Frankenstein's Bloody Terror

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!

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.

The Mark of the Wolfman (1968)

** (out of 4)

Bland but important Spanish horror film is the first to feature Paul Naschy in the Waldemar Daninsky role. In the film, Daninsky (Naschy) is bitten by a werewolf and soon finds himself turning into the creature. With the help of his best friend and girlfriend he's able to locate a German doctor who might be able to help him but Daninsky doesn't realize that the doctor is actually a vampire. THE MARK OF THE WOLFMAN really isn't a very good moment but there's no question that it's an important one considering it started Naschy career as well as kick-started the Spanish horror genre. That alone makes the film worth viewing and there's no question that there are a few memorable moments scattered throughout the picture. The most effective sequence deals with a couple gypsies unlocking a tomb and pulling a stake from a man's heart, which has him come back as a werewolf. This attack sequence is actually quite effective and shot very nicely. There's also some very good atmosphere running throughout the film as it's clear that the low-budget at least allowed for a very good fog machine. Another plus is that the werewolf make-up looks pretty good for the most part, although there's no question that the actual transformation scenes are somewhat laughable. Naschy doesn't give the best performance of his career but I think he's good enough in the role and at least makes you feel sorry for his character. The supporting players are decent at best. There are some major problems with the picture that keeps it from being better. For starters, the pacing is pretty bad throughout the picture. Another issue is that the screenplay pretty much just throws everything into the mix and not all of it sticks. When released in America as FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY TERROR the film had an added on sequence trying to attach the events to the Frankenstein legacy but this here was pretty stupid so the Spanish version is the way to go.

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.

The last time I encountered Paul Naschy was in the video nasty The Werewolf and the Yeti. This is the film that started his career as Count Waldemar Daninsky. If you like good old campy horror with busty gypsies and vampires showing maximum cleavage, then this will fit the bill. Besides, wolf-man transformations are always fun to watch.

Of course, the horror is accompanied by a juicy love triangle as Count Waldemar Daninsky seems to have stolen Countess Janice von Aarenberg (Dyanik Zurakowska) from her young beau Rudolph (Manuel Manzaneque).

Count Daninsky joins a group of villagers after "wolves" when the gypsies mistakenly removed the silver cross from the wolf-man while robbing graves. He saves Rudolph's life, but is bitten in the process, thus starting the series of films where Nachy is a wolf-man.

Seeking help, they come into contact with vampires. No, there is no Frankenstein; that was added for American markets.