Frankenstein's Bloody Terror

This film is absolutely NEVER aired on TV anymore and is nearly impossible to find on video. I remember seeing it several times as a staple on one of the numerous horror movie shows that used to air in NYC years ago (Creature Features, Thriller Theater, etc.) I would love to revisit it.

As a cheapo horror movie buff (and veteran of the "old" Times Square horror/kung fu/blacksploitation double-feature movie houses), I've since learned that like many other European horror movies of the era, the version seen here in America (Frankenstein's Bloody Terror) is a truncated version of the original Spanish print. Stripped down from 93 minutes to just 78 minutes only added confusion to plot points that were vague or contrived to begin with. I'm keen on seeing the original version, but I'm sure the shorter randomly edited version is probably a lot more fun (as is often the case -- see The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula for another example).

The only Naschy werewolf film that I've seen in video release is Fury of the Wolfman, which doesn't hold a candle to this movie in terms of pure kitschy so-bad-it's-good delight.

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.

When I was in high school (the late 1970s) a local TV station showed this on Saturday afternoons constantly with "Dracula vs. Frankenstein". As a teenager I LOVED this! My memories on the plot are kind of vague, but it went something like this: A man is cursed with becoming a werewolf. He has already killed a few people. He hears of a count who can (perhaps) cure him. The count and his wife come--but they're both VAMPIRES!!!

BTW--Frankenstein has nothing to do with this movie. The American distributor had promised theatre owners a film with the names "Frankenstein" and "Terror" in the title. Then they got this werewolf-vampire one. So the American version has a silly prologue linking the Frankenstein family to the werewolf!!!

Sounds ridiculous but it's played so serious it actually is a lot of fun to watch. The effects (for the 1970s) were good and, surprisingly, this got a PG rating despite some pretty gory parts. Also this played uncut on TV. The acting was actually pretty good and I distinctly remember being terrified by the vampires.

I heard the original Spanish one runs 10 minutes longer and was in 3-D and stereo sound! We'll never see that here probably and this version seems to have disappeared completely. Too bad. It was a fun, silly horror film. I give it an 8. Maybe Anchor Bay will find a version of this to release soon.

First of all, this is a VERY difficult film to find in any condition, and I am afraid my endeavours obtained a print put out by Video Search of Miami that was grainy, subtitled in German(odd for a Spanish film), and rather bleary through much of it. I searched long for this print, and despite its many flaws, both with the copy and with the film, I must say that I enjoyed the film overall. It has very high marks for atmosphere with its superb European gothic castle and its slyvan night settings. The acting is pedestrian at best, and the plot about an ancient family curse of lycanthropy is somewhat muddled. Apparently an old family, suitably called Wolfstein, was populated with a werewolf named Imre Wolfstein. Some traveling gypsies come by the deserted castle and steal jewels from the dead family members in the vault, even taking the silver-pointed crucifix embedded in the body of Imre. Of course, this allows Imre to come back to life and rid the castle of those pesky gypsies and other villagers. In the wake of his feeding, he bites Waldemar Daninsky. The story really starts here as Waldemar and friends try to rid him of his new affliction. Thinking they are getting expert medical help, his friends enlist the aid of two vampires, who are up to no good. As you can see the plot has something for everyone. Well the film has lots going against it, but the atmospheric mood and settings, and the fact that this is the first of the eight Waldemar Daninsky films starring Paul Naschy are reason enough to grab some popcorn, light some candles, and sit back and enjoy some hokum.

While it isn't the best and most fun flick starring the late Spanish Horror Legend Paul Naschy, "La Marca Del Hombre-Lobo" aka. "The Wolfman and Count Dracula" aka. "Frankenstein's Bloody Terror" (1968) is the first film in which Naschy played the Werewolf Waldemar Daninsky, and therefore the film that launched his career as an immortal Cult icon. In a way, Enrique López Eguiluz' film is therefore maybe one of the most influential Eurohorror films ever made, as it is not for certain if Naschy's career had been the same, had it not been for this film. It is an interesting detail that Naschy, who (as for so many of his films) wrote the story and screenplay to "La Marca del Hombre-Lobo", only took the role of Waldemar Daninsky because Horror star Lon Chaney Jr. had turned it down. Luckily so! As in the sequels, Waldemar Daninsky is a kind-hearted and likable man, to whom young beauties are magically attracted. Shortly after the ravishing 18-year-old countess Janice (Dyanik Zurakowska) falls in love with Daninsky, unfortunate events lead him to get bitten by a Werewolf, after which the likable man becomes a nighttime Werewolf himself...

The 'Waldemar Daninsky' or 'Hombre Lobo' Werewolf films starring Paul Naschy all follow a very similar pattern in which the likable Daninsky becomes a Werewolf (sometimes due to a curse, sometimes due to unfortunate events), and yet each one of them is highly entertaining to watch, even after having seen a bunch of them already. Since this film was made in the late 60s, it is quite a bit tamer in terms of sleaze and gore than its 70s and 80s sequels (though there are some gory scenes), and may therefore be not quite as fun to watch to my fellow Exploitation fans. The storyline, then again, is slightly more logical than in most of the Daninsky flicks, and while the film probably won't make anyone shiver in terror, it has a moody Gothic atmosphere and several genuinely eerie moments. Naschy is great as always and young Dyanik Zurakowska, who would later play alongside Naschy in one of his greatest films "La Orgía De Los Muertos" (aka. "The Hanging Woman", 1973), is lovely in the female lead. Julián Ugarte and Aurora de Alba are nicely eerie as a married couple of very sinister occult scientists.

Even though some of the sequels, such as "La Noche De Walpurgis" ("Werewolf Vs. Vampire Women", 1971), "El Retorno De Walpurgis" ("Curse of the Devil", 1973), or "El Retorno Del Hombre-Lobo" ("Night of the Werewolf", 1981, my personal favorite so far) may be even cooler than this one, this is the original Waldemar Danisnky flick, and an absolute must-see for all my fellow Paul Naschy fans. Not to be missed by Eurohorror-lovers. Paul Naschy forever!