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First time in which Waldemar stricken by ancient curse that turn into Werewolf at the full moon . Paul Naschy is turned into a werewolf when an annoyed Wolfman attacks and bite him . Daninsky looks desperately for a cure . He along with his lover (Dianik Zurakowska)) and a young man (Manzaneque) seek help for a doctor . Meanwhile Waldemar goes on a murderous rampage every time the moon is full. They contact a strange couple (Julian Ugarte, Aurora De Alba)who tries to cure his Lycanthropy with incantation but they result to be vampires. First entry about Werewolf with the unforgettable Waldemar Daninsky-Jacinto Molina ,under pseudonym Paul Naschy. Continental Europe's biggest horror star again with his classic character and horrifying to viewer. Jacinto Molina Aka Paul Naschy ,who recently passed away, was actor,screenwriter and director of various film about the personage based on fictitious character, the Polish count Waldemar Daninsky. The first entry about Waldemar was ¨The mark of the Wolfman (1967)¨ by Enrique Eguiluz , it was such a box office hit that Jacinto went on filming successive outings as ¨Night of Walpurgis¨, ¨Fury of the Wolfman¨ , ¨Doctor Jekill and the Wolfman¨ , and once again¨The return of the Walpurgis¨, ¨Howl of the devil¨, ¨The beast and the magic sword(1982)¨ that is filmed in Japan and for the umpteenth time ¨Licantropo(1998) and finally even directed by Fred Olen Ray in ¨Tomb of the Werewolf(2004) with Michelle Bauer.

It's 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 fights, curses, and several other things. This time Paul Nashy/Jacinto Molina exhibits little breast but he was a weightlifting champion. Here Waldemar takes on vampires and werewolf in some moving fighting scenes. Pretty slow going, but hang in there for the Werewolf versus vampires. Regular cinematography in 3D and big screen ,70 mm, by Emilio Foriscot is accompanied by a lousy remastering. Filmed in Manzanares and Navacerrada, Madrid and Talamanca De Jarama, location in which were shot most part these horror movies. Eerie and atmospheric musical score by Angel Arteaga, saga's usual .The motion picture written by Naschy is middling directed by Enrique Eguiluz and regularly played by Jacinto Molina , a slick craftsman and mediocre actor.The flick will appeal to Paul Naschy fans and terror genre enthusiastic. Rating : 4,5 .

While it isn't the best and most fun flick starring the late Spanish Horror Legend Paul Naschy, "La Marca Del Hombre-Lobo" aka. "The Wolfman and Count Dracula" aka. "Frankenstein's Bloody Terror" (1968) is the first film in which Naschy played the Werewolf Waldemar Daninsky, and therefore the film that launched his career as an immortal Cult icon. In a way, Enrique López Eguiluz' film is therefore maybe one of the most influential Eurohorror films ever made, as it is not for certain if Naschy's career had been the same, had it not been for this film. It is an interesting detail that Naschy, who (as for so many of his films) wrote the story and screenplay to "La Marca del Hombre-Lobo", only took the role of Waldemar Daninsky because Horror star Lon Chaney Jr. had turned it down. Luckily so! As in the sequels, Waldemar Daninsky is a kind-hearted and likable man, to whom young beauties are magically attracted. Shortly after the ravishing 18-year-old countess Janice (Dyanik Zurakowska) falls in love with Daninsky, unfortunate events lead him to get bitten by a Werewolf, after which the likable man becomes a nighttime Werewolf himself...

The 'Waldemar Daninsky' or 'Hombre Lobo' Werewolf films starring Paul Naschy all follow a very similar pattern in which the likable Daninsky becomes a Werewolf (sometimes due to a curse, sometimes due to unfortunate events), and yet each one of them is highly entertaining to watch, even after having seen a bunch of them already. Since this film was made in the late 60s, it is quite a bit tamer in terms of sleaze and gore than its 70s and 80s sequels (though there are some gory scenes), and may therefore be not quite as fun to watch to my fellow Exploitation fans. The storyline, then again, is slightly more logical than in most of the Daninsky flicks, and while the film probably won't make anyone shiver in terror, it has a moody Gothic atmosphere and several genuinely eerie moments. Naschy is great as always and young Dyanik Zurakowska, who would later play alongside Naschy in one of his greatest films "La Orgía De Los Muertos" (aka. "The Hanging Woman", 1973), is lovely in the female lead. Julián Ugarte and Aurora de Alba are nicely eerie as a married couple of very sinister occult scientists.

