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4 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
"The Craving", now available on DVD!, 11 May 2007

Author: TheatreX from Louisville, KY

I bought two copies of the new DVD of The Craving (AKA Return of the Wolf Man, AKA Night of the Werewolf, and probably AKA lots of other things too). I have friends that saw this on their very first date at the drive-in and it holds a special place in their memories. To some this may seem rather horrific right there, but I think it's kind of sweet. Ack. Anyway, one copy is for them so they can pull their car into the living room and watch it and relive their first date.

I've had this on VHS for years and while I do like the films of Paul Naschy, or Jacinto Molina, none of them could exactly be called "good", really. But he was apparently the first one that had the cojones to be putting stuff like this out in Spain under Franco's rule (Francisco Franco, not Jess Franco, for those of you that don't know their history). So because of that, I find his films rather unique and special. True, they are not the greatest but most have a certain charm or SOMETHING to them that makes them work for me. The Craving on DVD, mastered in high definition, may sound like strapping an outboard motor on a raft to some, but this is also uncut & it IS beautifully remastered, not like the usual Brentwood BCI output. They seem to be moving forward in technology. So what was formerly somewhat murky and choppy now has a new look and possibly even less disconnect. The story, such as it is, involves Waldemar Daninsky (Naschy) being executed along with his mistress, Countess Bathory, and thanks to grave robbers in modern times he's brought back to life, along with all his pals, to raise hell once again. It's basically vampires versus werewolves in a showdown at a big castle. Nashy's werewolf makes its usual sloppy saliva sounds which were probably assisted by big plastic teeth, and the transformation effects are still somewhat laughable, but overall this looks great now and has more of the story intact, it seems. Or more of the scenes,to be more accurate. Or so I'm guessing, anyway. Not bad, one can only hope more of Naschy/Molina's stuff will be made available in a decent, watchable format in the future. 7 out of 10.

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5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Not as bad as might at first appear, 15 October 2004

Author: funkyfry from Oakland CA

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.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
The Craving (1980) **1/2, 14 July 2005

Author: MARIO GAUCI (marrod@melita.com) from Naxxar, Malta

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...

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
a good vampires vs. warewolves movie, 6 May 2003

Author: lthseldy1 from Norfolk, VA

I liked this movie, although I enjoy most of Paul Nashys movies anyway I found this one special. I starts at the beginning when Countess Bathory and Nashy who is accused as a warewolf are being executed only to be brought back to life 400 years later. I liked the switch with the vampire going after the warewolf and each being enemies instead of alies with eachother. I could do without the terrible love scenes of Nashy and his lady who falls in love with him only to be bitten by the vampire and bitten by Nashy. It's worth a look, but it's not a classic.

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4 out of 6 people found the following comment useful :-
Growing up under Franco, Paul Naschy probably knew all about horror., 24 December 2005

Author: Lee Eisenberg (eisenberg.lee@gmail.com) from Portland, Oregon, USA

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.

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
Werewolf vs Vampire Women, 12 May 2007

Author: Leroy Gomm from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

The Night Of The Werewolf aka El Retorno Del Hombre Lobo aka The Craving is a revamped update on Paul Naschy's original film, Werewolf vs Vampire Woman.

The film is a visual feast for Gothic horror fans. It's most memorable scene takes it's inspiration from the resurrection shown in Dracula Prince Of Darkness , while rendering it in a seductive if slightly misogynistic fashion. It's opening credit scene is reminiscent of Black Sunday, as an iron mask is used as a means of torture. And so it goes, until the climactic battle with Elizabeth Bathory herself.

Horror fans that have found their way into the world of Naschy's Waldamar Daninski already know that they have ventured so far into the genre that there is no turning back. You can throw plot and logic out the window, it's really not what matters here. The eccentric Daninski is a Wolf Man chick magnet displaced out of time who is in an eternal struggle with the blood Countess Bathory, the stuff of Warren's old Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella comic books genuinely realized on screen. While at times some scenes begin to slow with romantic interludes it never takes long for something interesting and horrific to happen.

Very much a throwback to 60's Gothic Euro and Hammer horrors, The Night of The Werewolf might still delight the more modern fan with it's pounds of flesh tearing, buckets of bloodletting, and it's sexy vixen vampires.

