El retorno del Hombre-Lobo (1981)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Paul Naschy

Writer:

Paul Naschy (writer)

Release Date:

1985 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Plot:

An evil witch brings back to life the infamous Elizabeth Bathory, who was executed several hundred years previously for murdering young woman and bathing in their blood. |

Plot Keywords:

Werewolf | Beautiful Woman | Student | Witchcraft | Satanism

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Paul Naschy	...	Waldemar Daninsky / Werewolf
Silvia Aguilar	...	Erika
Azucena Hernández	...	Karen
Julia Saly	...	Countess Elisabeth Bathory
Pilar Alcón	...	Barbara
Beatriz Elorrieta	...	Mircaya
Luis Barboo	...	Bandit
Narciso Ibáñez Menta	...	The professor
Charly Bravo
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
José Cela
Ramón Centenero
Tito García	...	First thief
Rafael Hernández	...	Second graverobber
Alexia Loreto	...	Victim in the stall besides her boyfriend
Ricardo Palacios	...	First graverobber
Manuel Pereiro
Mauro Ribera
José Riesgo
David Rocha	...	Young bandit
Pepe Ruiz

Also Known As:

Night of the Werewolf (USA)
Return of the Wolfman
The Craving
The Night of the Werewolf (International: English title)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:(Banned) (Ontario)

Company:

Dálmata Films S.A.

Trivia:

The music playing during the opening and end titles is taken from Stelvio Cipriani's soundtrack for Tentacoli (1977).

Quotes:

Mircaya: You should watch Erika, Waldemar. Her spirit is false. She's totally evil.
Waldemar Daninsky: I know she's perverse...but she has such beauty!

Movie Connections:

Followed by Tomb of the Werewolf (2004) (V)

The Craving

Night of the Werewolf, The (1980)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Paul Naschy's eighth stint as the werewolf Waldemar Daninsky is also his first stint in the director's chair. This was Naschy's biggest budget for a werewolf film and is a remake of his 1971 flick Werewolf Shadow (aka The Werewolf vs the Vampire Woman). In the film, two hundred years after being executed, a Satan worshipping scientist brings Waldemar and a witch/vampire woman back to life where they eventually do battle over the soul of a woman. This was my first time viewing the film in its original Spanish language and it helped in some ways but overall my impression of the film was the same as when I watched the American version under the title The Craving. Naschy, the director, tries very hard to capture the mood and feel of a Gothic horror film but there's not a shred of atmosphere to be found throughout the entire film. Another major problem is that there are constantly scenes of dialogue, which is boring and doesn't really add anything to the film. The biggest problem is a silly love story that's thrown in. This "love story" doesn't work because we're not given any time for it to work because one scene the two don't know one another and in the very next scene they are madly in love. Even with all that said there's still quite a lot for fans of the genre to like including the wonderful werewolf make up and a couple nice attack scenes. The ending with the werewolf and the vampire woman fighting is clearly an homage to the Universal horror films but it doesn't really work here because you've got a strong Naschy fighting a small woman.