Even though some of the sequels, such as "La Noche De Walpurgis" ("Werewolf Vs. Vampire Women", 1971), "El Retorno De Walpurgis" ("Curse of the Devil", 1973), or "El Retorno Del Hombre-Lobo" ("Night of the Werewolf", 1981, my personal favorite so far) may be even cooler than this one, this is the original Waldemar Danisnky flick, and an absolute must-see for all my fellow Paul Naschy fans. Not to be missed by Eurohorror-lovers. Paul Naschy forever!

This film is absolutely NEVER aired on TV anymore and is nearly impossible to find on video. I remember seeing it several times as a staple on one of the numerous horror movie shows that used to air in NYC years ago (Creature Features, Thriller Theater, etc.) I would love to revisit it.

As a cheapo horror movie buff (and veteran of the "old" Times Square horror/kung fu/blacksploitation double-feature movie houses), I've since learned that like many other European horror movies of the era, the version seen here in America (Frankenstein's Bloody Terror) is a truncated version of the original Spanish print. Stripped down from 93 minutes to just 78 minutes only added confusion to plot points that were vague or contrived to begin with. I'm keen on seeing the original version, but I'm sure the shorter randomly edited version is probably a lot more fun (as is often the case -- see The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula for another example).

The only Naschy werewolf film that I've seen in video release is Fury of the Wolfman, which doesn't hold a candle to this movie in terms of pure kitschy so-bad-it's-good delight.

The last time I encountered Paul Naschy was in the video nasty The Werewolf and the Yeti. This is the film that started his career as Count Waldemar Daninsky. If you like good old campy horror with busty gypsies and vampires showing maximum cleavage, then this will fit the bill. Besides, wolf-man transformations are always fun to watch.

Of course, the horror is accompanied by a juicy love triangle as Count Waldemar Daninsky seems to have stolen Countess Janice von Aarenberg (Dyanik Zurakowska) from her young beau Rudolph (Manuel Manzaneque).

Count Daninsky joins a group of villagers after "wolves" when the gypsies mistakenly removed the silver cross from the wolf-man while robbing graves. He saves Rudolph's life, but is bitten in the process, thus starting the series of films where Nachy is a wolf-man.

Seeking help, they come into contact with vampires. No, there is no Frankenstein; that was added for American markets.

So here it is, the movie that started it all. The first step in the unending saga of Waldemar Daninsky, the werewolf, that would launch Jacinto Molina's career of playing this character through the next four decades.

The English-dubbed "Frankenstein's Bloody Terror" print available from Horror Theater Video begins with an amusing explanation as to why it was given that title, even though Frankenstein's creature isn't featured. Basically the narrator tells us that Frankenstein becomes Wolfstein, or something. Anyway, it makes absolutely no sense ... the real truth is that the American studio was promised a Frankenstein movie and received this instead, but decided to release it under that title all the same. Heh. Anyway, the picture is quality is quite poor but at least it's a decent surviving print of this historical werewolf movie, and the dubbing is actually not bad.

Two gypsies take refuge in an abandoned castle, get drunk on some old wine that they find and ultimately end up doing a bit of good old-fashioned grave robbing, which includes removing a silver crucifix from the 'Wolfstein' tomb. Needless to say, they are quickly slaughtered. Kind-hearted nobleman Waldemar Daninsky joins the investigation, fascinated by the strange occurrences that surround the castle, and eventually encounters the beast responsible, who is stabbed with a silver dagger again but not before giving Waldemar a nasty bite. He tries to cure himself from his new infection, but ultimately puts the love of his life and everyone else in danger. His friend writes to a mysterious doctor who may be able to help him, but all is not as it seems ...

Yes, it's completely exploitative ... but hell, it's a lot of fun and there's kind of a well-meaning innocence to it in a way, just a bunch of Spanish folk having some fun with the classic Universal monsters that they love. You'll probably even get a few laughs from some of the cheesy horror moments. The women mostly just run around screaming "look at how exotic and busty I am!", while along with the men they endure gruesome deaths. Jacinto Molina, sporting a full bodybuilder physique, gives a decent first performance as this character (particularly during the werewolf scenes) though obviously not as good as many of his later ones. The directing isn't great, some of the lighting effects are pretty laughable, and the editing is rather sloppy -- but it does have an effective, creepy soundtrack unlike many of the later Daninsky movies.

