THE BEAST AND THE MAGIC SWORD aka LA BESTIA Y LA ESPADA MÁGICA

Paul Naschy, 1983

Starring: Paul Naschy, Shigeru Amachi, Beatriz Escudero

In Medieval Europe, Irineus Daninsky, right hand of the emperor, kills a barbarian and incurs the wrath of his mistress, a witch named Amese. She curses Daninsky so that his family line will be plagued with lycanthropy. The impressive cursing scene involves a wolf skull being shoved into the stomach of Irineus’s pregnant wife. The witch is killed, but of course she does not permanently die. 

In the future, his ancestor Waldemar Daninsky turns into a werewolf and tries to find a way to end his curse. He tracks down a powerful magician, but the magician is slain before he can curse Daninsky. With his dying words, he tells him to go to Japan and find a samurai-magician named Kian. In order to help Daninsky, Kian must locate a magical sword, though many obstacles are in the way, including the witch, black magic, demons, rival samurai, partially nude female ninjas, and more.

This Japanese-Spanish coproduction is a fairly unique affair. Though there were some Western and Japanese co-productions during the period, I think this is the only one to feature a werewolf.  The film is a little long, but has some great set pieces and maybe the biggest budget Naschy ever had at his disposal. Shot at Toshiro Mifune’s studios, Naschy continued to take the role of writer, director, and star for this tenth film in the El Hombre Lobo series. The success of this film allowed him to create another Japanese-funded film, Human Beasts.

The Beast and the Magic Sword has a big emphasis on fantasy and choreographed fight scenes, which gives this a fresh feel as far as the rest of the series is concerned. It isn’t overly bloody and most of the violence is implied, but it has a strong dose of exploitation so lacking in the previous films of the series. The sets are fantastic and Naschy somehow manages to transport a European Gothic flavor to Japan. Impressive, considering he had only been directing for a few years at that point and was working with a foreign-language cast and crew.

Shigeru Amachi (The Ghost of Yotsuya) is given almost equal running time with Naschy, which is another of the film’s major advantages. This is the tenth film in the series and by now, I think everyone has seen enough of the melodramatic moping and longing that has marked Daninsky’s character thus far. Amachi has some great scenes of his own, including a few fights. His quest for the magic sword involves duking it out with some well-designed demons and there’s a very entertaining battle in the baths with topless female assassins. 

Amachi is not the only one to engage in fisticuffs. Daninsky fights a Bengal tiger, savages a whole group of samurai, and absolutely destroys a brothel full of scantily-clad geisha. He also fights some sassy female ninjas in a scene that would perfectly fit into to a Shaw Brothers movie like Five Element Ninjas. 

The film manages to feel fresh even though it recycles some of Naschy’s earlier plot elements. First and foremost, there is once again a barbarian villain with a witch companion, just as in The Werewolf and the Yeti. As in Curse of the Devil, Daninsky’s love interest is named Kinga and there’s an awkward moment where her sister also falls for Daninsky. Despite these repeats, the film still feels fresh.

The Beast and the Magic Sword comes recommended to anyone who enjoys the rest of the series and to fans of Asian B movies from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Sadly, there’s no English-language DVD, but you should be able to find the film online with some digging. Naschy really should have stopped here with this fun, entertaining entry in the series and, for a time, he did. It was more than a decade before he made the next Daninsky film, Licántropo (1996), and several years after that before the last in the series, Tomb of the Werewolf (2003), though I won't be reviewing either of these. Definitely recommended. 

NIGHT OF THE WERWOLF aka EL RETORNO DEL HOMBRE LOBO

Paul Naschy, 1980

Starring: Paul Naschy, Julia Saly, Silvia Aguilar

In the 17^th century, the Countess Elizabeth Bathory and her followers are sentenced to death for practicing black magic. One member of her group is Waldemar Daninsky, a nobleman and werewolf. In modern day, a young anthropologist, Erika, is studying the legends surrounding Bathory along with her two friends. They decide to visit the gravesite in the Carpathians.

