Die Nacht der blutigen Wölfe

This is the first Waldemar Daninsky movie I've seen, even though it is (the box says) the fifth in a series (perhaps IMDb's years for the titles are off?). I bought it primarily because I've liked all the other Mondo Macabro DVDs I've bought.

It's also the first Paul Naschy movie I've seen, or at least the first one I've seen while knowing him to be a big Spanish horror star.

A couple return to the husband's homeland so he can visit his parents' graves. Unfortunately, the graveyard they're in was abandoned during World War II, and is neglected, rumored to be haunted, and a place where murderous bandits can be found. It's also located near the Black Castle, where a monster lives. The monster is Daninsky, who turns into a wolf-man when the moon is full. As a wolf-man, he kills people or bites chunks of flesh out of them. As Daninsky, well, he kills people too, but he has more of a choice as to who he attacks: he only goes after bad guys.

Daninsky gets taken to see Dr. Jekyll, the grandson of the infamous one, in England. Dr. Jekyll has a plan to cure Daninsky's lycanthropy, but I confess I did not understand it. It involved turning Daninsky into Mr. Hyde, and then somehow having the Mr. Hyde and Werewolf in Daninsky battle it out. That isn't what seems to happen, so perhaps I'm way off. I thought it peculiar that Daninsky turns into Mr. Hyde - Mr. Hyde had been the evil part of Dr. Jekyll. Daninsky's evil side might have been similar, but identical, and they give him the same name...?

It is fairly entertaining, and I'm curious to see some other Daninsky werewolf movies now (this wasn't one of Nachy's more favorite ones), and perhaps some more of Nachy's other horror movies. The DVD is good, has some nice extras including an interview with Nachy and a text covering the short history of Spanish horror movies, and the DVD will be staying in my collection.

It seems he's played the Waldemar Daninsky werewolf character in about thirteen movies, of which perhaps only four are readily available (through out of print videotapes and cheap poor quality DVDs), and the original is not one of them! It would seem a box set is needed, though I have not heard rumors of one.

"Dr. Jekyll and the Wolfman" deals with Waldermar Daninsky (Paul Naschy) who helped by Justine (Shirley Corrigan) searches for a cure to his full moon craziness by visiting the descendant (Jack Taylor as Henry Jekill supported by his helper Sandra played by Mirta Miller) of the infamous Dr. Jekyll from Robert Louis Stevenson novel . What ensues next is a lover's triangle , and a nasty Mr. Hyde who roams modern London and walks through at night in Soho streets and becomes into a werewolf on the disco floor .

Acceptable Werewolf movie with the unforgettable Waldemar Daninsky-Jacinto Molina , under pseudonym Paul Naschy . Continental Europe's biggest horror star again with his classic character and frightening to viewer . He returns as El Hombre Lobo for the umpteenth time and once again battles enemies . It is a B series entertainment with abundant sensationalistic scenes and a Naif style . The movie has a bit of ridiculous gore with loads of blood similar to tomato and is occasionally an engaging horror movie full of slow-moving fights , attacks , beheading and several other things . Naschy's portrayal of the anguished and sympathetic werewolf Daninsky -here along with a magnificent acting as savage sadistic Mr Hyde- became his signature part and consolidated his enduring cult status as a bona-fide horror icon and he spent more time in make-up . Jacinto Molina Aka Paul Naschy , who recently passed away , was actor , screenwriter and director of various films about the personage based on fictitious character , the Polish count Waldemar Daninsky . Jacinto often cited seeing Frankenstein and the Wolfman (1943) in a theater at age 11 as a seminal inspirational experience , his later movies would be filled with references to it . In 1967 he wrote the script for first film about Waldemar , it was ¨The mark of the Wolfman¨ by Enrique Eguiluz ; he was forced , out of necessity , to play the lead role of tormented werewolf Waldermar Daninsky after Lon Chaney Jr. turned it down . Later on , he reprised this character in over a dozen subsequent followings . As Molina went on the successful ¨Night of Walpurgis¨ by Leon Klimovsky , ¨Fury of the Wolfman¨ , ¨Doctor Jekill and the Wolfman¨ ,¨The return of the Walpurgis¨, ¨Howl of the devil¨, ¨The beast and the magic sword (1982)¨ that was filmed in Japan and finally ¨Licántropo (1998).

