Theo Robertson When is a Frankenstein movie not a Frankenstein movie ? When the production team promise the American distributors a Frankenstein film and make a film featuring werewolves and vampires and leave it to the distributors to come up with a solution why it features Frankenstein in the title . The cheeky chutzpah involved is astonishing as is the simplicity . " Let's put up a credits voice over saying the Frankenstein clan have changed their name to Wolfstein and that will solve everything " . It's very naughty making promises you can't keep and reading the trivia section on this page it seems the production team were at best self deluded mavericks and at worst out and out charlatans . I mean they honestly thought they'd be getting Lon Chaney Jnr as a casting coup ? so if you're expecting some dude with bolts in his neck to stagger about with his arms outstretched this isn't what you'll be getting and HELL'S CREATURES seems a much more appropriate title What you will be getting is some very low brow horror that firmly falls in to guilty pleasure territory . Yes it's absolute rubbish but as someone who has seen far too many horror films for his own good I've always had a soft spot for this type of movie . Like the Hammer horror movies from Britain this is a European answer to the classic Universal monster movies from the 1930s and 40s . The production values are very similar to that seen in a contemporary Hammer and we've got the same type of imagery of blonde maidens showing off their cleavage along with studio exteriors and greedy people getting their come uppance . It's interesting how much common ground it shares with Hammer that the greedy people here are portrayed as outsiders in that they're Gypsies , you obviously can't trust these foreign types at all . Like so much else surrounding the production the film cheats the audience somewhat . We never get to see the werewolf transformation in any great detail and looks like it's happening during a bad LSD trip . It's also noticeable that the transformation only takes place when the plotting requires itThis is the film that kick started the whole Daninsky franchise that lasted thirty years or at least I think it does . IMDb lists a film previous to this one featuring Paul Naschy as Daninsky but seems to have no surviving print and one wonders if it ever existed in the first place . What is interesting is that does feel like an introductory self contained story with no prior continuity to any other film . It also means however it contradicts the internal continuity of other films in the cycle most notably CURSE OF THE DEVIL from 1973 but I guess the Universal movies also suffered from this so it's not really a valid criticism . Naschy makes an unlikely anti-hero resembling a weight lifter rather than someone with an obvious sexual magnetism but I guess he's much more preferable to Lon Chaney Jnr who would have been 61 when his film was produced and just imagine how unappealing it would have been seeing Daninsky being seduced by the vampire woman if Chaney had played the part . It does seem unlikely that someone with an obviously Slavonic name like Daninsky would have survived the Nazi regime but once again the logic behind this is down to the production team hitting barriers in not being allowed to set the story in Spain or have a Spanish character as a Werewolf hence the German setting but you'd still think a bit more thinking might have gone in to Daninsky's background . That said despite all the flaws it is a fairly entertaining horror film and is miles better than the direct sequel ASSIGNMENT TERROR

Lee Eisenberg I think that Jacinto Molina - known as Paul Naschy in the English-speaking world - had appeared in a few movies before this one, but it was in "La marca del Hombre-lobo" (called "Frankenstein's Bloody Terror" in the US) where he played werewolf Waldemar Daninsky for the first time. And you gotta love it! Anyway, the story goes that he's helping hunt a werewolf on the loose, but it bites him before he kills it. Now stuck with the curse, he enlists the help of some doctors who turn out to be vampires. Needless to say, everything results in a final showdown.I get the feeling that these Euro-horror flicks from the '60s and '70s may have influenced some of the American slasher movie directors, what with gore and sexuality. One scene in particular shows some transients frolicking erotically and...guess what happens to them! A precursor to the scene in "Scream" where the guy notes that "sex=death" in horror movies.Overall, this is one of those movies that you just gotta see. I would assume that they named the character Waldemar Daninsky so as to give the film a more Gothic feeling (and it pretty much works). I wonder how the movie would have been had they set the movie in their native Spain and given the character a corresponding name.

