El retorno de Walpurgis (1973)

Director:

Carlos Aured

Writers:

Edward Mannix (American dialogue)
Paul Naschy (story)

Release Date:

May 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Prepare yourself for the HORROR of PSYCHO! The TERROR of EXORCIST!

Plot:

A man whose ancestors executed a witch is turned into a werewolf by modern-day descendants of the executed witch.

Plot Keywords:

Werewolf | Severed Head | Decapitation | Sequel | Female Nudity

Cast

Paul Naschy	...	Waldemar Daninsky / Irineus Daninsky / Werewolf
Fabiola Falcón	...	Kinga Wilowa
Maritza Olivares	...	Maria Wilowa
José Manuel Martín	...	Bela (as José M. Martín)
Eduardo Calvo	...	Laszlo Wilowa
Mariano Vidal Molina	...	Roulka (as Vidal Molina)
Ana Farra	...	Malitza
Fernando Sánchez Polack	...	Maurice, Waldemar's valet (as Fernando S. Polack)
Inés Morales	...	Ilona
Santiago Rivero
Pilar Vela
José Yepes
Ana Maria Rossie
Sandalio Hernández
Jorge Matamoros

Also Known As:

Curse of the Devil (USA)
La noche del asesino (Mexico)
Return of the Werewolf (International: English title) (informal literal title)
The Black Harvest of Countess Dracula (USA) (video title)
The Return of Walpurgis (USA) (video title)

Runtime:

USA:73 min | Spain:81 min (original uncut version)

Country:

Spain | Mexico

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Not Rated (uncut version) | France:-12 | Germany:16 (video) | Spain:18 | West Germany:18 | USA:R | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Madrid, Spain

Company:

Lotus Films

Movie Connections:

Followed by La maldición de la bestia (1975)

One of the good Daninsky movies ...

On the surface, this movie uses the same basic plot as several other of Jacinto Molina's movies ... he is cursed with lycanthropy and must find a woman who loves him enough to kill him and end the curse. However, it is the setting and the back story which makes "Curse of the Devil" stand out.

Four hundred years ago, an ancestor of Daninsky executed a bunch of satanic witches who swore a rather drawn-out and unfrightening curse upon him. One day, Waldemar is out hunting a wolf and is shocked and saddened when he shoots it and discovers that it is a man. Apparently he didn't know he was hunting a werewolf (why was he using silver bullets then?), and he also didn't know that the person he killed was a descendant of the previously mentioned witches. As a result of this, the witches finally take their revenge upon him, sending one of their minions to curse him on the night of the Walpurgis ...

This yet another stand-alone movie which doesn't appear to fit in with the rest of the Waldemar Daninsky saga. However, it can be thought of as an improved remake of his first movie "Mark of the Wolfman", and it kind of works as a historical prequel to the other movies as well. It's certainly one of the more entertaining Daninsky movies ... the opening sequence is one of the funniest things I've ever seen (unintentionally, of course), but mostly due to the awful dubbing rather than anything else. Yes, awful dubbing. Awful, awful. Bleurgh. In fact, all pretty much all the problems here seem to be caused with the dubbing. I believe that in it's original language this may in fact be (shock horror) a GOOD horror film. Often these movies can feel like a bit of a chore to watch, but not this one! The period costumes and settings are realistic and cool. There's a very nice castle, for all you archaeologists out there. Most of the women once again wear those flowing sheer nightgowns which Jacinto Molina seems to love so much ... and they, of course, throw themselves at Waldemar screaming "deflower me! deflower me!" The acting seems decent all round, but you can't really tell due to the terrible, terrible dubbing. Director Carlos Aured worked with Molina on several movies, but this was the only Waldemar Daninsky movie he directed -- he did later do some uncredited work on Alice Cooper's "Leviatán". His directing is pretty good for a Daninsky movie, although the editing and placement of the scenes is a little off sometimes.

"Curse of the Devil" is one of the better Daninsky movies of the seventies, and certainly among the more entertaining. And it has a great ending, too.