A talented athlete , Naschy played soccer for the school team and was a weightlifter who became the lightweight champion of Spain in 1958. Moreover , Paul penned Western pulp novels under the pseudonym Jack Mills and worked as an illustrator who did album cover art for a Spanish record label . Thanks to his muscular build , Naschy was able to break into the motion picture business in the early 1960s as an uncredited extra in such films as ¨El Cid¨, ¨55 days at Pekin¨ and the biblical epic ¨King of Kings¨ (1961) along with a Spaghetti , ¨Day of Anger¨ . Other significant horror figures Paul played were the Mummy , Jack the Ripper , Dracula ; as his performance as the Prince of Darkness in ¨Count Dracula's great love¨ (1973) was one of his personal favorites , the Hunchback , the Frankenstein Monster, the Phantom of the Opera , and even the Devil . Naschy made his directorial debut with Inquisition (1978) . Furthermore , Naschy made some Giallos such as "A Dragonfly for Each Corpse" , "The Killer Is One of Thirteen" and ¨Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll¨. The films , ¨El Caminante¨ and ¨El Aullido del Diablo¨ or "Howl of the Devil"(1987) were two of Paul's most personal projects and finest artistic achievements.

In ¨Doctor Jekill and the Wolfman¨ , Paul Naschy returns as Waldemar for the sixth time , Paul was such a perfectionist that he didn't have a stand-in, even for the lighting , as he did everything himself . Paul was a very serious man , though an introvert , always practicing his lines , his faces , and make-up . In the film appears a numerous secondary cast who starred innumerable films of Spaghetti/Paella Western and horror genres during the 60s and 70 such as Jack Taylor , Mirta Miller , Luis Induni , José Marco , Luis Gaspar and Barta Barri .

Creepy and eerie musical score by Anton Garcia Abril who composed the ¨Templar Zombies¨ saga by Amando De Ossorio . Adequate cinematography by Francisco Fraile shot on location in Soho , Big Ben , Houses of Parliament , Westminster , Piccadilly Circus , Trafalgar Square , London , England , UK and Madrid , Spain . The motion picture was professionally directed by Leon Klimovski . Mr. Klimovsky was a great director and in this movie he'd be shouting on his megaphone all the time . Leon was very close to the actor Jacinto Molina , they had a very strong friendship , and would always be talking business together . The flick will appeal to Paul Naschy fans and terror genre enthusiast . Rating : 6 , passable and amusing .

Paul Naschy has been playing tortured Polish werewolves since 1967, the high watermark being 1970's Werewolf vs the Vampire Women. Made a year later Doctor Jekyll and the Werewolf, if not exactly in the same league is certainly entertaining. After her fiance is murdered by thuggish villagers Justine is saved from death by loner Waldemar. A man with `an illness' Waldemar is of course the hairy side of the title, although the sadistic local villagers seem more violent and pose more of a threat than the beast he becomes. After every distant relative and friend of his has been decapitated or murdered by these apeish normals Waldemar heads off with Justine to a post- swinging London. There he turns to the grandson of Dr Jekyll who tries to help him out by somewhat illogically turning him into a pasty faced eye ball rolling `new' Mr Hyde. Soon all hell breaks loose thanks to Waldemar's triple personality. Let loose on London there is the kinky Mr Hyde who wields a mean whip, and a werewolf attacking Londoners more than a decade before An American Werewolf in London. Despite the Madrid-ish look to some of the London scenes some parts were indeed shot in `Londris', Blimey! Naschy and director Klimovsky found a good locale in Soho, London's notorious red light district back in the days of outdoor bordellos, the neon windmill of the Windmill theatre and sex -education documentary Love in Our Time playing in theatres. Theres a tale Naschy likes to tell about filming these scenes- while dressed as Mr Hyde some Soho regulars, not realising a film was being shot heckled who they thought to be a madman dressed in Victorian clothes. With the shot ruined `Mr Hyde' promptly chased the pesky raincoat dwellers with his cane. Compared to Werewolf Vs the Vampire Women which was a hit world-wide, Dr Jekyll was only fleetingly released in the US and UK, and today can only be found on tape from American public domain companies, releases drawn from badly transferred and tatty looking prints that can't possibly do this 70mm scope production justice. A real melting pot of a film, eclectic doesn't come close- Justine's fiance is built up as a major heroic character, but in a Psycho fashion is shockingly murdered half an hour in, then we settle down for a traditional werewolf picture, then suddenly this becomes a Mr Hyde picture with swinging Sixties overtones before the furballs and claws are brought back for the discotheque set climax. All this was obviously done to avoid routine (this was Naschy's sixth werewolf film). Unfortunately the same factors that made the Werewolf Vs the Vampire Women and the `groovy' Dracula Vs Frankenstein breath taking, seem plodding and unfocussed in Doctor Jekyll and the Werewolf. However the London scenes, the enraged teddy of a werewolf and Naschy's unusual looking Mr Hyde supply the film with more than its fair share of memorable moments, definitely enough to justify digging this up from the grave marked `Spanish horror cinema RIP', its certainly a better film than its obscure reputation suggests.