Around the time of their arrival, Daninsky is resurrected when grave robbers take the silver cross from his chest. He awakens, transforms, and kills the men. Predictably, he moves into an isolated castle, which happens to be just near Bathory’s grave. The dead Bathory, meanwhile, has mentally possessed Erika, who soon resurrects her with blood and magic. Only Daninsky can prevent her from spreading vampiric evil throughout the world.

This ninth film in the El Hombre Lobo series was, as usual, written by Paul Naschy, who also stars. But for the first time, he also took the director’s chair with this film. This has both positives and negatives. It is the first film to revisit the Hammer-like visuals of the first film, Mark of the Werewolf. The script is relatively fast paced and corrects his tendencies to have numerous plot holes. The special effects look good here, partly because they are so restrained. Gone is the use of time-lapse photography for Daninsky’s wolfish transformation, which is to the film’s benefit.

Naschy is at his most melancholic here, playing up the role’s most Byronic aspect. Julia Saly (Night of the Seagulls) is likable as the Countess Bathory and obviously has fun with the role. Pilar Alcón, Silvia Aguilar, and Azucena Hernández are also decent as the three students in the film, certainly better than some of the actresses Naschy has paired with throughout the series.

Also known as The Craving, Return of the Wolf Man, and Night of the Werewolf, the film’s biggest issue is that this is almost an outright remake of Werewolf vs the Vampire Woman. Like all of Naschy’s films, this is uneven. There are some great moments, but there are also many that plod along, are edited poorly, or are simply badly written.

He had a larger than normal budget here and was able to achieve some very convincing atmosphere with the combination of Gothic sets and vampire ladies. Naschy has said that this is one of his favorite films in the series, which makes a certain amount of sense, as it feels like a more finished, professional synthesis of some of his earlier films. My only real issue with Night of the Werewolf is that we’ve seen this all before and there is not really an original plot point.

The introduction of zombies doesn’t make this seem any fresher, which is really a shame because the early ‘80s were a banner period for werewolf films. With his stubborn use of traditional, low budget effects and reliance on recycling the similar material throughout the series, Naschy was just unable to compete with An American Werewolf in London or The Howling. The movie was such a financial failure, that Naschy was forced to make his next film – The Beast and the Magic Sword – a Japanese co-production.

There’s a disappointing amount of nudity compared to the previous film, The Werewolf and the Yeti. The most curious aspect of the El Hombre Lobo series is its refusal to embrace the exploitation elements so rampant in horror during this period. I can’t decide if this is one of Naschy’s strengths or his weaknesses, though here it seems like the latter. Due to budget constraints and script issues, he is not quite able to revive the atmosphere first developed by Universal horror. He is also reluctant to move too far past it, instead resulting in some tame, though campy and fun B-grade horror made by someone who clearly loves the genre. 

Night of the Werewolf comes recommended only to Naschy newbies or to extreme fans. If you have a passing interest in the series and have already seen Werewolf vs the Vampire Woman, there’s no real reason to seek this out. It is available on DVD, though, for the curious. 

THE WEREWOLF AND THE YETI aka LA MALDICION DE LA BESTIA

Miguel Islesias, 1975

Starring: Paul Naschy, Silvia Solar, Mercedes Molina

A professor contacts his colleague, Waldemar Daninsky, to journey to Tibet and explore the aftermath of an expedition that was interrupted by a Yeti attack. During a storm, Daninsky is separated from the group of Tibetan explorers and finds his way to some caves. He stumbles across two attractive women and begins a sexual relationship with them both (yes, this happens), until he realizes they are cannibals. He defeats them, but not before one of them bites him. Her bite later transforms him into a werewolf and he roams the Himalayas, transforming into a hairy beast.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group has been overtaken by a group of bandits, including their fearsome leader (whose name sounds exactly like Chaka Khan) and a diabolical sorceress. Daninsky eventually rescues the group, particularly the professor’s beautiful young daughter, and must face off against both the sorceress and the danger Yeti still loose in the mountains.