Silly, creepy, nonsensical and fun. Along with every other Naschy movie, it's not for everyone, but if you do enjoy then you've got twelve more movies to check out. Which is nice.

For being the introduction to one of the most enduring horror series in European cinema, FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY TERROR is rather lame - apart from being an edited variant of the original Spanish cut, bearing the more accurate title THE MARK OF THE WOLFMAN - but one tends to forgive Paul Naschy the many shortcomings of his script on this occasion because here he was still treading the waters, as it were. That said, his penchant of filling the plot with as many monsters and weird situations as his imagination could conceive is already well in evidence, as we not only get two werewolves for the price of one but there's also a mad doctor and his female assistant involved, who both just happen to be vampires! At such a distance it is easy to forget the impact that Naschy's presence as either Daninsky or his werewolf alter-ego made on the movie-going public when it first appeared (proving obviously popular enough to generate the myriad sequels, or variations on the same theme, which followed) for, even if the monster gets a fair work-out here (scenes from this film were actually lifted outright for the abysmal THE FURY OF THE WOLFMAN [1970]!), he's also chained up for a good part of the second half, as if Naschy was as yet unsure how to use his 'creation'. In fact, the vampires dominate most of the proceedings during the latter stages of the film, while early on there's also excess footage featuring a gypsy couple (who, for plot purposes, unwittingly revive the werewolf which subsequently 'marks' Waldemar Daninsky); however, despite the limited resources at the film-makers' disposal, the Gothic atmosphere is well up to par for the course (though dissipated somewhat by the faded print I watched!).

"Frankenstein's Bloody Terror" is what I like to call one of them horror hodgepodges. There's a whole lot going on and it might look very confusing, but basically it's a very straightforward and sensationalist horror mess made in Europe but mainly intended for the American drive-in crowd. It's the first entry in the long-running and relatively notorious Spanish "Hombre-Lobo" series, all starring Paul Naschy as the eternally doomed lycanthrope Count Waldemar Daninsky. Some of the sequels might be better known, like "The Werewolf Vs. The Vampire Women" and "Curse of the Devil", but this is the movie that introduced us to Waldemar and showed us how he became a werewolf. In spite of the suave sounding title, the film has absolutely nothing to do with the mad scientist Baron Frankenstein or its monstrous creation. There are, however, plenty of werewolves and vampires. It's just that, around that time in particular, any horror flick with "Frankenstein" in its title was a guaranteed hit amongst the horror loving audiences. The makers of this film inventively put the connection by claiming the Frankensteins are distantly related to the Wolfsteins, a noble European family that were cursed with Lycanthropy. The last descendant of the Wolfsteins lies dead in the family crypt, with the silver dagger still in his heart to prevent resurrection. When a greedy gypsy couple (gypsies … they always screw things up in horror movies) removes the dagger, the wolf man goes on a bloody killing spree in town. Waldemar Daninsky and Rudolph Weissmann, two romantic rivals battling for the love of the yummy young countess Janice Von Aerenberg, are forced to team up during the organized hunt in the woods. Waldemar saves Rudolph's life when the wolf man attacks, but he can't avoid getting bitten and thus takes over the curse. In a last desperate attempt to find a cure, they call upon professor Dr. Janos Mikhelov, but he and his voluptuous wife Wandessa are actually vampires and primarily interested in the virgin blood of Janice and Rudolph.

Yes, okay, admittedly this all sounds quite convoluted and ambitious, but the truth is that "Frankenstein's Bloody Terror" is nothing more than an amusing roller-coaster of campy horror and kitsch! The film has a rather slow and talkative opening half hour – with too much dull and pointless information about the love triangle between Janice, Rudolph and Waldemar - but as soon as the gypsies desecrate the Wolfstein tomb, there's non-stop bloody action and typical Euro-horror camp. The plot centering solely around the lycanthrope is still very atmospheric and moody (with eerie images of a dark forest and the vicious attack of a family), but as soon as the vampires appear, the whole thing just becomes too eccentric. Approaching the finale, there even is a wrestling match between two werewolves and the oddest vampire-kill in history of horror cinema. Whenever the plot becomes too much of a mess, the film reverts to the chattering fathers of Janice and Rudolph, as they summarize what's been going on at regular intervals. The make-up effects are decent and actually rather gruesome for 1968 and there are numerous hints at sleaze and perversion. This was the first horror film of Paul Naschy, but he kept playing Waldemar Daninsky throughout 12 more films and over a span of nearly 40 years. As in most of his films (especially the ones he wrote and directed himself), Paul Naschy plays a character that is extremely successful amongst the ladies even though he's not the least bit attractive. Waldemar Dankinsky for life!