bensonmum2 Finally! I've been searching and searching for a Paul Naschy film that appeals to me. And I'm so happy to have discovered one. After sitting through some less than stellar offerings like Vengeance of the Zombies and Dr. Jekyll vs. the Werewolf, I've finally found a winner. I won't go so far as to proclaim it as one of the best horror movies I've ever seen, but Frankenstein's Bloody Terror is a whole lot of fun and easily the best Naschy film I've so far run across.To begin with, Frankenstein's Bloody Terror has absolutely nothing to do with either the good doctor or his creation. It seems that an American distributor was promised a Frankenstein movie, but was given a werewolf film instead. Undaunted, the distributor decided to stick with the Frankenstein name he probably had already worked into advertising. Thus Frankenstein's Bloody Terror becomes a werewolf/vampire slugfest.Frankenstein's Bloody Terror is something of a historical movie for horror fans. It marks the first time Naschy would play Waldemar Daninsky and his cursed alter-ego that Naschy turned into something of a cottage industry. In this one, the residents of a small village blame a series of deaths on wolves. Daninsky joins a hunting party and is bitten, not by a wolf, but by a werewolf before he is able to subdue the creature. It's not long before Daninsky goes through a strange and painful metamorphosis that turns him into a snarling beast himself. A friend, looking to help Daninsky, turns to a doctor who has written extensively on the subject. But it turns out that this is no ordinary "mad" doctor. It seems the doctor and his wife are in reality blood sucking vampires. Before you know it, they've got Daninsky chained to a wall while they prey on his friends. Can Daninsky free himself and save those dear to him? And if he does save his friends from the vampires, who's going to save them from him? As I said in my opening, Frankenstein's Bloody Terror is a lot of fun. It's hard not to have a good time with the over-the-top storyline and action. The movie actually gives you two werewolves for the price of one. Their battle is a blast and a real highlight of the movie for me. This monster free-for-all is reminiscent of some of Universal's monster mashes from the 40s, only a little more graphic in its presentation. The film has a marvelous Hammer-esquire look to it with vivid colors and period sets. The use of colored gels is a nice touch to the lighting in many scenes. I really liked Naschy's werewolf make-up. It's a little more "wild" than it would be in latter Daninsky films. The supporting cast is good with Rosanna Yanni as a gypsy woman being the most well known.If you're looking for a sophisticated sort of horror movie with a deep, philosophical meaning that sticks with you long after it ends, Frankenstein's Bloody Terror is probably not the movie you're looking for. But if you're just looking to be entertained and have a good time, it's hard to go wrong with Frankenstein's Bloody Terror. Now that I've found a Naschy film I enjoy, I'm even more excited to discover the rest of his work.

Noel (Teknofobe70) So here it is, the movie that started it all. The first step in the unending saga of Waldemar Daninsky, the werewolf, that would launch Jacinto Molina's career of playing this character through the next four decades.The English-dubbed "Frankenstein's Bloody Terror" print available from Horror Theater Video begins with an amusing explanation as to why it was given that title, even though Frankenstein's creature isn't featured. Basically the narrator tells us that Frankenstein becomes Wolfstein, or something. Anyway, it makes absolutely no sense ... the real truth is that the American studio was promised a Frankenstein movie and received this instead, but decided to release it under that title all the same. Heh. Anyway, the picture is quality is quite poor but at least it's a decent surviving print of this historical werewolf movie, and the dubbing is actually not bad.Two gypsies take refuge in an abandoned castle, get drunk on some old wine that they find and ultimately end up doing a bit of good old-fashioned grave robbing, which includes removing a silver crucifix from the 'Wolfstein' tomb. Needless to say, they are quickly slaughtered. Kind-hearted nobleman Waldemar Daninsky joins the investigation, fascinated by the strange occurrences that surround the castle, and eventually encounters the beast responsible, who is stabbed with a silver dagger again but not before giving Waldemar a nasty bite. He tries to cure himself from his new infection, but ultimately puts the love of his life and everyone else in danger. His friend writes to a mysterious doctor who may be able to help him, but all is not as it seems ...Yes, it's completely exploitative ... but hell, it's a lot of fun and there's kind of a well-meaning innocence to it in a way, just a bunch of Spanish folk having some fun with the classic Universal monsters that they love. You'll probably even get a few laughs from some of the cheesy horror moments. The women mostly just run around screaming "look at how exotic and busty I am!", while along with the men they endure gruesome deaths. Jacinto Molina, sporting a full bodybuilder physique, gives a decent first performance as this character (particularly during the werewolf scenes) though obviously not as good as many of his later ones. The directing isn't great, some of the lighting effects are pretty laughable, and the editing is rather sloppy -- but it does have an effective, creepy soundtrack unlike many of the later Daninsky movies.Silly, creepy, nonsensical and fun. Along with every other Naschy movie, it's not for everyone, but if you do enjoy then you've got twelve more movies to check out. Which is nice.