The Night of the Werewolf was made in 1981, during the midst of the slasher craze, but actor/writer/director Paul Naschy was either unaware of or just didn't care much about the contemporary horror scene, because once again he happily camps it up as werewolf Waldemar Daninsky in this cheesy Euro-horror monster-mash that throws in every last creaky Gothic horror cliché imaginable.
In the film's 16th century prologue, sorcerer Countess Elisabeth Bathory (Julia Saly) is executed for witchcraft, along with her cousin Otava, her loyal followers, and werewolf slave Waldemar Daninsky. Cut to the present day and sexy scientist Erika (Silvia Aguilar), who is under the spell of Elisabeth Bathory's spirit, has arranged a trip with her equally beautiful boffin pals Karen and Barbara (Azucena Hernández and Pilar Alcón) to examine the recently discovered tomb of the evil countess; once there, she intends to use the blood of her friends to bring Bathory back from the dead. Daninsky, having recently been revived by grave-robbers and subsequently fallen in love with Karen, attempts to thwart Erika's plans...
If you're already familiar with Naschy's earlier Daninsky efforts, then you should have a pretty good idea of what to expect from The Night of the Werewolf, which offers absolutely nothing that we haven't seen many times before from Spain's numero uno horror star: crumbling cobweb-covered, corpse-strewn castles; stormy nights; dusty rat infested dungeons; topless babes; vampire maidens; bad werewolf make-up; hammy acting from Naschy; old-school transformation effects; and cheapo gore. All present and correct!
I've never been a huge fan of Naschy's particular brand of Gothic horror, finding it all rather silly, and in this case, extremely 'old hat'—Hammer did it all so much better a decade or so earlier—but if the star's other werewolf movies happen to have tickled your fancy, I guess there's no reason why you shouldn't enjoy this one too.
In the film's 16th century prologue, sorcerer Countess Elisabeth Bathory (Julia Saly) is executed for witchcraft, along with her cousin Otava, her loyal followers, and werewolf slave Waldemar Daninsky. Cut to the present day and sexy scientist Erika (Silvia Aguilar), who is under the spell of Elisabeth Bathory's spirit, has arranged a trip with her equally beautiful boffin pals Karen and Barbara (Azucena Hernández and Pilar Alcón) to examine the recently discovered tomb of the evil countess; once there, she intends to use the blood of her friends to bring Bathory back from the dead. Daninsky, having recently been revived by grave-robbers and subsequently fallen in love with Karen, attempts to thwart Erika's plans...
If you're already familiar with Naschy's earlier Daninsky efforts, then you should have a pretty good idea of what to expect from The Night of the Werewolf, which offers absolutely nothing that we haven't seen many times before from Spain's numero uno horror star: crumbling cobweb-covered, corpse-strewn castles; stormy nights; dusty rat infested dungeons; topless babes; vampire maidens; bad werewolf make-up; hammy acting from Naschy; old-school transformation effects; and cheapo gore. All present and correct!
I've never been a huge fan of Naschy's particular brand of Gothic horror, finding it all rather silly, and in this case, extremely 'old hat'—Hammer did it all so much better a decade or so earlier—but if the star's other werewolf movies happen to have tickled your fancy, I guess there's no reason why you shouldn't enjoy this one too.