First of all, this is a VERY difficult film to find in any condition, and I am afraid my endeavours obtained a print put out by Video Search of Miami that was grainy, subtitled in German(odd for a Spanish film), and rather bleary through much of it. I searched long for this print, and despite its many flaws, both with the copy and with the film, I must say that I enjoyed the film overall. It has very high marks for atmosphere with its superb European gothic castle and its slyvan night settings. The acting is pedestrian at best, and the plot about an ancient family curse of lycanthropy is somewhat muddled. Apparently an old family, suitably called Wolfstein, was populated with a werewolf named Imre Wolfstein. Some traveling gypsies come by the deserted castle and steal jewels from the dead family members in the vault, even taking the silver-pointed crucifix embedded in the body of Imre. Of course, this allows Imre to come back to life and rid the castle of those pesky gypsies and other villagers. In the wake of his feeding, he bites Waldemar Daninsky. The story really starts here as Waldemar and friends try to rid him of his new affliction. Thinking they are getting expert medical help, his friends enlist the aid of two vampires, who are up to no good. As you can see the plot has something for everyone. Well the film has lots going against it, but the atmospheric mood and settings, and the fact that this is the first of the eight Waldemar Daninsky films starring Paul Naschy are reason enough to grab some popcorn, light some candles, and sit back and enjoy some hokum.

Despite my summary, the DVD version from Rareflix may be worth buying only for the extras: Sam Sherman's interesting commentary on film distribution rigors to drive-in theaters during the 1960's and early 1970's, and the added original promotional trailers and a copy of the original movie poster inside the DVD box. We learn the reasons Sherman fraudulently hyped this movie as a "Frankenstein" film, as even the title would suggest, despite the fact Frankenstein appears nowhere in the film. I recall when this theater played at the local drive-in in Madison, WI in 1971 when I was a kid. My neighbors, who went to the film, which was on a triple bill with two Hammer Dracula pictures, endlessly complained how the advertising was a complete "rip off" as it was an lousy werewolf movie containing no Frankenstein. Obviously, they did not recommend it, but I remained intrigued all these years only due to that great movie poster referenced above. Sherman states on the commentary that he believed at the time people would see what a good film it was and "forgive him" for the misleading Frankenstein promotion. After buying and viewing the DVD a few weeks ago, I disagree. The film itself is a complete bore, with a plot about as interesting as it is comprehensible. Like many Euro horror pictures of the time, we have a constant repetition of a few seconds of action abruptly interrupted by more inane plot. I'm sure many people's heads were nodding inside of their cars trying to stay awake while attempting to watch this flick at U.S. drive-ins in the 1970's. Again, only interesting as a period piece to catch the kind of unambitious, over-hyped trash all too often once shoveled into drive-in theaters by distributors like Independent-International. Sam Sherman's company nonetheless did bring a handful of good movies to the drive-ins. "Satan's Sadists" comes to mind. This surely ain't one of them.

When I was in high school (the late 1970s) a local TV station showed this on Saturday afternoons constantly with "Dracula vs. Frankenstein". As a teenager I LOVED this! My memories on the plot are kind of vague, but it went something like this: A man is cursed with becoming a werewolf. He has already killed a few people. He hears of a count who can (perhaps) cure him. The count and his wife come--but they're both VAMPIRES!!!

BTW--Frankenstein has nothing to do with this movie. The American distributor had promised theatre owners a film with the names "Frankenstein" and "Terror" in the title. Then they got this werewolf-vampire one. So the American version has a silly prologue linking the Frankenstein family to the werewolf!!!