Also known as Night of the Howling Beast, Horror of the Werewolf, The Curst of the Beast, and Hall of the Mountain King, this film – written by star Paul Naschy as part of his El Hombre Lobo series – may not actually have a big Yeti presence, but there is certainly a lot going on. While the Yeti bookends the film (attacking miscellaneous travelers in the beginning and facing off against Naschy at the end), there is also cave exploration, naked cannibal women who keep Daninsky as their sex slave, sherpas, mad science, shrunken heads, inexplicable bagpipes, a band of thieves with their own personal evil priestess, and plenty of lovely snow.

The film is an absolute mess and like the earlier Assignment Terror, it moves at a breakneck pace for most of its running time, throwing in all sorts of willy-nilly subplots. I do wish there had more Yeti and less of Chaka Khan, the bandit with some sort of Elizabeth Bathory-inspired skin disorder. And really, where did those cave-dwelling cannibal ladies come from? Why did their bite turn Daninsky into a werewolf? In one of the earlier films, it’s suggested that he was transformed by the attack of a Yeti, while exploring in Tibet. Here we have Tibet and Yetis, but for some reason that earlier explanation was totally ignored.

Shockingly, this was banned from England in the ‘80s and listed as an infamous Video Nasty. To be honest, I’m not really sure why. There is some gore – a woman is flayed alive to help alleviate Chaka Khan’s skin disorder – and plenty of sex, namely a threesome with the cannibal women. Recycling some elements from his previous films, there is an evil sorceress named Wandessa, and there is at least one scene where Daninsky is chained to a wall.

The Werewolf and the Yeti harkens back to the cheap quality of some of the earlier films. There are plenty of random elements here, both in set and plot construction. In lieu of a castle, there’s a crumbling monastery and plenty of caves. While these are decent looking, Naschy is obviously not in Tibet. I believe the sudden use of bagpipes in the score is meant to indicate the fact they Daninsky is in a London setting, but it’s absolutely hilarious.

If you enjoy B-grade horror, this film will probably appeal to you. Keep in mind that the flawed script is an absolute mess and the poor print quality sometimes makes it difficult to tell what’s going on, particularly when the film switches rapidly between characters. The subplot where Chaka Khan (that’s what his name sounds like, so that’s what I’m going with) kidnaps the professor and his expedition team is a bit dull. Because there’s a pretty girl with them, we know they’re going to be rescued by Daninsky at some point during the film.

There are some pretty unexpected scenes, but all in all, The Werewolf and the Yeti is not quite the film I was hoping it would be. It does, however, have a surprise ending. In all the previous films, Daninsky is killed by a woman who loves him, typically shot in the hearth with a silver bullet. Here the sweet young professor’s daughter finds a way to cure him – thanks to the advice of some random monks – when she makes a potion with a rare blossom and her own blood. They frolic off down the mountainside together, apparently oblivious to the fact that they’re in the Himalayas and are not wearing coats.

The Werewolf and the Yeti is available on a somewhat expensive, out of print DVD or you can rent a streaming version from Amazon. This comes recommended to fans of cheesy horror with unabashedly wild and nonsensical plots. Naschy fans will also want to check it out, though you may not want to stay sober while doing so. 

Note: If you hunger for more Yeti, check out Hammer's The Abominable Snowman (1957), starring Peter Cushing. This was likely one of Naschy's inspirations for his film.

CURSE OF THE DEVIL aka EL RETORNO DE WALPURGIS

Carlos Aured, 1973
Starring: Paul Naschy, Fabiola Falcon, Mariza Olivares
A medieval inquisitor, Ireneus Daninsky, battles the Satan-worshipping Count Bathory and wins. Bathory’s widow, the Countess Bathory, is interrupted in the middle of a spell to summon Satan and is arrested by Daninsky and his men; she and her coven are later burned alive. She curses his family line before dying. Several centuries later, his descendent Waldemar Daninsky is targeted by gypsies still serving the Bathory curse. Daninsky unknowingly falls in love with one of their daughters, the beautiful Ilona. She betrays him by performing a satanic ritual that turns him into a werewolf. Ilona sneaks out into the woods to complete her ritual – sex with Satan – but she is abruptly murdered by a serial killer.

