Night of the Werewolf (DVD)
Steve Barton
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Starring Jacinto Molina as “Paul Naschy”, Silvia Aguilar, Azucena Hernández, Julia Saly
Directed by Jacinto Molina
Distributed by Deimos Entertainment
Know what kind of horror movies immediately get my attention? Ones with more than one kind of big bad in them. Flicks like The Monster Squad and, of course, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein rank among my absolute favorites. The more creatures, the better! Upon finding out that this 1980 classic was finally coming home I was ecstatic. Night of the Werewolf has it all — naked babes, vampires, a werewolf, a zombie servant, and even The Blood Countess herself, Elizabeth Bathory! It’s a veritable monster mash, man!
The story is simple: An evil bitch with a penchant for the black arts (Naschy just loves those damned black arts) decides that she is going to take it upon herself to revive the corpse of Bathory to help her rule the world. Things go just fine until the newly awakened demoness realizes that her old friend the werewolf, Waldemar Daninsky (Naschy), has returned from the grave as well. (Hint for grave robbers: If you uncover a body with a silver crucifix sticking out of its chest, it may not be a good idea to pull it out.) Before you know it, we’re treated to one hell of a toothy showdown in the name of … in the name of … love, maybe? Who cares! It doesn’t matter! It’s still fun!
When first unleashed onto the public in 1980, Night of the Werewolf was a bit of an anomaly. At the time of its release no one was making movies like this anymore. Once the Italian zombie film craze started to cool down in the late Seventies, everyone else started pumping out slasher flick after slasher flick. Not Naschy though. He was still churning out films that had their roots firmly planted within the classic crypts of days gone by. He kept those home fires burning for us monster fans, and you just have to love him for it.
Before I get into the extras, I must mention the transfer of the film. If you’re a member of the I must own this movie on DVD no matter what crowd who sought out bootleg after bootleg as a means to add this to your library (you know who you are), let me give you some advice: Get up, grab your copy, and then throw it in the trash. This edition is the real deal. We’re talking anamorphic widescreen mastered in high definition from the original negative. I’ve seen new movies that don’t look this good. Big time props to the folks at Deimos Entertainment for what had to be painstaking work.
On the supplemental side of the fence, we get an average package. There’s a film introduction from Naschy, an alternate Spanish credit sequence, a jam-packed still gallery, deleted scenes, and liner notes by Naschy historian and author Mirek Lipinski. I guess the sad truth of it all is that there’s just not a lot of supplemental material floating around for films like this. Still, how about a look at Naschy’s other films and his career? Better yet, being that Naschy wrote, directed, and starred in this flick, how about a commentary? I can’t help but smell a bit of missed opportunity in the air. Still, Naschy has made a ton of films. Maybe some of his next releases will deliver on the extras. Being that up until now I’ve been watching a copy of this fucker that looks as if it were filmed through a fishbowl, I’m not complaining too much.
If you’re a classic horror fan or just plain curious, don’t wait any longer. Click the link below and get set to blast off into a world of Gothic grue and fur flying action. Me? I’m gonna go start growing one of them Naschy beards. He gets all the chicks, ya know! This hombre lobo is completely badass!
Special Features
Complete uncut version of the film with introduction by Paul Naschy
Spanish credit sequence
U.S. trailer
Still gallery
Deleted scenes
Liner notes by author Mirek Lipinski
4 out of 5
Special Features:
2 1/2 out of 5
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