1970
D: Jose Maria Zabalza
P: Maximiliano Perez and Cesar Gallego for Maxper (Madrid)
S: Jacinto Molina
M: Angel Arteaga, Anna Satrova
Cast: Paul Naschy, Perla Cristal, Michael Rivers, Veronica Lujan, Mark Stevens,
Diana Montes, Jose Marco
Filmed in Eastmancolor and Techniscope
Running time: 84 min.
Review: A perverse, highly-erratic gem. Naschy's script is particularly good, exploring as it does the tension between man and woman (in this case, a woman's need to dominate a man's will). The scene where ice-queen Lola (Perla Cristal) descends the stairs to the dungeon, whip in hand, to tame her chained, former-lover Daninsky summarizes perfectly the erotic subtext running throughout the movie. The Naschy trademark approach to horror (throwing in everything but the kitchen sink) is in full bloom here also. So we have Daninsky battling a man in a suit of armor and a "phantom of the opera" type, as well as a female werewolf and mental patients, or mutants, or whatever the hell they're suppose to be. The canned music ruins the film at moments; it use at the ending is particularly debilitating, while in the more frantic sequences, it works in a surreal/macabre way to underline the perverse fantasy playing out before us. But the film is at its most involving (and original) when it deals with the Lola character, a scientist/professor played with a seductive bitchy sting by the Argentinian-born Perla Cristal. Her quest is nothing less than harnessing the love, and symbolically the testosterone, of Daninsky. "Be a man!" she goads the weak-willed Daninsky at one point. She forces the issue by resurrecting Daninsky after he has been apparently killed and forcing him to turn into a werewolf in an attempt to awaken his dormant manliness. A current of lesbianism also seems to run through the Lola character (most of her helpers are bitchy, aloof women like herself), furthering the curious webs the film weaves. These noteworthy points only highten the film's obvious deficiencies. The director, Jose Maria Zabalza, was drunk most of the time, according to Naschy in his interview for Videooze magazine (P.O Box 9911, Alexandria, VA 22304). Naschy also revealed in the same interview that it was one of the few times he cried, as he saw what was happening with the movie as it was being made. Because the film came out too short, it was padded with scenes from The Mark of the Wolf Man, and in certain long shots another actor was used instead of Naschy. So, coupled with really effective sequences, we have scenes of the Wolfman walking like a normal person (almost casually strolling!) down deserted city streets. (This was the double secretly employed by Zabalza.) The dubbing only adds to the heady confusion, for Naschy's character is called a variety of names at various points. Because of its unevenness, this is a frustrating film, to be sure. But it also works on the level of "I-can't-believe-what-I'm-seeing." Not to be missed. (Source print: Alpha Video, a sell-through label. Recorded in SLP mode, cut of any nudity; this is undoubtedly the soft "TV version" of the film.)
Bits and Pieces: Perla Cristal (Lola) appeared in other important Spanish horror films, most notably playing in the first two Dr. Orloff films, Gritos en la Noche (Cries in the Night/The Awful Dr. Orloff) and El Secreto del Dr. Orloff (The Secret of Dr. Orloff/Dr. Orloff's Monster), both helmed by Naschy's Spanish compatriot, Jess Franco.
Waldemar Daninsky (Paul Naschy)
looks upon the odd creatures inhabiting the mysterious residence of Lola,
professor/scientest and his former lover.
Cover box to the 1991 release
of Fury of the Wolfman by Alpha Video.
Cover box of Alpha Video's
re-release of Fury of the Wolfman in1995.
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