Most helpful customer reviews
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4.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderfully atmospheric Naschy werewolf classic, Jul 26 2006
Having now seen several Paul Naschy films, I have to say the guy is really starting to grow on me. Naschy, who has been dubbed the Spanish Lon Chaney, has made all kinds of movies, but clearly the werewolf was his favorite subject. He has appeared as Waldemar Daninsky in over a dozen films beginning with 1967's La Marca Del Hombre Lobo. (For some ridiculous reason, German producers thought a Spanish name for the character wouldn't sell, and thus Naschy's werewolf became a Pole and Jacinto Molina - the actor's real name - became Paul Naschy.) This particular film, which can be found under a number of names (La Noche de Walpurgis, Blood Moon, Nacht ver Vampire, Shadow of the Werewolf, The Werewolf vs the Vampire Woman, The Werewolf's Shadow), made in 1971, would be his biggest success in his native Spain. It has a lot going for it right from the start: the werewolf himself, vampires, and a really hot brunette. Unfortunately, the print of the film isn't all that great (Naschy's films are just crying out for remastering), which makes it hard to see some of what takes place during a series of wild nights. Still, though, it's classic Naschy, a romantic horror story that presents Daninsky as a cursed man longing for companionship while also desperately yearning to break the eternal curse that turns him into a ravening monster each month during the full moon.
Daninsky has holed himself up in a remote part of the countryside, but he welcomes the companionship of two rather attractive college students who show up at his door seeking help. The girls, Elvira (Gaby Fuchs) and a most seductive Genevieve (Barbara Capell), are researching the legend of an ancient practitioner of the dark arts, Countess Wandessa d'Arville de Nadasdy (Patty Shepard), who supposedly drank the blood of virgins. She is supposedly buried nearby, and the girls are trying to find the long-lost tomb. Despite being attacked by Daninsky's crazy sister, the girls accept Daninsky's hospitality, and they do indeed find the tomb. Like an idiot (albeit a very pretty one), Genevieve removes the mystical crucifix from the corpse's chest - and we all know what that means. It's just as well that she does it, though, as Daninsky has need of it himself. I was pretty impressed by the resurrected Countess' appearance here; it's quite impressive and eerily atmospheric (except for those perfectly ridiculous fangs she sports).
I don't really like the title The Werewolf vs the Vampire Woman because the conflict of these two "monsters" really isn't what this movie is about. It's about love, which is the only power that can finally free Daninsky of his awful curse. In the end, though, the countryside just isn't big enough for a werewolf and a vampire to coexist. Their ultimate conflict isn't the true denouement of the film, however.
The one thing that really hurts this movie is the less than impressive print. It is just hard sometimes to see what is going on during the night scenes, and even the daytime scenes seem to be cast in a shadowy pall that robs the movie of its rightful vibrancy. The werewolf transformations aren't bad at all, and I was most impressed to actually get to see a beheading (as opposed to just watching an axe come down through the air). Naschy's werewolf films do exude a distinctly European air of horror, which doesn't guarantee that American audiences will truly embrace them, but true horror fans really must include some of Naschy's films in their collections, and this film should be one of them.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Werewolf vs. vampire woman, Feb 25 2004
I saw the butchered version years ago and this one puts it to shame! The picture on this dvd is nice looking, as for the film...its a bit dated now....a little TOO cheesy for me..but if youve seen it before and still revere it as a good movie its definitely worth picking up!
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5.0 out of 5 stars
freaky, Nov 20 2003
This movie is so far gone, it's not from this planet. A werewolf gets revived at the beginning, he drools like a St. Bernard with rabies, rips pieces of raw meat from his victims, add to that plenty of nudity, blood, a vampire woman, violence, and a cheap production, and dubbed in English-this is one wild movie, and lots of fun.
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