Sounds ridiculous but it's played so serious it actually is a lot of fun to watch. The effects (for the 1970s) were good and, surprisingly, this got a PG rating despite some pretty gory parts. Also this played uncut on TV. The acting was actually pretty good and I distinctly remember being terrified by the vampires.

I heard the original Spanish one runs 10 minutes longer and was in 3-D and stereo sound! We'll never see that here probably and this version seems to have disappeared completely. Too bad. It was a fun, silly horror film. I give it an 8. Maybe Anchor Bay will find a version of this to release soon.

This is not a good film at all... it has it's moments, when Naschy turns into the wolfman and bursts through the door of that house and attacks the 2 people inside was awesome!!... and the sets and atmosphere were better than expected.

But seriously... how the hell can people give this a perfect rating?!?... is this film really the 'ceiling' of film greatness for some people??... impossible

I've only seen the "Frankenstein's Bloody Terror" version, so maybe the original Spanish version is an improvement.

MORD39 RATING: ** (of ****)

The first of many werewolf films starring Paul Naschy as the doomed lycanthrope, Waldemar Daninsky.

Bitten by a werewolf, Naschy seeks help from a weird couple of specialists who are not exactly what they appear to be. It's a fun and very atmospheric movie to watch, despite its dubbing and low budget. With a tendency to confuse, it's not for every taste...but it's the perfect place to start for those interested in Spanish horror.

I am not to familiar with the Paul Naschy WolfMan movies. A good friend of mine has been watching these films for years and told me that I have got to check some of them out. So, where else better to start then with the beginning of the series. A fun start if you ask me.

The story is pretty standard as far as werewolf stories go. A werewolf is on the loose and a group of people go on to try and lynch the creature. Actor Paul Naschy (playing the part of a man named Waldemar) gets attacked and bitten by the werewolf. Soon after, the creature is shot down and killed. Poor Waldemar, he is now inflicted with the curse and must find a way to stop or cure it. He summons the help of a strange doctor and his wife. The problem is they turn out to be vampires with nothing but bad intentions.

Well, for the first movie in the series of about a dozen, this was a lot of fun. I will admit that I was a little bit skeptical sitting down to watch this but I really enjoyed it. Paul Naschy is awesome in the role of the tormented Waldemar. The transformation scenes are pretty nifty, even if they are low budget. Naschy as the werewolf looks pretty good and is pulled off nicely.

I think one of the highlights for me was the music score. This really brought forth a lot of atmosphere and gave the movie life. Without this, I don't believe the movie would have had such a nice impact.

If you like horror this is a must see. 7/10

When is a Frankenstein movie not a Frankenstein movie ? When the production team promise the American distributors a Frankenstein film and make a film featuring werewolves and vampires and leave it to the distributors to come up with a solution why it features Frankenstein in the title . The cheeky chutzpah involved is astonishing as is the simplicity . " Let's put up a credits voice over saying the Frankenstein clan have changed their name to Wolfstein and that will solve everything " . It's very naughty making promises you can't keep and reading the trivia section on this page it seems the production team were at best self deluded mavericks and at worst out and out charlatans . I mean they honestly thought they'd be getting Lon Chaney Jnr as a casting coup ? so if you're expecting some dude with bolts in his neck to stagger about with his arms outstretched this isn't what you'll be getting and HELL'S CREATURES seems a much more appropriate title

What you will be getting is some very low brow horror that firmly falls in to guilty pleasure territory . Yes it's absolute rubbish but as someone who has seen far too many horror films for his own good I've always had a soft spot for this type of movie . Like the Hammer horror movies from Britain this is a European answer to the classic Universal monster movies from the 1930s and 40s . The production values are very similar to that seen in a contemporary Hammer and we've got the same type of imagery of blonde maidens showing off their cleavage along with studio exteriors and greedy people getting their come uppance . It's interesting how much common ground it shares with Hammer that the greedy people here are portrayed as outsiders in that they're Gypsies , you obviously can't trust these foreign types at all . Like so much else surrounding the production the film cheats the audience somewhat . We never get to see the werewolf transformation in any great detail and looks like it's happening during a bad LSD trip . It's also noticeable that the transformation only takes place when the plotting requires it

