The Fury of the Wolfman

Rating:
Summary: Good werewolf films aren't this complicated
Review: Here is all I know about Paul Naschy: he liked to write and star in werewolf movies, and he wasn't very good at what he did. Fury of the Werewolf is, I believe, his fourth werewolf movie (although one is hard pressed to tell them all apart, especially since Naschy apparently liked to call his werewolf character by the same name, Waldemar Daninsky, in each film). This Spanish movie from 1970 is a convoluted mess; this is the kind of movie you read about on the Internet after you watch it in order to find out what the heck was really going on.

As the film opens, we find Professor Daninsky having just arrived home as the sole survivor of a scientific expedition to Tibet (the details of which are told quite inarticulately in a small series of woeful flashbacks). Life does not rush to meet him with open arms. As if being somehow stricken by the curse of the werewolf atop the snowy rooftop of the world weren't enough, the guy finds out his wife is cheating on him and that she and her lover have set in motion a plan to kill him (the latter part of which he figures out a little too late). Meanwhile, there is this really weird doctor at whatever "school" this is who goes on and about how her discovery of "chematrobes" will allow her to control the minds of everyone on earth. She knows Daninsky's secret, and she brings him back to life in order to experiment on him; she seems especially fond of letting him out in his werewolf form in order for him to stalk the countryside killing people and acting like a fool. You have several weird love stories interlaced through all this mess to further complicate matters. Inconsistencies abound; for instance, the good doctor has a gang of crazy young people locked up in her castle, supposedly the product of earlier experimentation. One minute, these folks are having an intoxicated love-in, and the next they are all chained up and mute.

The special effects aren't anything to write home about, as the werewolf looks more like a big monkey to me half the time. The kills are as unsatisfying as can be; the werewolf basically puts his head on the victim's shoulder and raises his head back up, leaving a big red spot on the victim's throat and cheek. Nobody even bleeds in this film. This plus the confusing and really rather ridiculous plot make Fury of the Wolfman more of an ordeal to be endured than a film to be watched.

Rating:
Summary: Good werewolf films aren't this complicated
Review: Here is all I know about Paul Naschy: he liked to write and star in werewolf movies, and he wasn't very good at what he did. Fury of the Werewolf is, I believe, his fourth werewolf movie (although one is hard pressed to tell them all apart, especially since Naschy apparently liked to call his werewolf character by the same name, Waldemar Daninsky, in each film). This Spanish movie from 1970 is a convoluted mess; this is the kind of movie you read about on the Internet after you watch it in order to find out what the heck was really going on.

As the film opens, we find Professor Daninsky having just arrived home as the sole survivor of a scientific expedition to Tibet (the details of which are told quite inarticulately in a small series of woeful flashbacks). Life does not rush to meet him with open arms. As if being somehow stricken by the curse of the werewolf atop the snowy rooftop of the world weren't enough, the guy finds out his wife is cheating on him and that she and her lover have set in motion a plan to kill him (the latter part of which he figures out a little too late). Meanwhile, there is this really weird doctor at whatever "school" this is who goes on and about how her discovery of "chematrobes" will allow her to control the minds of everyone on earth. She knows Daninsky's secret, and she brings him back to life in order to experiment on him; she seems especially fond of letting him out in his werewolf form in order for him to stalk the countryside killing people and acting like a fool. You have several weird love stories interlaced through all this mess to further complicate matters. Inconsistencies abound; for instance, the good doctor has a gang of crazy young people locked up in her castle, supposedly the product of earlier experimentation. One minute, these folks are having an intoxicated love-in, and the next they are all chained up and mute.

The special effects aren't anything to write home about, as the werewolf looks more like a big monkey to me half the time. The kills are as unsatisfying as can be; the werewolf basically puts his head on the victim's shoulder and raises his head back up, leaving a big red spot on the victim's throat and cheek. Nobody even bleeds in this film. This plus the confusing and really rather ridiculous plot make Fury of the Wolfman more of an ordeal to be endured than a film to be watched.

Rating:
Summary: Naschy howls again.
Review: Oh, Stranger, behold this bitter wormwood. To start with, the titles of Paul Naschy's cheesy European horror films are usually more exciting than the finished product. The daughter of Dr. Wolfstein is at it again. She uses Naschy's werewolf as a lab rat to justify her father's evil experiments. The unwary first-time viewer might expect an attempt to emulate the Universal and Hammer monster thrillers. The full moon and silver bullets reign. There are attractive women in revealing clothing and heavy eye mascara. Even the female mad scientist is distracting in a mid-life sort of way. Eye candy is fine, but the film suffers from a herky-jerky presentation. A sensible plot line is absent. Dubbing and choppy editing may be part of the problem. In one example, the rampaging werewolf gets in bed with a woman in a baby-doll nightie. This looks interesting, especially when the guy starts caressing rather clawing. The scene cuts too quickly to patrolling cops, who find the bloody female corpse under the covers after the werewolf fled the bedchamber. The action takes the viewer to a point, but then fizzles. The fright makeup copies the usual hairy look. The technical quality of the budget DVD is sufficient. No extras. Low budget is low budget, regardless of nationality. Even we who enjoy mocking bad movies have trouble with this one. Adjust your expectations accordingly. ;-)

Rating:
Summary: For Naschy Fans Only
Review: One of Naschy's lesser Werewolf films, this is a confusing mess, not helped by the terrible transfer - barely colour, pan and scanned and badly dubbed. But it's cheap, and there's so little Naschy available. So for Naschy fans only.