The Night of the Werewolf

source: Night of the Werewolf

Moviecut—Night of the Werewolf

El retorno del Hombre Lobo

Three Euro babes are leaving Rome for Hungary, making the trek in hopes to discover the grave of the infamous Countess Elizabeth Bathory. One of the women in particular has a keen interest in the dark arts, and believes she has the power to resurrect the dead countess. But before the ancient sepulchre is discovered, none other than the hombre lobo himself, Waldemar Daninsky, a consort of Bathory's, introduces himself to the group of women. The Craving, aka. Night of the Werewolf is certainly among the best of Naschy's films in which he plays Daninsky the lycanthrope. The movie is very well shot, scored, and is haunting and scary in places. It stumbles toward the end due to a few extraneous characters - grave robbers and thieves who don't serve much purpose - but besides that, it's a must see for Euro horror fans. If you want more Naschy, don't miss Horror Rises From the Tomb. If you want more Naschy as Waldemar Daninsky, see The Werewolf vs the Vampire Woman.

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.

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.

An evil witch brings back to life the infamous Elizabeth Bathory (Julia Saly), who was executed several hundred years previously for murdering young women and bathing in their blood. This film was written by, directed by, and starring Paul Naschy. In the United States, the film was released theatrically and on VHS as "The Craving" in 1985, and more recently on DVD and Blu-ray as "Night of the Werewolf". It is interesting how often Elizabeth Bathory has been portrayed in various horror films. This may be the only film in which she co-stars alongside a werewolf, however. And not just any werewolf, but one of the most famous wolves of all.

In the Sixteenth Century, in Hungary, Waldemar Daninsky (Paul Naschy), Countess Elisabeth Bathory (Jully Saly) and her worshippers are executed by a court. In the Twentieth Century, the researchers Erika (Silvia Aguilar), Karen (Azucena Hernandez) and Barbara find the location of Bathory´s grave and Erika is possessed and decides to reanimate the evil being. "El retorno del Hombre Lobo" is a flawed movie with a beautiful cinematography. The plot is a mess but entertains fans of European horror films from the middle of the Twentieth Century. My vote is five. Title (Brazil): "A Noite do Lobisomem" ("The Night of the Werewolf")