Bezenby
It's Walpurgis: Origins as we get the story of how perpetually-cursed Waldemar Daninsky and his lycanthropic ways came to be. Again. Back way back then, way way back when, Waldemar's ancestor was a good fellow who hunted down witches and devil worshippers. One witch in particular curses the ancestor's family to be cursed forever, although there seems to be some sort of delay I guess as the Daninskys enjoy several centuries of happiness before the curse falls squarely upon modern day Waldemar when he pissed off a gypsy clan by accidentally shooting one of them while hunting. The other gypsies are rather peeved that Waldemar can't be taken to court for killing one of their own, so during a bizarre selection process involving a lot of nude women and a strangely dressed man, a certain lady is selected to seduce Waldemar and curse him with lycanthropy, which she does, only to be hacked up five minutes later by an escaped mental patient. Not long after, Walmdemar discovers that his bic razor isn't quite doing the job once the full moon appears. Although it take a little while to get there, once Waldemar goes full wolf the carnage begins, with rather a lot of innocent bystanders getting their necks chewed off (and in one instance, their face) while that poor innocent escaped psychopath gets all the blame (and a knife to his guts, courtesy of Walmemar). There's also a romantic sub-plot between Waldedededemarademer and two sisters that results in some full-frontal nudity. Some poor bastard also takes a huge rock directly to the face for good measure too.Yep, this one ticks all the boxes too. Loads of gore, stupid situations, nudity and the usual 'old school' werewolf makeup. Does the trick for me. Nice ending too.
slayrrr666
"Curse of the Devil" is one of the best entries in the series.**SPOILERS**During the Spanish Inquisition, Irineus Daninsky, (Jacinto Molina) leads a raid on a Satanic Cult's hideout and captures the entire group, sentencing them to death. Years later, his descendant Waldemar Daninsky, (Jacinto Molina) accidentally shoots an intruder on his land while fox hunting. While traveling on business, they run into Ilona, (Ines Morales) a member of the cult, and take her home to recuperate. Invoking their revenge, she carries out a curse by nicking his chest with a wolf's skull. While recovering, he meets with Lazlo Willowa, (Eduardo Calva) an engineer renting out a house nearby, and his daughters Kinga, (Fabiola Falcon) and Maria, (Maritza Olivares) and becomes friends with them. As a series of brutal murders occurs around town, he figures it's him and tries to fight off his killer urges around the family before they discover his secret.The Good News: There's a lot to like about this one. One of the film's greatest strengths lies in it's exploiting of the essential sleaze aspects, nudity and gore. There's a large amount of really nice looking women going unclothed periodically in this one, and there's full frontal nudity in this during many occasions. As there's several sex scenes and a mass orgy scene, there's really nothing in here that couldn't be spruced up with nudity. The other big factor, the gore, is nicely staged in here, and this might be the goriest entry in the series. There's a huge amount of throat-and-neck biting, a couple of face scratches, a few get their heads sliced open and one gets their head crushed with a large rock. In addition, there's also gore in here that wasn't committed by the werewolf, including some stabbings with a knife, a wolf's skull plunged deeply into a chest, a scythe stabbed into a chest, and one person set on fire. The gory aftermath of several victims killed off-screen but shown with horribly mangled and rotting faces and bodies is also included, giving this a real heaping of blood that's quite refreshing. What really helps out is the really large body count in this one, as not only do almost every main character gets knocked off, but a large amount of characters are introduced only to be killed off a few minutes later. It's great to see a film use a gimmick like that solely for the purpose of giving another body for the cause. The scenes are also pretty creepy at times, as the massacre at the actor's campsite being a great highlight. With the driving wind, spooky forest setting and low light, complimented with off-screen wolf howls and a mild jump during the initial attack bring out a lot of suspense in the scene. Also quite nice was the young couple killed off in their home, as the sudden appearance of the wolf by smashing through a window into the room bringing a great jump and the ensuing kills complimenting a great sequence. The film is also wonderfully atmospheric, with plenty of old-school Gothic tones and vibes present in the film, mostly in the sequences of the coven looking on over their curse. With the swirling fog and back-lit, flowing blouses atop a wooden hilltop, it creates a chilling atmosphere. The forest areas at night are wonderfully shot, and look spectacular. It also has to be complimented on it's nicely original and clever plot. The addition of a Satanic coven and their revenge thrust into a Gothic werewolf story is nicely integrated, being used for the cause of both of the need for vengeance and the revenge itself, and doesn't seem out-of-place at all. With a really impressive pace, especially in the last half when it really gets serious with it's blood-spraying and some really cheesy vibes inside, this is a really great entry.The Bad News: There's only a few things in here that don't really work. The most obvious is the werewolf effects. It's hard to believe that progress in werewolf transformations haven't changed much, as this has the same kind of scenes shot years before this one, and come across as dated before they started. The werewolf itself looks cheesy rather than terrifying, although the large fangs aren't that bad of a choice to use. Whatever the man in black was supposed to be, he comes off as quite hilarious when he shouldn't, and isn't really told what he really is to begin with. The only other problem is the fact that it has a feel that it's been done before. Despite the introduction of the cult, this plays out like most werewolf movies usually play out without much change, and to some, that can be a fatal blow right there. It's not that bad, though and is quite good.The Final Verdict: With all the elements needed for a great film found here in abundance, this is one of the best entries in the series. Fans of the others will have a lot to love here, as there's really nothing that would disappoint them in the slightest. Highly recommended, as well as to those with a passing interest in these kinds of movies.Rated UR/R: Full Nudity, Graphic Violence, several sex scenes and mild Language
haxan
Actually, "a bit slow" is sort of a complement. European horror films from this era frequently cover the range from very slow to painfully slow. So a bit slow is acceptable, in my opinion.I have only seen one other Paul Naschy film (an edited bad print of Werewolf Vs. the Vampire Women) so I can't really compare this film to his others.
Anchor Bay just released this film on DVD in widescreen with a nice looking and uncut print. I can definitely endorse the film in this version for fans of the genre. I am more familiar with British and Italian horror films, less so with Spanish ones. The quote on the DVD box from Video Watchdog hails this as one of the best Spanish horror films and I would say that sounds fair. The atmosphere and settings are both quite good and there is a fair bit of blood and gore, although don't expect it on the same level with a Romero zombie film or a cannibal film.Worth noting is the framing of the film. Having only seen this widescreen version I would say that it is definitely worth waiting to see it in it's original aspect ratio as opposed to any pan & scan version. This is one of the better framed films I've seen of this type from this period. While it is definitely not Psycho or Touch of Evil (in my opinion, two of the best framed films I've ever seen) the compositions are very nice and I would complement the director and d.p. both for having a good eye.
In my opinion the dubbing for this film is better than average as well. Fans of foreign horror are likely familiar with frequently bad (and unintentionally funny) dubbing. While I would say that the original foreign language track with subtitles is ultimately the preferred set of circumstances, the dubbing job on this film is better than most, especially for a lower budget film such as this.I would say that any fans of Paul Naschy who haven't seen this film should track it down right away. And any fans of Euro-horror should take a look as well.The DVD is released under the title Curse of the Devil and based on that, the description I'd read of the film, and the opening minutes, I expected a sort of mix between Satan worshiping witches and the werewolf story. In reality, after the opening section, the bulk of the story is werewolf-related. The film has gone under other titles that give more focus to the werewolf story, which may well suit the bulk of the film better. However, don't let that turn you away from seeing the film.
