Horrible, fascist and poorly acted
... View MoreBlistering performances.
... View MoreThere is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
... View MoreIt's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.
... View MoreThis Spanish-German production with a French setting looks like it was rivaling some of the gorier British Hammer films of the time. In terms of blood and breasts it succeeded.Gaby Fuchs a researcher into the occult and her friend Barbara Capell are on a mission. It's to find the grave of a woman killed in the 14th century who was reputed to be a witch who through her experimenting with the black arts became a vampire.They do find her and pulling the cross/stake from her skeletal remains and a cut from one of the women which drips blood into the skeletal mouth is all that's needed to loose this evil on the 20th century. Seeking some aid they go to the ancient castle of Paul Naschy, but he's got some issues of his own. Like he's a werewolf and you know what a full moon means to those folks.The Werewolf Vs. The Vampire Woman makes some nice use of some ancient medieval ruins. On the other hand it's nothing we haven't seen before. Where is Lawrence Talbot when you need him.
... View MoreAKA La Noche de Walpurgis, aka Shadow of the Werewolf, aka The Werewolf's Shadow etc. It wasn't until reviewing this afterwards that I realised that I had already seen it many yeas ago but under a different title. Countess Waldessa is revived when a girl cuts herself during an excavation of her tomb & the blood drips on to her skeletal remains. How clumsy! And so begins a battle of werewolf (Naschy) versus sexy looking vampires. There seems to be a lot of full moons here & these vamps must be immune from sunlight but this film drips Gothic horror. It is also a tale of doomed, tragic love. Not a patch on Universal or Hammer horror but good fun none the less. I believe that some prints are cut.
... View MoreThe Werewolf versus the Vampire Woman (1971) ** 1/2 (out of 4)A couple beautiful women go looking for the tomb of Countess Wandesa (Patty Shepard) who was believed to have been a vampire. They happen to end up staying with werewolf Waldemar Daninsky (Paul Naschy) and sure enough one of the women (Gaby Fuchs) falls for him while the other falls victim to the Countess when she returns to life. The uncut version of this, under the title WEREWOLF SHADOW, features a few extended scenes involving one of the women's boyfriends but I've always found this to be the lesser version. The American one features bad dubbing but overall I've always found it to be more entertaining. There are several reasons why this here was the best Daninsky picture up to this point. One is that there was a bigger budget, which at least allowed the make-up of the werewolf to look terrific. The biggest reason this picture turned out so much better is that director Leon Klimovsky managed to bring some terrific atmosphere to the picture. The Gothic feel of this picture is without question the highlight because the director really makes you feel and sense an evil presence throughout the picture. This is especially true during the scenes involving the werewolf as well as those were the Countess is brought back to life. The screenplay itself is a few notches better thanks in large part to there being some interesting characters but also because it manages to move at a better pace. The werewolf, the vampire woman and the two female characters are all much more interesting than anything in the previous two movies. With that said, there are still some flaws here including the slow pacing. Still, no matter which version you watch, this here remains an entertaining monster mash.
... View MorePaul Naschy, the Werewolf Prince of European cinema, portrays the tortured Waldemar in this film of many titles. The movie kicks off with Naschy resting on a medical table - preparing to be autopsied. Two silver bullets are removed from Naschy's chest, thus reviving him. He changes into a werewolf and slaughters the two doctors performing the autopsy.Afterwards, we are introduced to a redheaded student, Gaby Fuchs, who takes her friend Barbara Capell out to the countryside to search for the tomb of a fabled governess. Away from modern convenience, the girls meet Naschy who is hiding out in a castle with his depraved sister. He takes the girls in and looks after them while his demented sister takes a liking to each of the girls - physically. The following day, Naschy leads the two girls to the tomb and they dig up the corpse of the governess - Capell cutting her arm and having droplets of her blood fall into the governesses open mouth. Then, the fun starts.The main draw for this film is the stellar direction. I enjoy horror films of the 70's because they relied more on atmosphere rather than blood and guts to convey terror. Any director can slop red paint on a wall or pull fake entrails out of a plastic dummy, but only the great directors can convey dread through atmospheric methods. The scenes where the governess (Patty Sheperd) and Barbara Capell stalk about the woods at night in slow motion makes for a film-goers delight. Their flowing gowns, slow-moving steps and pale makeup make for true dread. There isn't a single vampire film I would recommend over this treat.VIOLENCE: $$$ (There is a spattering of violence in this film but nothing on the level of the tasteless trash that Hollywood churns out nowadays. The opening scene is the most violent when Naschy kills the two doctors and then snacks on a damsel in the countryside. The vampires weren't used in the violence department - just the eerie department).STORY: $$$ (Rather routine, but fun nonetheless. A werewolf, tortured by his curse, tries to keep his new flame (Fuchs) from the clutches of the vampires as well as himself. When he turns, he can't control his bloodlust, thus placing Gaby in a perilous situation. The plot line of students staying in an abandoned castle while on academic furlough is a bit too overused but it works here).ACTING: $$$ (As with most of these European horror films, it is difficult to tell how good of an actor the thespians are because their lines are dubbed in English. However, it is obvious that Naschy can portray self-inflicted torture with the best of them. Patty Sheperd, who I can't recall having any dialogue, was creepy as the governess and Barbara Capell is tantalizing and sensual in any language).NUDITY: $ (Very little - of the blink-and-you-missed-it variety. Naschy tears open the blouse of the girl he kills in the country and Capell gets her blouse ripped open by Naschy's twisted sister. It isn't sleazy and you see very little, but it is gratuitous).
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