Night of the Howling Beast (1975)

Waldemar Daninsky is invited by his college professor friend on an expedition to Tibet/Nepal to find the Yeti, as well as the bodies of another party that went missing on this same search. When all other paths are snowed in, Waldemar goes against advice and takes a pass feared by locals. He stumbles into a cave, where he meets a group of strange women. He realises almost too late what they are, and after an attack and narrow escape, he is left cursed to become a werewolf by the light of the moon. He may need this curse though, if he is to fight the other horrors these mountains hold...

Night of the Howling Beast is the eight (really seventh) in the Hombre Lobo series. Its title in the original Spanish translates to Curse of the Beast (not to be confused with Curse of the Devil, aka Retorno de Walpurgis), and is also known as The Werewolf and the Yeti. All good titles, and reflective of the fun horror movie this is!

The film gets off to a brisk start, setting up its story quickly, and jetting the characters from Spain to...Nepal? Or Tibet. It's unclear which they mean, and I'm not sure the writer actually knew the difference. A snowstorm cuts off all other ways to their destination. but as luck would have it it's literally only 5 seconds before someone comes with news of an alternate route.

There's some funny dialogue in this intro.

On their paths being snowed out: "It's not all that bad. We have plenty to drink, and very pleasant company."-"Oh how lucky we'd be if we all felt the same way."

And when that same jerk is droning on about how he won't risk his life trying to rescue Waldemar, Sylvia responds with: "We're not asking you to come. I'm sure that those who come with us are those who haven't forgotten the meaning of the words friendship and loyalty."

Waldemar is determined to journey along this route, even if he has to go it alone, and there's only one bearer crazy enough to guide him. And here is where the film really gets going!

Night of the Howling Beast has more of an adventure tone than previous entries, but is still horror through-and-through. While the film still has a more than satisfying body count, the werewolf kills few innocent people. Mostly bandits, monsters, and creeps. And the rest of the carnage comes courtesy of said bandits and monsters.

What's interesting is the lack of religion or lore to the werewolf curse. It's supernatural of course, but there's an absence of familiar lines about Men who are pure of heart, and A werewolf can only be killed by a woman in love with/willing to die for him. The rules are a little inconsistent too. Waldemar transforms when night falls, but then stays a wolf during the bright day, until randomly turning back for dramatic convenience.

Local guide Tiger is a good co-star, often the voice of reason, and a tough guy. I was disappointed that he dies offscreen! I was also bummed that the two temple dwellers die as well. I thought the movie had moved beyond needing to boost the bodycount. At least kill 'em onscreen, and give them that dignity! Larry gets an effective death, begging his friend to put him out of his misery, but not before Waldemar asks a few questions. The way the scene cuts away it gives the impression that Waldemar made him waffle on so long he died naturally (and painfully)! This leaves only the professor and the other girl alive beyond the two leads. She's unnecessary, and doesn't add much. Then she gets killed too! I mean, isn't everyone else dying enough? Holy crap, talk about a bloodthirsty movie!

Night of the Howling Beast has a real edge to it. Not only does the film not hold back, but you also leave with the impression that, as much as a downer as the movie's events can be, the heroes really did make an impact. They didn't just swan into a bad situation and make things worse.

There's plenty of action here, not only monster-human and monster-monster, but we get some gunfights, punch-ups, and swordplay. I laughed at the end of the bandit attack on the expedition, where the survivors thought process is basically 'We know we fought back and killed half a dozen of you, but we're out of ammo now. We surrender!'.

The climax is enjoyable. We're introduced to a young princess n this final act, and it's she and her fellow captives who take care of the witch, while Waldemar is otherwise occupied with the bandit king. It's a good fight, but the discovery of the professor's body in the same spike pit the villain is hurled into really deflates the victorious moment.

At this point you're probably wondering why the yeti hasn't been mentioned yet. Well that's because he's an afterthought until the final few minutes! After another transformation, Waldemar just happens to stumble into a yeti, and they duke it out while Sylvia does her own thing.

Like with many Hombre Lobo entries, this suffers from a problem of plenty. Night of the Howling Beast could have easily been two movies! One a violent adventure in bandit mountains, and the other about an expedition with yetis, werewolves, and witchy women. Squishing the two together doesn't do either story any favours. The werepire women die almost immediately, the witch doesn't show up till the last 20 minutes, and then there's the yeti, or lack thereof!

It's here where we mention the most unique aspect to Howling Beast-The ending. Waldemar Daninsky has a bad habit of tragically dying each movie. Just when you think he might make it out ok, a twist of fate strikes him down, and he must die to end his curse and save whatever loved ones are left alive. Here though? He survives! This really adds to the charm of the resetting continuity of the Hombre Lobo series. Just because one entry (or indeed 11 of them) have sad endings, doesn't mean they all have to! Admittedly the release of his curse has less impact when this is the 7th reboot in the series. 'At last, I'm free of the affliction that's been plaguing me for a few days!'. But this isn't a big deal.

The effects here can be cheesy, but are good! This is one of the gorier Hombre Lobo films, with several great instances. Not all convincing, but all brutal and potentially wince-inducing! The werewolf make-up is great as usual, with neat hair and great teeth! The transformations are good too, even if they cheat a couple of times. The werepire women meanwhile have a more subtle and stripped back design when they transform, but still good. And the yeti is alright, but a bit shaggier and low-rent.

The location work is great too! If you're wondering how Paul Naschy, whose productions were never given budgets as large as he'd have liked, could afford to go to Nepal, well it doesn't. The rolling mountain peaks of Spain substitute, and they look quite good! I mean, they're snowy, they're mountainous, what more do you want? There are some less Wintery areas, which might look unconvincing, but that's actually pretty true to life in places like this (which should be obvious, since this is still filmed on location in a mountain, just not that one). And as for the sets themselves, they're good, from the humble temples, to the Khan's grand palace.

The music here is very good! There are some great spooky tunes, and action-packed tracks, and the score also has some Tibetan-infused bells, which give a really immersive and authentic feel.

The cast here is a good one, and pretty big! Naschy is a fine lead, and captures the wolf man's fury very well under the make-up. Mercedes Molina is a good love interest, and Luis Induni and Silvia Solar are fun villains, despite their brief screentime. There are some brown-skinned Spaniards passing themselves off as Nepalese, and honestly not looking too unconvincing, then there are some real ones (or Asians of some kind). There are plenty of sexy babes here too, often nude, and doing great butt wiggling. Credit must go to the stuntwork too, which includes some great dives!

Night of the Howling Beast is remembered as not only one of the best in the Hombre Lobo series, but one of Paul Naschy's best films overall. I agree. It's a great time to be had for any horror fans out there!...