Daninsky falls in love again, with a girl named Kinga, while both he (in wolfish form) and the mysterious killer are disposing of bodies left and right throughout the countryside. Kinga’s sister also falls for Daninsky and attempts to seduce him, unfortunately on the night of the full moon…

Also known as The Black Harvest of Countess Dracula and The Return of Walpurgis, this seventh entry in the El Hombre Lobo series is another of the best and somewhat breaks from the patterns established in the previous films. Written by star Paul Naschy, The Return of Walpurgis is basically a romantic tragedy with a werewolf, some sex, some gore, and a fair amount of cheese. As with many of the earlier films, a key female character figures into the conclusion. In this case, after lots of death, a little misdirection, and some manly brooding from Naschy, his true love, Kinga, and her grandmother figure out that only she can kill him, hopefully ending the curse. Of course, she is pregnant and he's a ravenous, violent werewolf...

There are a couple of nice transformation scenes, but no one is watching El Hombre Lobo films for the special effects, I can promise you. There is a surprisingly high level of eroticism, certainly more so than the earlier films, as well as nudity. The gypsy women get naked and begin a sexual ritual with a black-clad figure that is supposed to represent Satan, and Kinga’s sister strips off her clothes and seduces Daninsky, informing him that “I came here a virgin, but I’m not going to leave that way.” That's seriously a line of dialogue. These two scenes alone make the film worth watching, particularly for fans of Naschy or sleazy ‘70s horror.

The Return of Walpurgis is also a lot darker than recent entries in the series. When Daninsky deflowers Kinga’s sister, he turns into a werewolf mid-coitus and rips her apart. The scene isn’t overly graphic, but the implication is certainly there, along with some ketchup-looking blood. Unlike a lot of other ‘70s horror, Naschy is always careful to write strong female characters into his films, though they are often villains. Here the Countess Bathory is revived and does battle with Daninsky in his lycanthropic form for the film’s grand finale.

There’s also some great scenery well-shot from director Carlos Aured. Scenes of the isolated forests, the crumbling castle, and the two separate black mass scenes are all lovely. Aured and Naschy worked together on several films, including the giallo effort Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll. His only major flaw here is the opening sequence, where two nights joust and duel. The set and costumes look incredibly cheap and the whole thing seems to be shot on a handheld camera. If you can get past this goof in the beginning, you’re in for roughly 90 minutes of horror from someone who clearly loves the genre.

Naschy took his time more with the script in this film and the action is condensed between the plot involving the satanic curse of the Bathory’s, as well as Daninsky being marked with the curse and dealing with his moonlit need to rip and tear human flesh. Naschy really plays up the guilty, downtrodden aspects of the character in this one and it’s clear that Kinga does him a favor at the end of the film when she puts him out of his misery. The minor, surprise plot about the serial killer is little more than a red herring, but it’s certainly jarring upon the film’s first viewing. The editing is also a bit jumpy and abrupt, but if you’ve seen any of the other films in the series, this shouldn’t come as a surprise.

The Return of Walpurgis is available on DVD as Curse of the Devil. Along with the first film, Mark of the Werewolf, and The Werewolf Vs the Vampire Woman, this is one of the strongest entries in the series and comes highly recommended. 

DR. JEKYLL AND THE WOLFMAN aka DR. JEKYLL Y EL HOMBRE LOBO

León Klimovsky, 1972

Starring: Paul Naschy, Shirley Corrigan, Jack Taylor, Mirta Miller

A wealthy man brings his new, young wife to Transylvania for their honeymoon. He wants to visit his parents’ graves, though the locals warn him away from the graveyard and nearby castle. They are almost immediately attack by some unsavory locals who wind up stabbing Imre to death and nearly raping his wife. She is saved in the nick of time by Waldemar Daninsky, an aristocratic werewolf living in the supposedly abandoned castle.