This is the film that kick started the whole Daninsky franchise that lasted thirty years or at least I think it does . IMDb lists a film previous to this one featuring Paul Naschy as Daninsky but seems to have no surviving print and one wonders if it ever existed in the first place . What is interesting is that does feel like an introductory self contained story with no prior continuity to any other film . It also means however it contradicts the internal continuity of other films in the cycle most notably CURSE OF THE DEVIL from 1973 but I guess the Universal movies also suffered from this so it's not really a valid criticism . Naschy makes an unlikely anti-hero resembling a weight lifter rather than someone with an obvious sexual magnetism but I guess he's much more preferable to Lon Chaney Jnr who would have been 61 when his film was produced and just imagine how unappealing it would have been seeing Daninsky being seduced by the vampire woman if Chaney had played the part . It does seem unlikely that someone with an obviously Slavonic name like Daninsky would have survived the Nazi regime but once again the logic behind this is down to the production team hitting barriers in not being allowed to set the story in Spain or have a Spanish character as a Werewolf hence the German setting but you'd still think a bit more thinking might have gone in to Daninsky's background . That said despite all the flaws it is a fairly entertaining horror film and is miles better than the direct sequel ASSIGNMENT TERROR

At a costume party, Rudolph Weissman (Manuel Manzaneque) dances with Countess Janice von Aarenberg (Dianik Zurakowska). A mystery man in a red costume arrives and sweeps the Countess off her feet, much to Rudolph's dismay. The man in red, Waldemar Daninsky (Paul Naschy), is an outcast, being related to Irme Wolfstein, a werewolf who rests eternal in a crypt, impaled on a silver cross.

A gypsy woman (Rosanna Yanni) steals the cross and the werewolf is unleashed. Before he and Rudolph kill the beast, Waldemar is bitten and sure enough during the full moon he transforms into a wolf man. The Countess -- who has fallen in love with Waldemar -- and Rudolph intervene. They chain Waldemar against a wall in the decrepit Wolfstein mansion.

In this film, lycantropy is treated as an incurable disease. Despite this, Rudy and the Countess hire a doctor to cure Waldemar. However, the doctor and his wife are vampires who enslave them! There are soap-opera horror cliches on a large scale. This is also the movie that, for better or worse, kicked off actor-writer Paul Naschy's reign as the king of 1970s Spanish horror. In Europe, it was treated as a true "roadshow" event, filmed in 70mm, stereo sound, and 3-D.

In the U. S., it was released under the title FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY TERROR, shorn of its first reel, and became an instant obscurity. Paul Naschy fans claim it's a cult classic, but only handful of people even remember this very seriously-played, pallid reinvention of cliches from old Universal monster movies.

Naschy's interpretation of the wolfman character has its moments, but he borrows heavily from Lon Chaney Jr. And the original WOLF MAN (1941). On the other hand, the art direction is excellent, the acting is above the norm, and there's one outstanding sequence in which the doctor and the vampirized Countess escape from the wolfman by ballet-dancing across the fog-shrouded hills of Madrid.

This unashamedly B grade movie has a special place in my heart. It was the first werewolf movie I ever watched and it was the first time I ever stayed up to watch The Late Movie on cable television ( it aired at midnight on Saturday evenings). It wasnt until over 30 years later that I would get a chance to watch it in color because in 1980 we still had a B&W TV set. Vampires fighting Werewolves ? Check! Creepy European Gothic atmosphere complete with authentic castle? Check! A nice touch of Euro erotica featuring large breasted damsels with beautiful skin tone ? Check! Great fun. And I was lucky to see something like this on television because I guarantee you it wont be shown on North American cable anymore. Enjoy it for what it is.

In a bid to outdo British and Italian gothic chillers, Spanish horror The Mark of the Wolfman (AKA Frankenstein's Bloody Terror, even though it has diddly squat to do with Frankenstein) features not one, but two wolfmen, and eventually throws in a couple of vampires for good measure.

Spanish horror icon Paul Naschy, in his film debut, stars as Waldemar Daninsky, who is bitten by a werewolf while trying to save Rudolph Weissmann (Manuel Manzaneque) from the drooling monster (which kind of makes up for the fact that Daninsky has stolen Rudolph's woman, sexy Countess Janice, played by Dyanik Zurakowska). Daninksy is now cursed to transform into a wolfman whenever the full moon rises unless a cure can be found. Waldemar seeks help from occult expert Dr. Janos Mikhelov (Julián Ugarte), but in reality the doctor and his sexy assistant Wandessa (Aurora de Alba) are vampires who enslave the wolfman and feed upon Janice and Rudolph.