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2 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
This is "the werewolf vs the vampire woman" # 2 ..., 16 August 2005

Author: Noel (Werewolf-Moviesdotcom) from Bromsgrove, England

Ah, the first Daninsky movie of the eighties ... here I refer to Midnight Video's version entitled "Night of the Werewolf", which is pretty good quality but has annoying non-removable subtitles.

When a movie opens with a bunch of satanists being sentenced to gruesome deaths including buried alive, tortured, hanged, beheaded, and so forth ... you know you must be in for good, clean B-movie horror. The chief witch in question of course swears a terrible revenge (haven't we already been here in Molina's "Curse of the Devil"?), and among the condemned is the werewolf Waldemar Daninsky himself, sporting a rather stylish beard. He gets off comparatively lightly, being made to wear an iron mask and having a silver dagger driven through his heart. Centuries later, an evil witch finds a medallion in order to resurrect the ancient chief witch, and as fate would have it a couple of grave-robbers remove the dagger of Daninsky's heart at exactly the same moment. Time for a "Werewolf vs the Vampire Woman" rematch ...

Jacinto Molina opted to direct this one himself, as well as the two other Daninsky movies made in the eighties. This means he has more control over the project than ever before, and contrary to what some say, I think he's actually a very good director. Probably the best ever to direct a Daninsky movie, anyway, and obviously he can capture his own artistic vision like nobody else could. This is probably why it feels more conventional and competent than most movies in the series. The sets are great, the special effects are good for it's time and the whole movie has a fantastic atmosphere to it. There is more gratuitous nudity and gore than in most Daninsky movies, and I'm surprised it hasn't been a bigger hit with fans of the genre. There are certainly enough werewolves, witches, vampires, zombies and horrible sacrifices to keep them entertained! Maybe I'm going overboard with the praise, but if you've seen the earlier Daninsky movies, you'll know that in most ways this is pretty damn good comparatively. The dubbing is actually pretty good (although dubbing is always a crime, of course), and they've tried to make the dialogue as hip as possible. Man, I just love the eighties mentality. The soundtrack is also very cool. Okay, okay, so the storyline is pretty much the same predictable stuff all over again. And once again it has no real consistency with the previous movies. But that's why we love it! Obviously it's not an easy movie to watch, it's arguably slow and there's some particularly dark stuff going on even for a Daninsky movie. Daninsky himself is something of an anti-hero, saving maidens in distress but also allowing his wolf side to run around slaughtering innocents. The vampires are very creepy and unearthly, as Molina has always been good at knowing how to portray them.

"El Retorno del Hombre-Lobo", "The Craving", "Night of the Werewolf" ... call it what you like, this is my favourite Daninsky movie yet. It's "The Werewolf vs the Vampire Woman" as it should have been, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

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The lack of cohesiveness dampers what could have been a worthwhile "Waldemar Daninsky" flick., 22 March 2009

Author: bfan83 (bfan83@yahoo.com) from Murfreesboro, Tennessee

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

A young woman, who is a practicing Satanist sets out to unearth the tomb of Countess Bathory by sacrificing young, virginal women. Waldemar Daninsky (Paul Naschy) also used to be Countess Bathory's loyal servant when they were executed several hundred years earlier for their gruesome crimes. Waldemar is now on a mission to destroy Countess Bathory in order to prevent her from making him her slave, once again.

THE CRAVING, when it was released in the states was horribly butchered because of its violent content. Unfortunately, this was its biggest detriment. It barely made any sense, and was quite difficult to keep track of what was going on.

However, I must say the climatic battle between Daninsky and Bathory was quite exciting and hilarious to watch.

Any Paul Naschy fan should check out. Fortunately, it was re-released under its uncut form via BCI/Deimos a year or two back. Just please avoid the censored version. It's way too confusing,

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1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
Really impressive Euro-werewolf film, 3 January 2008
Author: slayrrr666 (slayrrr666@yahoo.com) from Los Angeles, Ca

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

"Night of the Werewolf" is one of the more entertaining entries in the series.

**SPOILERS**

Working on a project, university students Erika, (Silvia Aguilar) Karen, (Azucena Hernandez) and Barbara, (Pilar Alcon) head into the Hungarian mountains, looking for a special grave-site. Told of a special route to get to the castle where it's held, they luck upon it and decide to explore the area. Inside, they come across Waldemar Daninsky, (Paul Naschy) who nearly startles them but offers whatever hospitality in the castle they have. Realizing that he's a werewolf, their feelings are suddenly put to the test when the others discover that one of them has raised Countess Elizabeth Bathory, (Julia Saly) who Waldemar was a servant for, from the grave to take over the world. Using love as a prime force, they try to put a stop to it before they wind up enslaved in their clutches.

