La notte del licantropo

A millionaire brings an assortment of characters to his heavily secured home and plenty of acreage around it. He then tells each that they were brought for a reason...that one of them is a werewolf. The rest of the story goes through the paces of finding out who the beast is and what must be done with it. I did not have the version with the game on it...my copy was called Black Werewolf(a poor job in renaming the film and it added awful title cards as well). This is the 70s film all around. The outfits, the hairstyles, and that awful-yet-appropriate soundtrack are all signs of the times. The movie is cheesy and yet fun to watch. Calvin Lockhart, as the lead, is like George Jefferson on steroids. The supporting cast is filled with stalwarts from the British stage and screen, amongst them Charles Gray, Anton Diffring, and the ever-affable Peter Cushing as the dispenser of knowledge dealing with lycanthropy. A pleasant diversion to watch!

The film concerns on Tom Newcliff (Calvin Lockhart) , a wealthy businessman , great hunter and sportsman living with his wife (M.Clark) and his foreman (Anton Driffing) at a luxurious mansion . He has pursued and hunted all kind species with exception a werewolf . Thus , he invites a group of six men (Peter Cushing , Charles Gray , Michael Gambon..) and women related with weird killings about the eating of human flesh and nobody can leave the location . One of the occupants turns into werewolf at the full moon and stricken a rare pollen flower . Then , he undergoes a dental and hirsute transformation at night and going on a murderous rampage every time the moon is full . Tom investigates the guest who converts in night beast and trying to chase him , increasing his enormous collection at his isolated lodge .

The movie is a detective story in which you are the detective . The question is not ¨who is the murder¨? but ¨Who is the werewolf¨? . After all the clues have been shown we will get a chance to give your answer . The picture is a crossover of Blaxexploitation's protagonists , Agatha Christie whodunit (Ten little Indians) , horror mythic about werewolves and even gimmicks -William Castle type- on its intervening period when give to public some seconds for resolving the strange enigma . The transformation of man into werewolf is simple without special effects . Calvin Lockhart as obstinate and relentless hunter is top-notch ; besides , being surrounded by a highly capable secondary cast . Special mention for Peter Cushing ,as always he is excellent as specialist of knowledge on Lycanthropy . The screenwriter provided a very serviceable and well-knit screenplay with suspense and tension , giving full rein to director Paul Annett's natural talent .

what a great idea. badly executed. the best big game hunter in the world tries to kill a werewolf. seems to me like he was one of the worst shots, let alone one of the worst hunters in the world. not once did he use his skills, relying on everyone else around him to do the work for him, and he could just walk in for the kill. wheres the honour in killing your foe with a machine gun? i sat and watched as a film i'd wanted to see went plodding along until the end(though the ending was quite good). a weak film with some 'jazzy' music. what would terence fisher have done with it? made it fun at least. for once, a remake might do this idea justice. and make it scary this time, darnit!

This movie is OLD, and not because it came out the month after I was born. Peter Cushing actually ran in this movie!

This plot isn't new - as it's been used since in The Incredible Hulk series and most famously in John Carpenter's The Thing, but it's still entertaining. Several guests are invited to a rich hunter's secluded home and almost immediately he springs his motives: One of the guests is a werewolf and the Host intends to make sure, by the third Moonlit night...the Beast Must Die!

But, whodunnit? I'm sorry, I meant, who is it? Don't worry about answering - there's an actual "Werewolf Break" for you to think about your answer. You think I'm joking?

(And, I still totally guessed wrong!)

I saw this as a kid and while I do recall liking it, I haven't seen it since. I placed it in one of my October Lineups one year as I select as rare to me horror movies for each day of October. This WAS available for streaming when I made my October list that year, but by the time October rolled around, it vanished. Recently, one of my favorite YouTubers covered this movie, so I decided to search for it again as it's been probably 40 years since I've seen it and thankfully, it returned!

Well, before I thank the stars, it was just alright. Mercifully, while it feels slow at times and oh-boy that 70s disco soundtrack is annoying, it's only 87 minutes. And I never cared for the werewolf movies where they turn into dogs. The standup, menacing kinds like in The Howling is more my jam.

It has a good premise, I've always loved the poster and it contained some surprisingly decent actors portraying some interesting characters. Plus, it has a wonderful and suspenseful climax. It gets a recommendation out of me.

Now that it's fresh in my head, I'll go watch Fanboy's review of this on YouTube. And sometime soon, I just gotta, ah-hem, track down the other Werewolf movie I recall seeing only as a little kid: The Boy Who Cried Werewolf.

***

Final Thoughts: So, this movie got me thinking and I had to consult my lawyer friend. If this man brings people to his secluded home, makes sure they stay there while he tries to pinpoint the werewolf and the beast starts making everyone else die...isn't that Host an accessory to murder after the fact? And I WAS RIGHT!

Of course, asking a real lawyer such a bizarre question might have lost my credibility for further legal advice, so I may need to keep myself out of trouble for a while.

This low-budget horror film had an innovative concept, mixing rather successfully a traditional Agatha Christie-type murder mystery with a "gory" werewolf flick; the result does hold your attention but is marred by wooden acting (except for the excellent Peter Cushing) and a few overextended chase scenes. As another reviewer noted, no real clues are given to us to help us figure out the identity of the werewolf, so it's strictly a matter a guessing, but there is some fun in the game... (**1/2)