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Category:    Home > Reviews > Horror > Monster > Werewolf > Vampire > Witches > Spain > Curse Of The Devil (1973) + Werewolf Shadow (1970/BCI/Deimos DVD)

Curse Of The Devil (1973) + Werewolf Shadow (1970/BCI/Deimos DVD)

 

Picture: C/C+     Sound: C/C+     Extras: C-/C     Films: C+

 

 

It is one thing to read how many Horror and Werewolf films Paul Naschy did as Waldemar Daninsky, but it is another to see it.  It turns out that the cycle of these films he did were is successful, that they served as a de facto Spanish equivalent of Universal and Hammer at their Horror best.  BCI has slowly been issuing these films, including some of the first Spanish films on Blu-ray, as this link to the Night Of The Werewolf/Vengeance Of The Zombie:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6555/Night+Of+The+Werewolf/Vengeance

 

 

This time, we get two varied tales where the famed creature in somewhat familiar situations, but with even more blood, nudity, sex and violence than its U.S. and U.K. equivalents.  Curse Of The Devil (1973) has Daninsky accidentally killing a gypsy, a group that has been connected to werewolf mythos forever, but unleashes a witch’s coven that marks him with something called “Satan’s Teeth” which backfires when he transforms into a killer werewolf that they have to contend with.  He does not realize he is transforming, so when he “hunts for the killer” there will be hell to pay

 

Werewolf Shadow (1970) has Daninsky has him saving two young women, but they get into trouble while searching for a vampire queen!  Faster than you can say “let’s for out for a bite” the two legendary monster forces will be at each other’s throats.  The vampirism angle is amusing and has a few moments you have to see to believe.

 

Both remain within the confines of their genre, though they do some things very well and you can understand the appeal of these films.  Serious Horror fans will want to see them at least once as they hold up as well as their English-language contemporaries and are more entertaining than most such films Hollywood has produced in recent decades.  Sometimes just sticking to the basics works, making both films worth a good look with fun highlights.

 

 

Both films are presented in anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 framing, but the Devil print is on the faded side, while Werewolf looks often colorful and has some nice shots with detail and depth more typical of releases in this series.  They also both have Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono in English and Castilian with English subtitled.  We look forward to a Blu-ray version.  As for extras, both have liner notes by Mirek Lipinski with illustrations from a paper pullout inside the DVD cases, paperboard sleeves in the case of the copies we received, and original trailers.  Werewolf adds an English-only edit with lesser picture quality as an extra released as The Werewolf vs. The Vampire Woman.  You may have caught this cut somewhere if you are an older film fan.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo


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