Sick Product of a Sick System

Sadly Over-hyped

Lack of good storyline.

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Centuries after Elizabeth Bathory(Julia Saly, quite effective and sinister)and her followers were put to death for their crimes of witchcraft, Satanism, and vampirism, a student of the occult, Erika(Silvia Aguilar), obsessed with her and the dark arts, will coerce two female friends, Karen(Azucena Hernández) & Barbara(Pilar Alcón)to join her on a vacationing expedition to the Carpathian Mountains to find the blood countess' crypt. Also being sentenced to death for unwillingly following Bathory's orders as a slave, El Hombre Lobo Waldemar Daninsky(Paul Naschy)receives an iron mask on his head and glimmering cross of silver plunged deep into his heart. In actuality, Daninsky was happy of being condemned to death for he wished the cursed lycanthropy and servitude to Bathory over..but as Bathory will be resurrected, two grave robbers remove the cross that gave him peace and rest, awakening El Hombre Lobo from the dead. Daninsky will make them pay for their bothering his rest as he once again rises to await the certain challenge of his vampire rival Bathory who is also awaken from her demise as Erika hypnotizes Barbara shedding her blood and giving the Countess life. But, to regain full power E Bathory will have to wait for the second full moon upon the astral convergence, but until then she'll seek to turn all the females around Daninsky, even making her resting place in a hidden room of his castle. Who will ultimately come out from the battle for supremacy..the werewolf or vampire countess?Naschy as director removes his film from logical story-telling, and despite some tired material practically lifted from other Waldemar Daninsky werewolf tales, he directs with a very sure hand. There ambiance in abundance and his presentation of the vampire women is superb such as how large castle doors swing open with fog introducing them. The setting in and around the castle using natural locations has always been an asset in the El Hombre Lobo films..you can count on some very effective use of cob-webbed crypts and rats thereabouts. There's one marvelous scene where Erika, now one of the undead, arriving to the room of Daninsky as he lays in bed, through a window as she attempts to seduce him before trying to take a bite. I thought all the scenes of E Bathory were successfully handled;she certainly looked the part. I do believe Naschy is able to build up the showdown between E Bathory and Daninsky well. By painting poor Daninsky in a corner as E Bathory even achieves to draw blood from his beloved Karen(the film has Daninsky and Karen falling in love), you feel all hope is lost for him. I can say this is probably as close as you can get to a successful werewolf film featuring Naschy's Waldemar Daninsky.As far as werewolf transformations go, Naschy goes mostly old school using dissolves which is a cheaper way of translating his turn on screen. There's a scene where we see Daninsky go through the rigors and agony of attempting with all his might not to turn without success. There isn't any flesh ripping, although the werewolf attacks show Daninsky go for the jugular of various village folk who have the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I say the more effective moments are given to the vampires. Some erotic biting sequences show E Bathory closing lustfully towards her women victims as they give themselves over. I think E Bathory's fate at the end(also using dissolves effectively)is cool, as well. Oh, and there is one very inspired "blood bathing" scene, also.

Paul Naschy is back as Waldemar Daninsky the cursed werewolf who has to stop a resurrected Satanic Witch turned Vampire, The Blood Countess Elizabeth Bathory before her evil spreads throughout that Carpathian Mountains. The Night of the Werewolf known in the states in its edited version as The Craving does a solid job of bringing us Werewolves,Vampires and a Zombie to boot and is a fun watch for fans of such films. Especially fans of the old school effects department as we get prosthetics and time lapse photography sequences like the original Wolfman.There is a story though fans of Naschy previous Werewolf opus Werewolf's Shadow will notice there is a lot of similarities so if you can get past that then your fine. The movie chugs along fairly nicely and I did not find myself bored at any time throughout. Saying that however fans of gore and the like my find themselves disappointed as there is no true gore scenes other than a lot of blood spilling, no hacked off limbs or the like on screen. Fans of monster films will have a fun time with this if they are in the right frame of mind for an old fashion monster romp or are fans of Naschy. Others use to modern effects work and those in the need for an elaborate plot should look elsewhere.In the end this is a solid monster fans movie and a love letter to the classic Universal and Hammer films. Though not entirely on par with them it still entertains and Naschy's Werewolf never looked better. For the monster fans (myself included) I give The Night of the Werewolf: 6/10 above average, fun for the monster fans.Deimos as released this in an Uncut Anamorphic Widescreen (1:85:1) HD mastered DVD which is the first time the original uncut version has been in the states. For that fact alone it is worth the pick up. The DVD has some nice features such as an intro by Naschy, deleted scenes, U.S. Trailer, Spanish Credit Sequence, Still Gallery and Liner Notes with rare photos and stills. Also the film has the original Castilian language track with Subs or English Dub. Overall a nice package and a good reason for fans with boots to trash them and pick up the best release of the film to the States to date.

Anguished werewolf Waldemar Daninsky (beefy Spanish horror icon Paul Naschy) and wicked vampiress Elizabeth Bathory (a deliciously evil portrayal by the ravishing Julia Saly) are both condemned to death in the Middle Ages for their crimes against humanity. Waldermar gets revived in the 20th century by a couple of no-count grave robbers. Bathory is resurrected by her loyal and depraved witch servant Erika (the lovely Silvia Aguilar). Waldermar needs the love of the sweet and pure Karen (the stunningly gorgeous Azucena Hernandez) to lift his infernal lycanthrope curse. But Bathory has other more malevolent plans in store for Waldemar. Writer/director Naschy ably creates a vivid, misty, potently brooding gloom-doom Gothic atmosphere. In addition, Naschy maintains a steady pace, an eerie tone and a total sense of flesh-crawling dread throughout. Moreover, he stages the ample shock scenes with considerable skill and aplomb. The genuinely frightening and impressive werewolf make-up, a nice smattering of sex, nudity and gory violence, Alejandro Ulloa's sharp, vibrant cinematography, the breathtaking mountainside scenery, a delectable bevy of hot babes (Hernandez in particular is a real looker), the fun generic ooga-booga spooky score, some laughably profane dialogue, and the truly wild and exciting last reel no-holds-barred physical confrontation between Waldermar and Bathory all make this picture one of the best, most effective and praiseworthy horror films Naschy has ever starred in.

This is the type of movie where most audiences will just laugh at the film, especially in that it is mostly dated, but people who have seen some really bad movies of this type (like me) will realize that there are actually some good things here. The lighting and photography are generally speaking very good. There are some good mist effects and lighting effects that use the smoke and colors to create a good spooky effect a la Mario Bava. The makeup is also quite well done for its time. The story is the usual cr*p about vampires coming back to life, but it's kind of interesting that they threw the werewolf into it and made him sort of the good guy. Also a lot of decent gore here for fans of that type of thing. All in all, a film that should amuse those looking for a "golden turkey" but will also delight those who appreciate good European horror.