Though at first horrified, Justine recovers at Daninsky’s castle and they begin to fall in love. She adjusts to the news of her husband’s death and the fact that Daninsky is werewolf surprisingly well. Unfortunately the frenzied villagers don’t show any sign of letting up, so Daninsky follows Justine back to London, where she thinks her friend Dr. Jekyll can help cure him of his furry affliction. The sympathetic Jekyll, grandson of the infamous scientist, plans to inject Daninsky with the personality changing serum, in the hope that the Hyde personality will vanquish the werewolf. Unfortunately Jekyll’s jealous assistant has other plans…

Dr. Jekyll y el Hombre Lobo is the sixth film in Paul Naschy’s El Hombre Lobo series and, like most of the others, was written by and stars the man himself. As with the other El Hombre Lobo films, this is a lot of fun but is far from perfect. It seems a bit sloppy and cheap for a mid-period entry – the early cemetery set is particularly unattractive – but there is almost constant action and gorier fight scenes than the earlier films. Dr. Jekykll’s biggest issue is that it’s essentially two different films slammed together. The first act includes Imre Kosta and his much younger wife Justine journeying to Transylvania to visit his ancestral home. There is a lot of pointless violence – Imre is killed and Justine is attacked and nearly raped – seemingly just so Daninsky can meet and rescue her. This takes away from our time with Dr. Jekyll, who isn’t introduced until nearly 40 minutes into the running time.

Thematically and visually, there is an odd split between classic and modern horror. First we have Transylvania, angry villagers, a spooky castle, a witch, etc. Then the film abruptly moves to ‘70s London with modern, stylish sets, including a disco, and a female revenge plot. I think films like Hammer’s Dracula A.D. 1972 or Count Yorga, Vampire are superior because the action sticks with present day, rather than the awkward transition between traditional and modern, rural and urban.

Naschy does deliver a very fun and sadistic Mr. Hyde with a great, period costume straight from Victorian London. Unlike earlier portrayals, he is largely unrestrained by censorship and is allowed to go fairly off the rails, which including raping and whipping Justine and then murdering the (literally) back-stabbing Sandra, Jekyll’s traitorous assistant. He’s clearly having a wonderful time with role and jumps enthusiastically between the tragic Daninsky, the Wolf Man, and Mr. Hyde for the final act of the film. One of the most enjoyable scenes involves Hyde’s trip to a disco, where he seems about the repeat the scene from Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde where he first meets Ivy. Instead, the strobe lights cause him to transform into a werewolf right in the middle of the club. Unfortunately we don’t see him attack anyone, though I’m hoping there is a more fully uncut print than the version I saw.

Jess Franco-regular Jack Taylor (Pieces) puts in a good performance as Dr. Jekyll, though it’s a shame he wasn’t given more screen time.  His relationship with Justine is poorly explained and his affair with Sandra – and the reason why she hates him – is also rushed. I was also surprised to see Jekyll killed off so quickly after his introduction. It would be more interesting to see Hyde battling Hyde, rather than the murder/revenge plot where Jekyll is quickly dispatched.

The other performances are average to somewhat ludicrous (all the Transylvanian townsfolk), though leading lady Shirley Corrigan (The Devil’s Nightmare) is lovely. She particularly shines during the fine scene when she wanders Daninsky’s shadowy castle in black lingerie, holding a candelabra. She’s also one of the most thoroughly abused female characters in any of Naschy’s films and is treated roughly or exposed to some psychological shock for much of the proceedings.  

Director Léon Klimovsky, one of Naschy’s biggest collaborators, returns from Werewolf Vs the Vampire Woman to direct Dr. Jekyll. I think the previous film is superior, particularly where imagery and atmosphere is concerned, but he does a decent job here. Most of the issues are with Naschy’s script and the obviously low budget. Anton Garcia Abril also returns to once again provide an excellent score. He’s an underrated talent and is mostly known for his work on the Tombs of the Blind Dead series.

Dr. Jekyll and the Wolfman comes recommended to fans of the other Naschy films or other B-grade ‘70s horror. He makes a fun Hyde, so lovers of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde adaptations will also want to check this out. If you haven’t yet seen an El Hombre Lobo film, this is not the place to start. It’s available on DVD with The Vampires Night Orgy (1973), another film from Klimovsky, and it is also available to rent (streaming) on Amazon. 