The Good News: This here is a rather pleasing Gothic affair. The fact that this one takes place mostly inside a grand castle, filled with all the touch-marks of old-school Gothic gloriousness, is a great site and one of the film's biggest pluses. The ruining castle set looks fantastic, complete with the crumbling stone walls, a graveyard on-site, the catacombs entrance and supports over the cob-webbed filled ruins that are fully realized and quite believable. From there, the film gets even more Gothic with the insides. This one has plenty to go on, with the interior rooms, candle-lit locations and the other really big sets in here make this a real sight for the eyes, which allows the film a lot of really impressive scenery. The impressiveness extends over into other areas of the film, especially the individualistic scenes in here. The shot of the two vampires bursting through a door before two victims bathed in an eerie white back-glow is simply impressive, as is another shot of a victim being covered from head-to-toe in blood for a ceremonial black mass sacrifice ritual and a shot of the vampire and werewolf fighting on a precipice that nearly falls over several times. This one here has a generous helping of impressive scenes that get a lot better as it goes on. The film's best period is definitely in the end, where it engages in one long, lengthy well-paced fight between the main villains. The action is well-choreographed, making it look great and has plenty of spots that are just fantastic. The hurl onto the casket is especially note-worthy, there's plenty of grappling and a whole host more to enjoy about this particular sequence. That's so long and fun is part of the fun, and altogether this one of the highlights of the film and one of the main reasons to see this one by itself. The werewolf make-up doesn't seem that bad, looking like it actually covers the face a lot better than previous incarnations and getting rid of the ridiculous fangs that were too big to go back to a more traditional-style look that goes into the chest as well. The last big positive is the big body count. It's not huge, but it's got a lot more considering the small cast, and there's a couple of brutal ones as well. Nothing like the others, but still good enough. As it is, though, this is a great Gothic masterpiece.

The Bad News: There isn't a lot wrong with this one. The fact that it isn't as out-and-out gory and sleazy as the past incarnations, despite offering up plenty of opportunities to do so, is something that might cause irritation. During the course of the film, there's barely anything from these two elements which will come as a pretty big surprise. The amount of kills on display would've had some sort of blood in the proceedings, and being as graphic as the kills are, a little more at the least would've been fine, considering how the others were before it. Despite the high amount of scenes that required nude participants, that there's only a couple mild points here and there for only a few smatterings placed into several inconspicuous scenes that have a couple of little moments in them. This one misses out on opportunities to bump up the film, and is something to be missed out on. The only other problem is that, by dwelling so pertinently on the Gothic flavors, this one feels a little slow-paced, especially at the middle segments. The romance angle eats up some of it, especially with the longer time nearly making it unbearable. These here are the film's big flaws.

The Final Verdict: A Gothic masterpiece at a time when it wasn't fashionable, this one is a marvelously fun and enjoyable experience without a whole lot wrong. Highly recommended for Naschy fans, as well as those who enjoy the more Gothic sensibilities of films, while those who aren't foreign fanatics won't find much with this one.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Nudity, Language and a mild sex scene

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1 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
One Of Naschy's Finest, 23 September 2007

Author: danthewrestlingmanorigin from United States

Night Of The Werewolf aka Retorno del Hombre-Lobo is without a doubt a must see classic in the Spanish horror genre. One negative I must mention first is an odd score in one early scene in particular, but that is a very minor complaint. Night Of The Werewolf is an absolutely beautifully shot film, with an amazing Gothic atmosphere. The look cannot be praised enough, such stunning shots and sets. Paul Naschy is in top form here, and I recommend Night Of The Werewolf to horror enthusiasts not familiar with Naschy's work. And lets not forget the drop dead gorgeous actresses', who are easy on the eyes, and deliver in there performances. Definitely makes one think "she can bathe in my blood anytime" LOL. Highly recommended to fans of Naschy, and fans of the genre in general. Get the new remastered DVD, which at Best Buy is available in a two pack with another Naschy film Vengeance Of The Zombies. It looks amazing.

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