Director Enrique López Eguiluz piles on the gothic atmosphere, with plenty of dark catacombs, swirling fog and cobwebs, utilising strong coloured lighting in the style of Mario Bava to add ambience. The plot is freewheeling kitschy fun, with a reasonably effective wolfman, plenty of dramatic cape swishing from vampire Janos, and lots of heaving bosoms from the attractive female members of the cast (gorgeous Rosanna Yanni is particularly impressive as the gypsy woman who stupidly removes a silver cross from a body, thus causing all of the chaos that ensues).

The film ends with Wandessa staked, Janos spontaneously combusting, and Daninsky being shot with silver bullets, although this would not be the last of the wolfman: he would return to the screen in numerous sequels.

The birth of Waldemar Daninsky and Spanish fantaterror, a magical and essential film in the filmography of Paul Naschy. First indent Jacinto where show their influences from classic movies of universal, Gothic horror literature and original to its mythical Werewolf character as well as vampires and other characteristic characters in his stories. A movie that marked me and influenced me greatly in childhood, terrifying me and marveling,conditioned my cinematic tastes until today. Maybe later surpassed by many other films made by Naschy, but none as influential as this for pioneering and give charisma as mythical and immortal character.

This is the first movie in which Paul Naschy, born Jacinto Molina, donned the werewolf attire to play Waldemar Daninsky, a Pole afflicted with lycanthropy. Naschy wrote the screenplay but was actually not the first choice to play the role that would make him world famous - that would be the immortal Lon Chaney Jr.

In this first outing a gypsy couple resurrect another lycanthrope - the werewolf Imre Wolfstein (not Frankenstein - in spite of the film's American title, there is no Frankenstein in this film) who begins killing with savagery. Daninsky is able to stop him, but not before becoming afflicted with lycanthropy himself, here represented in a mark the shape of a pentagram, whereas in other hombre lobo films it was a pentagon - perhaps because that shape is easier to draw?

Daninsky seeks help to cure his condition from a pair of occultists who turn out to be vampires, and this is where the movie became confusing for me. What do vampires want with werewolves, anyway? And why do they resurrect Wolfstein (again) so that Daninsky and the other lobo can fight? The actor who plays the male vampire seems unsure of his role as well. He flaps his cape around a bit too much, perhaps looking for inspiration, or distraction for the audience noticing his uncertain eyes.

There had to be a reason why the vampires were included aside from plotting. Did the producers or distributors demand it? Either way, el hombre lobo was pitted against the nosferatu in further Daninsky offerings that more than make up for the uneven spectacle we get here. Check out Werewolf Shadow and The Craving if you don't believe me.

The Mark of the Wolfman (1968)

** (out of 4)

Bland but important Spanish horror film is the first to feature Paul Naschy in the Waldemar Daninsky role. In the film, Daninsky (Naschy) is bitten by a werewolf and soon finds himself turning into the creature. With the help of his best friend and girlfriend he's able to locate a German doctor who might be able to help him but Daninsky doesn't realize that the doctor is actually a vampire. THE MARK OF THE WOLFMAN really isn't a very good moment but there's no question that it's an important one considering it started Naschy career as well as kick-started the Spanish horror genre. That alone makes the film worth viewing and there's no question that there are a few memorable moments scattered throughout the picture. The most effective sequence deals with a couple gypsies unlocking a tomb and pulling a stake from a man's heart, which has him come back as a werewolf. This attack sequence is actually quite effective and shot very nicely. There's also some very good atmosphere running throughout the film as it's clear that the low-budget at least allowed for a very good fog machine. Another plus is that the werewolf make-up looks pretty good for the most part, although there's no question that the actual transformation scenes are somewhat laughable. Naschy doesn't give the best performance of his career but I think he's good enough in the role and at least makes you feel sorry for his character. The supporting players are decent at best. There are some major problems with the picture that keeps it from being better. For starters, the pacing is pretty bad throughout the picture. Another issue is that the screenplay pretty much just throws everything into the mix and not all of it sticks. When released in America as FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY TERROR the film had an added on sequence trying to attach the events to the Frankenstein legacy but this here was pretty stupid so the Spanish version is the way to go.