THE WEREWOLF VS THE VAMPIRE WOMAN aka LA NOCHE DE WALPURGIS

León Klimovsky, 1971

Starring: Paul Naschy, Gaby Fuchs, Barbara Capell, Patty Shepard

During an autopsy, Waldemar Daninsky is brought back to live when the silver bullet is removed from his heart. He immediately transforms and kills the doctors. He moves to an isolated castle in the countryside and eventually has a run in with two young ladies, Elvira and Genevieve. They are college students there to finish thesis research on alleged vampire Countess Wandessa Dárvula de Nadasdy. Daninsky agrees to help them and give them lodgings for a few days. Though she has a boyfriend, Elvira begins to fall for him, though Genevieve thinks he and his castle are creepy. They find Wandessa’s tomb and Genevieve accidentally revives her by removing the silver cross embedded in Wandessa’s chest and cutting her hand, so that blood drips into the Countess’s mouth. The newly risen Wandessa takes Genevieve as her lover and vampiric progeny, and soon they turn their attention to Elvira… 

Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman is also known as Werewolf Shadow, Blood Moon, Night of the Vampire, and Walpurgis Night. This Spanish-West Germany coproduction was written by Paul Naschy and is the fifth film in his EL Hombre Lobo series. Its surprising box office success is generally believed to be the impetus for a sudden boom in Spanish horror that lasted for much of the ‘70s. 

Underrated director León Klimovsky does a great job here and pulls off some very convincing Gothic atmosphere, which borders on the surreal. Naschy and Klimovsky collaborated together many times and Klimovsky is responsible for some of the more interesting, yet obscure Spanish horror films like A Dragonfly for Each Corpse, The People Who Own the Dark, etc. Another noteworthy figure involved in the production was assistant director Carlos Aured, who also worked with Naschy and directed the enjoyable Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll, Curse of the Devil, a later El Hombre Lobo film, and others. 

Going the opposite route of the previous film The Fury of the Wolfman, this film is a bit light on plot, but spends far more time on each of its themes. Some of them — the tragic, gentleman werewolf who is an outsider, the lovely young woman who falls in love with him, a sexy female villain, and a distant subplot featuring detectives — we’ve seen before. Others, such as car accidents, an isolated, picturesque locations, and violent, superstitious villagers, he would use again in future films of the series. There are certainly plot holes and the subplot with Elvira’s boyfriend is totally unnecessary. The character of Daninsky’s crazed sister Elizabeth is largely unexplained and she doesn’t show up in the rest of the series. She has a particularly creepy vice — ripping women’s shirts off and choking them until they pass out. Daninsky insists that she doesn’t mean any harm. 

There is always at least a basic explanation given for why Daninsky is rived. Here he is being autopsied and the medical examiner removed the silver bullet from his heart, awakening him once more. It’s certainly implausible that he rises from the dead so many times, but the film perhaps wisely doesn’t address this aspect. If you’re expecting a major battle between the titular werewolf and vampire woman, it is scant and anticlimactic. It’s also obvious that of course Daninsky is going to vanquish his foe and then his lady love has to kill him. 

Out of the early entries in the series, Naschy's acting is the best here and he gives Daninsky a fair amount of time to develop as a character. Gaby Fuchs (Mark of the Devil) is an unfortunately dull leading lady. The two other main female characters, exploitation actress Barbara Capell as her friend Genevieve and the lovely Patty Shepherd (Assignment Terror) as the Countess, are far more memorable. Sheperd, in particular, really should have gone on to have a major career in horror. She has a wonderful presence in this film and doesn’t need dialogue to play her role as the lusty vampiress to the hilt. She eerily floats through the mist, pale and black-veiled, smiling seductively at her intended target. 

There are some nice special effects and, as with most of the films in the series, there’s a great score. This one was composed by Antón García Abril, who would go on to write the soundtrack for the Tombs of the Blind Dead films. The Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman comes recommended and is a good introduction to the El Hombre Lobo series. Anyone who enjoys Universal horror or werewolf films will find a lot to love about this. 

