Night of the Werewolf (1981)

In the middle ages, devilish witch Elizabeth Bathory is put to death, along with her mind-controlled werewolf servant Waldemar Daninsky. Centuries later, a woman Erika assembles some college friends for an expedition to find Bathory's body. Upon arriving to the area, they meet a very much alive Waldemar, who was revived after some foolhardy graverobbers disturbed his body. Unfortunately Erika has sinister motives, and seeks to bring her dead mistress back from the grave, to enact her terrible revenge against the world...

The 9th film in Paul Naschy's Hombre Lobo series is Night of the Werewolf, or Return of the Wolf Man in Spanish (not to be confused with 'lost' entry Night of the Wolf Man). It's a rip-roaring Gothic horror, with all the classic elements you know and love, with enough modern touches to make this feel like the best of both worlds.

The film is a semi remake of Werewolf and the Vampire Woman. It's not a beat-by-beat retelling, and does plenty different, while picking everything that worked and putting its own spin on things. It gets off to a great start, and has lots of promise!

Unfortunately Night of the Werewolf has a pretty big issue, and it's the plot at fault! It doesn't know when to keep still! The film has such a quick pace that it races through story beats so quickly it's almost like we're getting cliffnotes, than experiencing the story properly. Character relationships are glossed over, some things are rushed or left out altogether, and people reach conclusions before we've even realised there are any to be made.

Despite this, the plot isn't actually heavy on details, it just never focuses. I thought Night of the Werewolf fails where prior entry Dr. Jekyll and the Wolf Man excelled. While it does annoy that a movie named after Dr. Jekyll only featured him in the back half, it was nice how that introduced Waldemar's werewolf story in that first act, went through it at a good pace, then moved onto the next, rather than rushing through.

The characters here are pretty good. Erika seems like the viewpoint character at first, riiight up until she murders a nice old man! She's a manipulating she-bitch, though kinda melts into the background once her mistress is resurrected. Elizabeth Bathory is maybe a bit too quiet, but suitably evil. The film does a really good job at showing these vampires as not only powerful, but otherworldly.

Waldemar Daninsky is a good hero, this time originating from the middle ages and awakening in the modern era. He has surprisingly little culture shock about the passing of 500 years, though I suppose it doesn't mean much when you only leave your ancestral castle grounds to slaughter some villagers. He's filled with the expected angst that comes from being a werewolf, and is a tragic lover.

Karen is a nice enough girl, though a bit empty. With the sudden pacing we never really see her fall for Waldemar, or even naturally discover who he is. Instead Erika is just like 'Our host is really a 500 year old werewolf, and can only be killed by a woman who loves him. Maybe that could be you?'. It's almost like she psyches herself up into loving this stranger she's only just met, and sure enough they develop an unbreakable romantic bond based on a week of company.

The rest of the cast includes a shy college friend, who faints a lot, barely says a word, and is the first to be killed and vampirised. Then there's Waldemar's disfigured ladyservant, who also loves him. Why she doesn't use this gift to kill him is anyone's guess. Overall, while the cast is small, there are still too many. The female characters all blend together and look the same! I'll say this though, it's quite a feminist horror in a way. How many other horror films, or films overall could you say the women outnumber the men 5 to 1!

The acting here is decent enough. Everyone gives pretty subdued performances, and there's nothing too over-the-top. There's a surprising lack of dialogue in places, especially the final act. The English dub is a hoot though! It makes some supporting characters hilarious (I wish those two graverobbers didn't die after only one scene!), has cheesy lines like villagers wanting to protect the town with "Garlic up to your ass!", and Waldemar overuses Karen's name to a hilarious degree as the film goes on! 'Karen? Are you ok Karen? Karen, be careful, otherwise...Oh Karen, I wouldn't know what to do without you! Karen!'

The effects in Night of the Werewolf are very good! The werewolf make-up is as great as usual, and Paul looks more ferocious than ever. The transformations are pretty good too, and don't cheat often. One is unnecessarily prolonged, while the final one has a seamless fade-transition!

The film is very violent too, with some neat gore. It never skimps on the blood, and one sacrifice scene has so much it ceases to seem like blood anymore!

The direction here is by leading man Paul Naschy, credited under his real name Jacinto Molina. He does a stellar job! You mileage may vary on stars turned directors, but he proves merit to the idea. He visualises scenes from his head really well, and there are many great visuals. There are also lots of little touches, like the flaming coffin at the end, which weren't necessary but give the film that extra push to look even cooler!

The sets and locations in Night all look gorgeous too, with enough medieval architecture to impress. But the film has a significant drawback, and it's one that dulls the experience for me-It's brown! The whole movie feels brown! The rooms are brown, the lights are brown. Only the blood is red!

The music here is fantastic! We've got a groovy main theme, that's a little ill-fitting after a medieval prologue, and especially after the sombre ending, but still can't be beat! There are spooky tracks throughout, including a satanic choir. Of note are two really great pieces near the end. One when the vampires are rising, punctuated with unearthly groans and fluting. And the second is when Waldemar has discovered their hideout and journeys deep into the castle. It's a real action-driven tune!

Night of the Werewolf has some issues that bring it down, but it has a lot to love, and it's a great showcase for Spanish horror!