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Alejandro Jodorowsky directs. Daniele Nannuzzi behind the camera. Simon Boswell scores. Mauro Bonanni cuts. Produced in Italy, Mexico. Dialogue in English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.8M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
237 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.
4International production across 2 countries: Italy, Mexico.
5Directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky, shot by Daniele Nannuzzi. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Simon Boswell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Mauro Bonanni shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Axel Jodorowsky and Blanca Guerra and Guy Stockwell carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Forget Everything You Have Ever Seen...".
10IMDB entry: tt0098253 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 15 themes, including "suicide", "mexico city, mexico", "elephant", "funeral".

The technical file

Cinematography: Daniele Nannuzzi
Original score: Simon Boswell
Editing: Mauro Bonanni
Production design: Alejandro Luna
Costume design: Tolita Figueroa
Makeup / hair: Sylvia Fernández
Sound: Romano Checcacci
Runtime: 122 min · 2h 2m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $787,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NC-17
IMDB: Santa Sangre (1989)

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Alejandro Jodorowsky

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2021-08-27
★ 5/10
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

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