There are a couple of options for watching The Werewolf vs. The Vampire Woman. It’s streaming online, but it’s also available on an out of print, pretty expensive DVD. There’s a second out of print, though cheaper double feature DVD with Curse of the Devil, a later entry in the series. 

THE FURY OF THE WOLFMAN aka LA FURIA DEL HOMBRE LOBO

José María Zabalza, 1972

Starring: Paul Naschy, Perla Cristal, Verónica Luján

Completely ignoring the events of the previous two El Hombre Lobo films, The Mark of the Wolfman and Assignment Terror, Waldemar Daninsky becomes a werewolf because he is attacked by a yeti (!) on a scientific expedition to Tibet. When he returns home, he learns his wife has been having an affair with one of his students. He transforms into a werewolf and kills them both, but then is accidentally killed himself. One of his colleagues, Dr. Ilona Ehrmann, reads some Tibetan manuscripts and revives Daninsky in order to subject him to mind control experiments. It turns out that Dr. Ehrmann has an asylum hidden in an abandoned castle full of her abandoned experiments. Daninsky is unaware that Ehrmann has also revived his wife, who awakens to turn into a werewolf by the light of the full moon…

Written by Paul Naschy aka Jacinto Molina, La curia del Hombre Lobo aka The Wolfman Never Sleeps is undeniably one of the most insane entries in the El Hombre Lobo series, though also one of the weakest. Though the release date is 1972, the film was actually made in 1970, but a distributor wasn’t found until two years later. Allegedly most of the blame should go to director José María Zabalza. I’ve heard varying stories that he was drunk the entire time, cried over the production, and occasionally sent his 14-year-old nephew to direct scenes. No wonder Naschy was embarrassed by this film. 

The plot is simply too confusing and fast paced. The editing is a major issue. As early as the beginning, the film cuts abruptly from the Tibetan scenes with no explanation. A lengthy scene is randomly added in from an earlier El Hombre Lobo film, there are jarring flashbacks, and enough subplots that if you look away for a minute, you’ll be thoroughly confused. The acting is mostly subpar and the atmosphere pales in comparison to The Mark of the Werewolf. I will say that the film is an improvement over Assignment Terror — another plot about mad scientists experimenting on Daninsky — but it is far from the best entries in the series. 

I don’t even know where to start, because there is so much randomness and insanity going on within 90 minutes. I’ll try to take it chronologically. The concept of a yeti transforming Daninsky into a werewolf was further explored in La malediction de la bestia (1975), but here it is not given more explanation. Why does he go to Tibet? No idea. Dr. Ehrmann’s mind control experiments are also barely explained, though she is willing to go to any lengths (torture, death, werewolf resurrection) for science. It is refreshing to see an attractive woman as a thoroughly un-ironic evil scientist. 

In addition to all that, Daninsky has to deal with a serious car wreck, his wife cheating on him, being struck by lightening, grave digging, and a castle full of brainwashed lunatics who regularly break out in orgies and violence. There is a mysterious, Phantom of the Opera-like masked man, someone in a suit of armor who attacks Daninsky and his lady friend out of nowhere, Dr. Ehrmann whips Daninsky in a lengthy scene, there are detectives scurrying about, werewolf murders, dead bodies, babes, Nazi doctors, and so on. It’s absolutely dizzying. 

A lot more could have been done with the two main separate plots. Daninsky being turned into a werewolf in Tibet and coming home to learn of his wife’s infidelity could have some interesting implications, considering that his response is to murder her in cold blood. Dr. Ehrmann’s weird Pit and the Pendulum-like torture dungeon and dangerous, illicit experiments are enough of a plot to be a feature film on their own. These elements certainly have their entertaining moments and there’s plenty of fun within the film. 

Though it is out of print, The Fury of the Wolfman is available on region 1 DVD. It’s also floating around online and I recommend watching it this way first. This is definitely not the first film to watch in the series, but anyone who loves trash cinema is going to have a great time watching this. It is in keeping with the kind of B-grade insanity found in House of Dracula, the script and editing are just far too much of a mess to please the average horror fan.