La Louve Sanguine

This is quite a graphically violent and explicit film. It's much more graphic than I expected. It's not really a werewolf movie. There are violent attacks where throats are ripped out, but it doesn't really have the supernatural element we might expect. This is a case study of a woman who has been so badly abused that she loses her sense of self and strikes out against all men. Even when things begin to go well, it's as if she has been singled out for some kind of demonic punishment. Unfortunately, many others suffer her wrath, some deserving, others not. The scenes are pretty explicit and ugly. This is one of those movies that kind of grabs you but it's more like going to an auto wreck than something desirable. It's not badly made and moves pretty well. Be forewarned, however, that it isn't for all tastes.

I started watching this movie expecting some barely tolerable Hammer horror film wannabe... and I wasn't far off. There's a fair amount of glimpsed gore, and they threw in lots of nudity, but the latter half of the movie presents a few ironic twists. Holy cow, they actually put a little thought into the story, and didn't completely fall into the predictable stuff one expected at the outset. And dare I say it, some of the "gratuitous" nudity wasn't so gratuitous after all, because it fit in with the story and setting.

Don't get me wrong, it's still overall a bad movie, but as bad movies go, it's a shade more intelligent than the REALLY horrible tripe like Mesa of Lost Women and Robot Monster.

I don't know how I could explain that I like Werewolf Woman. It doesn't work logically as a movie, but does one go into a movie that's about a schizo who craves the company of men and then kills them at the instant they try and have their way with her expecting great art? It's a little like a rougher, more sexed-up cut of David Cronenberg's Rabid, only here the dead or injured don't come back to life. This time it's Annik Borel, instead of Marilyn Chambers, as the perplexed anti-heroine of the story. The catch with her is that she has werewolf ancestry in her blood, and after a cruel rape (which we may or may not see on screen, I can't remember) she goes on a killing spree.

The dubbing is bad, but maybe deliberately so; Leone didn't have dialog so bad that it made the voice-over actors cringe as they said some of their lines. And sometimes the director and crew get creative with blood and various colors: there's a shot when Daniella, after attacking a nurse whom she's snuck into the car with, gets out of the now crashed vehicle, and the first shot seen looks as though there's blood everywhere, though it's mostly just the seats and a jacket. For a moment or two, Werewolf Woman carries artistry (not to mention during a particularly steamy sex scene as Daniella watches with hungry, jealous eyes of a friend getting it on with a friend).

When all is said and done, Werewolf Woman does teeter between a hot and exciting half-farce half-serious/pretentious drama on a woman's descent into madness and murder, and it doesn't amount to any kind of 'statement' except that, um, crazy women with a disease passed down through the generations can't be stomped out so all men with penises have to pay. Yeah, that's it. But even with the laughs that are had- including a bit when Daniella is in the hospital bed and an over-affectionate nymph comes in trying to have her way with the taut were-woman that probably inspired the P**** Wagon scene in Kill Bill 1- it's not a badly made film at all, which adds to the appeal.

It's not some stupid movie put together in very cheap soft-core ways. If there is any strength to the best sex scenes it's that they seem actually erotic and not as some tedious pornographic exercise ala Porno Holocaust. And, relative to other cheesy horror flicks of the 70s (the *Italian* horror 70s), Annik Borel isn't too shabby an actress, with a quality reminiscent of Sondra Locke from Clint Eastwood's films (only, perhaps, a better actress!) She adds just that little bit of fun and danger to a part that needs it to sustain its tone wavering between exploitation and sincere horror.

So watch it under a full-moon, make sure you're tied to the bed (without any crazies around to untie the knots), and keep all sexual organs on stand-by- Werewolf Woman is a bite!

Soft porn Italian she-wolf horror with loads of throat-ripping, c-word yelling debauchery to offend almost everyone. A young woman (Borel) believes she's the reincarnation of a two hundred year family link to lycanthropy, and duly turns into a savage she-wolf during the full moon. Complicating matters, she's also sex-averse due to a harrowing experience when she was younger, seducing her victims before gorging on their blood in retribution for their misguided advances.

Frequent disrobing by almost all of the female cast and a plethora of gory murders will appeal to some audiences, the line between mainstream feature film and sado-porn is sometimes teased, but never fully crossed. Dagmar Lassander has a largely extraneous and minor role, most of which is a sex scene, while Frederick Stafford does an amiable job as the inspector with an ever-burgeoning mountain of corpses, courtesy of our fair maiden Borel. For her part, Borel is intense and obviously committed to her performance, but the film's erratic narrative fails to focus and consequently, her role is shallow and uninvolving.

Director Silvestro seems uncertain whether he's making a werewolf movie, attempting a mental health statement, a rape and revenge flick, or just a softcore trip with apparently divergent themes awkwardly woven into the tale that seems at times never-ending (I saw an uncut 100 minute version which despite all the climaxing throughout the movie, fails to deliver one at the film's sunset). Little suspense, just buckets of gore, nudity, self flagellation, various sexual acts and grade A profanity to pass the time. Bring it on.

This, one of the films in my 'Nightmare Worlds' 50-pack from Mill Creek, was much better than I had previously anticipated. The soundtrack was quite impressive, and readily brought to mind the finer moments the band Goblin had provided in their work for Dario Argento's string of 70's-80's giallo masterpieces. The production values were quite decent overall for such a film, and I loved both the premise and its execution.

Annik Borel was exemplary as the ill-fated protagonist Daniela, and takes a few lessons from Linda Blair's portrayal of the possessed in 'The Exorcist' for whenever she loses control of her inhibitions and resorts to her more animalistic urges. Kudos to the filmmakers for bringing psychological issues and the effects of sexual abuse and rape to the forefront, even if it's for an 'exploitation' film.

Yes, the story arc is predictable (though suspense-fully carried out), there is gratuitous sex and nudity at every conceivable moment (and a lot of inconceivable ones!), and you get that tired lie 'this is a true story--only the names have been changed', but it's as if you would think those are bad things. It was a great 79 minutes I will always fondly remember--unless I get Altzheimer's disease or something. Highly recommended to anyone who loves 70's horror movies, softcore porn, or exploitation films in general. 70's Italian movies aren't so bad.