Newlyweds Imre (José Marco) and Justine (Shirley Corrigan) travel to the Carpathian mountains of Transylvania for their honeymoon, where Imre intends to visit the graves of his murdered parents (the man sure knows how to show his new wife a good time). Ignoring warnings from a superstitious local who tells them that the cemetery is a place of evil, the couple are attacked by a gang of local villains that try to break into their car. Imre is stabbed to death, and Justine narrowly avoids being raped when Waldemar Daninsky (Paul Naschy) leaps to her assistance (crushing one guy's face with a rock in the process).

Waldemar carries Justine to his castle, which is also home to a leprous man who has zero bearing on the plot, and an old lady whom the locals believe is a witch, and who tells Justine of Waldemar's 'illness': whenever the full moon rises, he turns into a werewolf!!! After Waldemar, in hairy form, kills several more villagers, a rabble of pitchfork wielding locals hack off the old woman's head, stick it on a pole, and proceed to storm the castle. Waldemar and Justine sneak out the back door and flee to London, where they enlist the help of Dr. Jekyll (Jack Taylor), whose infamous grandfather's personality-altering serum might be able to release Daninsky from his curse.

The sixth film in Paul Naschy's Waldemar Daninsky series, Dr. Jekyll vs. the Werewolf is just as silly as the title suggests, offering up all manner of Euro-monster-mash madness. Naschy not only sports one of his more impressive looking werewolf make-ups, but also looks sufficiently slimy as Mr. Hyde, whose personality he adopts when injected by Jekyll's serum. The daft plot also includes a treacherous assistant for Jekyll in the form of Sandra (Mirta Miller), sees Hyde enjoying enjoying London's swinging nightlife (which allows for some particularly hilarious gyrating from a podium dancer), and provides several excuses for some cheesy gore.

N.B.: There are three edits of this film doing the rounds. My middling rating of 5/10 is for the heavily edited Spanish version that came as part of my Mill Creek Pure Terror box-set, and which is notably bereft of any gratuitous nudity (what's a Euro-horror without some boobs to go with the blood?). The US edit, however, does feature some nudity in the last half hour, while the fullest cut—the German version—delivers even more bare flesh, with Justine's breasts getting an airing during her attack, and Waldemar's werewolf tearing open his victims' clothes before tearing out their throats, all of which undoubtedly adds to the fun.

Dr. Jekyll vs. the Werewolf (1972)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Waldemar Daninsky (Paul Naschy) falls in love with the beautiful Justine (Shirley Corrigan) who convinces him to travel to London to see if Dr. Jekyll (Jack Taylor) can cure his curse of turning into a werewolf. Once in London Jekyll's evil assistant injects Daninsky to where he turns into Mr. Hyde. I've now seen three different versions of this film. The Spanish "clothed" version was a highly entertaining gem. The American "nude" version brought a little added sleaze and T&A to the film. Now, the third version from Germany was just recently found and is making its way through various fan boards and it features extended nudity, which just takes this film to a whole new level and actually makes it even better. Even though this print is in Spanish without any subtitles, I've never enjoyed this film more and I think the added dirty bits really makes this one of the sleazier Spanish films from this era.

With this Germany version, the film just contains a very perverted and sinister feel to it that's not in any other version. It really does take the material and gives it a much darker approach, which is very much a positive and especially when we've already gotten some excellent atmosphere from director Leon Klimovsky. Another great benefit is that Naschy is at the top of his game here. No matter which version you watch, the werewolf here is without question one of the best looking in the series and it also features some of the most graphic violence. There's plenty of blood flowing around for fans of that type of thing. The actor also does a marvelous job in the role of Hyde and this is especially more true when you see the darker, more perverted version. Corrigan makes for one of the more memorable leading ladies in the series and it's great fun getting someone like Taylor on board.

The film also benefits from some very effective scenes. One includes the scene where the woman is attacked by three hoods. Another includes her looking down from her window at her new love who is in his werewolf form. Then, of course, there's the werewolf hitting the streets of London. Seeing Naschy running around the swinging style of London in the 1970s is just a wonderful sight. DR. JEKYLL AND THE WEREWOLF is a "fun" Gothic film even if you watch the non-nude version. You watch the American version and it's just as much fun with the added nudity. However, to get the full impact one really needs to find the German cut as all the added stuff just makes it so much more fun.