El retorno del Hombre Lobo

THE CRAVING is possibly the most satisfying (if still flawed) Paul Naschy film I've watched so far: the fact that Waldemar Daninsky here originates from the Middle Ages gives the character a true mythic quality which is not possible with his usual modern-day persona; besides, his medieval 'wardrobe' (beard, coat-of-arms, crossbow and, briefly, an iron mask) is pretty cool - as is the vicious werewolf look which Naschy comes up with for this one, certainly the creepiest of his that I've seen...though, ironically enough, it doesn't see a lot of action (still, I guess, there's really so much can be done differently from one film to the next). The atmosphere (fog, candlelight, color gels) is really laid on thick here and the score, too, is pretty varied for this type of film (I even liked the rock theme heard during the opening and closing credits).

What prevents THE CRAVING from getting a *** rating from me, which would make it a solid and good picture, is a rather muddled storyline (though still the most interesting yet penned by Naschy): when the film opens, Waldemar is supposed to be Elizabeth Bathory's lieutenant but when they are revived centuries later, he is somehow hellbent on destroying her (and the army of women - there's a plethora of female characters here but, alas, very little nudity - which she manages to vampirize)!; the evil Erika, well-versed in the occult and who has no qualms about murdering her mentor, and later sacrifice her best friend in order to restore the vampire lady whom she idolizes, is set up initially as a quite formidable villain - even seducing Waldemar when a vampire - but her role gradually deteriorates to nothing, apparently so as to allow the Bathory character to take center-stage for the climactic duel between the werewolf and his arch-nemesis. Unfortunately, this sequence comes off as anti-climactic because one can hardly discern anything that's going on: either the print is too dark or it was simply filmed that way; however, the ending of this one is really bleak as Waldemar's love interest, already on her way to becoming a vampire, is infected with the curse of the werewolf as well(!) but she is quick to bring the house down in a conflagration which decimates the evil pervading the entire manor...

This is the 9th of 13 films in the Hombre Lobo series featuring the eternally cursed Waldemar Daninsky played by Paul Naschy. His work will soon be much more well known as Fangoria is releasing Werewolf, a brand new, fully painted series of graphic novels based on the film series and its title character.

Vampires versus werewolves. The vampire, Elisabeth Bathory (Julia Saly) controls the werewolf Waldemar Daninsky (Paul Naschy) until they are executed in the 18th century. Two grave robbers (Ricardo Palacios & Rafael Hernández) remove the silver cross from Waldemar and he comes alive, free of the Countess.

Meanwhile, three women (Silvia Aguilar, Azucena Hernández & Pilar Alcón) are searching for the Countess' grave.

While Erika (Aguilar) and Barbara (Alcón) are preparing to revive the Countess, Karen (Hernández) is falling in love with Waldemar. He needs her to kill him to remove his curse.

Erika even sacrifices her friend in the ritual to gain power. Meanwhile, Waldemar is heavily snacking as it is a full moon.

The Countess even manges to use Waldemar's servant Mircalla (Beatriz Elorrieta) to attack him, but Karen is right there to save the day. Too bad, he wasn't there for her.

The next full moon brings forth the battle. Rock breaks scissors, and paper covers rock, and all is well.

Good acting, and a high quality DVD.

I have to admit that I'm not a very big fan of Paul Naschy's "Homo-Lobo" series of films, and have disliked most of the ones I've seen. This one, however, was rather good. The film is set apart somewhat from the rest of the series because of the fact that lead star Paul Naschy also directed the film. The film was made in the early eighties; but Naschy retains the seventies feel of the previous films in the series and this one doesn't feel out of place with the rest of them, although the central character is slightly different as this time he originates from the middle ages. The film kicks off with a scene that sees Naschy's character Waldemar Daninsky and Countess Elizabeth Bathory, executed. We then fast forward a few hundred years and focus on a woman into black magic that wants to rejuvenate Elizabeth Bathory. However, upon reaching the resting place with her friends; she discovers Daninsky already awakened. She proceeds with her mission anyway, and ends up bringing the Countess (apparently a vampire) back to life.

The film could basically be summed up as 'werewolf vs vampires', as that is effectively what it turns into. I really do like Naschy's decision to feature the infamous Countess in the film; although he has been a bit liberal with the way she is used in the story. The style of the film is really great; the cinematography is interesting and the use of music is good; although slightly odd, it must be said. It does also have to be said that the film is more than just a little bit uneven; some of the set pieces are brilliant and really well worked, while other moments of the film are turgid and rather boring. The film also gets a bit sluggish towards the end and it seems like Naschy might have ran out of paper to write his script on as the final third contains hardly any dialogue. The werewolf effects are rather poor also; especially when you consider that An American Werewolf in London and The Howling were released in the same year. The film is slightly disappointing overall because with better handling it could have been really great...but even so, Night of the Werewolf is still worth a look.

In "El Retorno del Hombre-Lobo" (called "The Craving" in English), Paul Naschy returns as his most famous character, werewolf Waldemar Daninsky. This time, he gets executed along with alleged vampire Countess Elizabeth Bathory (Julia Saly). But, as always seems to happen in horror flicks, they both get resurrected and go on a rampage. Specifically, they get resurrected by hot students Erika, Karen and Barbara. In fact, Daninsky turns against Bathory. You can probably guess what happens from there.

If you watch any of the DVDs of Paul Naschy's movies, the special features include an interview with him about his life. He talks some about growing up under Franco. One gets the feeling that he knew first-hand about horror, far more than a werewolf movie could portray. But no matter; this movie will surely please Naschy's fans.

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.