Paul Naschy stars in this well written and effectively dark and eerie Spanish Wolfman horror.
Anchor Bay USA R0 DVD.
The Film
Medieval
times - two knights on horseback meet. Irineus Daninsky (Paul Naschy),
a Christian Knight and Roulka Bathory, the leader of a coven of
Satan worshippers. Exchanging words, they clash and Daninsky is
victorious, but Bathory's wife is watching and swears revenge.
Attempting to call up Satan in a black mass, the witches are disturbed
by Daninsky's men and Bathory is burnt at the stake, but not before she
curses the Daninsky family. Moving forward to the 19th Century, Walemar Daninskiy (still Paul Naschy)
is attacked by members of a witches coven and is stricken with the
curse of the werewolf. Meanwhile, an engineer and his family move to
the area, and his two daughters take an immediate interest in Walemar who has to try and save them from himself...
Curse of the Devil is much darker than the previous films. Werewolf Shadow (1971) was mostly set in the broad daylight, while Dr. Jekyll versus the Werewolf (1972) was a tongue-in-cheek tribute to the Universal moster films.The
storyline is solid, the opening sequences set the scene and
provide a good backdrop, while the main body of the film contains a
large number of distinctive characters. The police chief is logical and
proudly not superstitious, the engineer's daughters are naturally
competitive over the only sophisticated man in the neighbourhood. Daninsky's feverish dreams bring to mind the later American Werewolf in London (1981). The
pacing is often slow and deliberate but never drags; it takes a good 40
minutes before the wolf man appears, most of the film being build-up
and scene setting, and when he does appear, it is only in a few brief
scenes. The climax is relatively low-key, but the ending is strong.
The
ambience of the film is very much like the later 1970s Hammer films,
and at times this film could be mistaken for a production from the
British studio. Director Carlos Aured is decent and works the camera
well, the nighttime scenes in particular are well shot, no more use of
the blue-tinted day for night photography seen in the earlier films.
Obviously limited by budget, the opening sequences with the
knights duelling probably symbolising a much larger Medieval battle,
but the light sepia tinting in these scenes does look very effective,
while the black mass scenes are dark enough to be creepy and plausible.
The 19th Century feel is retained throughout the film and works well.
Gone is the mix of light jazz and minimalist horror in the soundtrack from the earlier films,
instead a light orchestral track helps to keep the Hammer feel to the
whole piece.
Paul
Naschy (a.k.a. Jancito Molina) is in the lead role again. His acting
has improved since the earlier films, and he still looks very good as
the vicious wolf-man. The rest of the cast are relative unknowns,
only José Martín and Fernando Polack having any other
major films to their credit with roles in plenty of Spanish shot
Spaghetti Westerns.
Less entertaining than the previous films, Curse of the Devil
is a
much better horror film with a dark feel throughout and quite creepy in
places, some might find it scary. Often resembling a later Hammer
Horror film (in a good way) this is a recommended film, certainly to
Paul Naschy fans, however, werewolf fans might find the relative lack
of wolfman action to be disappointing. Generally, classic horror fans
should
enjoy this - the familiar feel should make it accessible to most
viewers, although the above average nudity and gore might be too much
for some...
In Brief
Its a sequel, do I need to see the first film?
No, the film is unconnected to the previous entries..
Anyone famous in it?
Paul Naschy - star of a great many cult/euro-horror films. Recently starred in Rojo Sangre (2004).
Directed by anyone interesting?
Carlos Aured - directed a several other Paul Naschy and euro-cult films.
Is it scary?
Some tense/creepy scenes that some might find scary.
Any gore?
Plenty of blood.
Any sex?
A couple of nude scenes.
Who is it for?
Certainly of interest to
Euro-horror and Paul Naschy fans. The Hammer-horror style means that it should be of interest to most 1960s/70s horror fans.
Good soundtrack?
A light orchestral score.
The DVD
Visuals
Original Aspect Ratio - 1.85:1 widescreen. Anamorphically enhanced. Colour. The disc is strong visually, good colours, minimal print damage or grain. The opening medieval scenes are worst.
Audio
English
language mono sound dub track. Sounds good, although obviously studio dubbed.
'Interview with the Wolf Man' - a Spanish
language, subtitled interview with Paul Naschy. Illustrated with clips
from this film and Werewolf Shadow
(1971) as well as various still photos. Covers much ground, and provides
extensive background to the film. Same extra as included on the Werewolf Shadow Anchor Bay USA release. (14m 51s)
Naschy poster gallery - large gallery of film posters for other films starring Paul Naschy.
Biography - a quite detailed biography of Paul Naschy - standard AB style.
Packing
Standard Amray case.
Region
Region 1 (USA) - PAL
Other regions?
R2 Dutch DVD, no bonus features.
Cuts?
The film is believed to be fully uncut.
Summary
An effectively atmospheric horror film making the best of a low budget. Well written and directed.
Good presentation of this rare film, the print looks fantastic.. The interview is very informative.
