Curse of the Devil (1973) User Reviews

Acceptable follow-up with Paul Naschy re-taking his immortal character , the Polish Waldemar Daninsky

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 1 May 2012]

Outing based on the mythic Wolfman Waldemar Daninsky always played by the great Paul Naschy . Acceptable entry about Werewolf with the unforgettable Waldemar Daninsky-Jacinto Molina , under pseudonym Paul Naschy . The king of Spanish terror cinema as immortal Wolfman Waldemar Daninsky in this passable entry . This time , once again Waldemar stricken by ancient curse that turns into Werewolf at the full moon . During Middle Age , a nasty inquisitor named Ireneus Daninsky (Paul Naschy or Jacinto Molina) has Countess Bathory ( Maria Silva and in ¨The night of Walpurgis¨ played by Patty Shepard) burned alive on a pole and her women followers hanged . Before dieing in the flames the countess puts a curse on Daninsky and his descendants . Things happen that have never been seen by human beings, the blood flows like vintage wine . Four centuries later, Waldemar Daninsky accidentally shoots a gypsy while chasing a wolf. The angry gypsies, who knew of the curse, summon up the Satan and the gorgeous Ilona (Ines Morales) is chosen to seduce the young lord. During a night of love, Ilona bites Waldemar who turns into a werewolf killing his preys on full moon nights. Waldemar whose ancestors executed a witch is turned into a werewolf by modern-day descendants of the executed witch. His murders are first attributed to a mad killer escaped from the asylum . Meantime a constable (Mariano Vidal Molina) is investigating the violent and ominous killings . Waldemar, who suspects the murderous is none other than himself, falls in love with Kinga (Falcon) , the daughter of a professor from Budapest who lives at a countryside house along with his wife and another daughter . While Waldemar goes on a murderous rampage every time the moon is full and unleashing his powers at night to terrorize innocents round abouts . When Maria (Maritza Olivares) , Kinga's jealous younger sister, manages to love Daninsky and sleep with him , but Waldemar , once again turned into a werewolf seeking vengeance .

Continental Europe's biggest horror star again with his classic character and horrifying to spectator . Jacinto Molina Aka Paul Naschy ,who recently passed away , was actor, screenwriter and director of various film about the personage based on fictitious character, the Polish count Waldemar Daninsky . The first entry about Waldemar was ¨The mark of the Wolfman (1967)¨ by Enrique Eguiluz , it was such a box office hit that Jacinto went on filming successive outings as ¨Night of Walpurgis¨, ¨Fury of the Wolfman¨ , ¨Doctor Jekill and the Wolfman¨ , and once again¨The return of the Walpurgis¨, ¨Howl of the devil¨. After ¨The craving¨ it was such a box office disaster that Jacinto was bankrupt. He was forced to turn to Japan for making artist documentaries, as he filmed 'Madrid Royal Palace and Museum of Prado' and he gets financing from Japanese producers for ¨The human beasts¨, the first co-production Spanish-Japan and followed ¨The beast and the magic sword(1982)¨ that is filmed in Japan and for the umpteenth time ¨Licantropo(1998) and finally even directed by Fred Olen Ray in ¨Tomb of the Werewolf(2004) with Michelle Bauer.

It's a B series entertainment with abundant sensationalistic scenes , gratuitous nudism and a Naif style and plenty of flaws and gaps . The movie has a bit of ridiculous gore with loads of blood similar to tomato and is occasionally an engaging horror movie full of attacks , curses, and several other things. This time Paul Nashy/Jacinto Molina exhibits little breast but he was a weightlifting champion. Here Waldemar takes on villagers , gypsies and a constable in some moving attack scenes. Pretty slow going, but hang in there for the nice make-up Daninsky turning into werewolf . In the film turns up usual actors from the 60s and 70s who starred as secondary cast many Spaghetti , horror , Gialli co-productions such as : Mariano Vidal Molina ,Jose Yepes , Eduardo Calvo and Maria Silva . Acceptable and atmospheric cinematography by Francisco Sanchez . Filmed in Toledo , Manzanares and Navacerrada, Madrid and Talamanca De Jarama, location in which were shot most part these horror movies. Eerie and creepy musical score by Anton Garcia Abril , saga's usual . The motion picture with Spanisth title ¨El Retorno de Walpurgis¨ has various international titles as Curse of the Devil" , "Return of the Werewolf" (informal literal title) "The Black Harvest of Countess Dracula" , "The Return of Walpurgis was written by Naschy and professionally directed by Carlos Aured , a slick craftsman who directed all kind of genres, especially Erotic and Terror for Paul Naschy as ¨Horror rises from tomb¨,¨Vengeance of the mummy¨ and , ¨Return of Walpurgis¨ . The picture will appeal to Paul Naschy fans and terror genre enthusiast

And a Happy "Night of Walpurgis" to Y'all!

[Coventry · 5/10 · 16 August 2006]

Paul Naschy – the living and already legendary icon of Spanish exploitation cinema – once again suffers from overabundant body hair growth in this entertaining and very gory episode of the "Hombre-Lobo" cycle. These fun movies don't exactly follow each other, but they all star Naschy as Count Waldemar Daninsky; a noble and honorable man but with the misfortune of transforming into a bloodthirsty werewolf whenever the moon is full. In "Curse of the Devil", all the events revolve on the Night of Walpurgis. This holiday is kind of like Christmas but exclusively for witches, Satanists and everyone else who's up to no good. On this night, poor Waldemar is struck by a terrible curse that was placed upon him several centuries ago, when his Witchfinder-ancestor single-handedly wiped out an entire coven of devil worshipers and burnt their leader. Following a series of macabre events (a bizarre hunting accident, a bloody ritual performed by a sexy witch…), Waldemar becomes a werewolf and kills a lot of people (preferably gorgeous women) in the forest surrounding his land. This is not the type of movie you watch for its unbearable suspense or the masterfully written dialogues. It's a simple European exploitation effort from the 70's in which a lot of girls get fully naked and even more poor souls have their throats bit open. The gore is plentiful but never really shocking and the acting performances vary from bad to…very, very bad! Naschy's transformation into a werewolf is hilarious instead of creepy and the sub plot about an escaped murderous lunatic is just too implausible. Recommended…but only to Euro-horror fanatics and fans of Paul Naschy. PS: the indicated running time of 73 minutes must be taken from a severely cut version. The DVD I watched (Dutch release) runs 82 minutes and shows every butchering in great and tasteless details. Go for that one!

the wolfman is back!

[trashgang · 5/10 · 19 October 2010]

Hahahaha, that should be my review but IMDb doesn't allow that so here we go. First of all it's a Paul Naschy movie which means you are against him or you love him. Secondly, it's a low budget flick. In the beginning of the movie we have some slicing of a throat, easily to see the fake flesh, or blood running out of the knife and not from the wound. We move on to the next scene were they hunt a dog, oops, I mean a wolf. Once shot they go looking towards the wolf but it's a man's body laying there. Must be a werewolf. Over to some nice scene's about hanging some women and the burning at the stake of Bathory. But before she dies she cursed the Darinsky family. Of to some summon of the devil, you guessed it a man in a suit with a shot revealing the zipper of his suit. The devil chose the perfect girl to do the cursed ritual on one of the offspring of the Darinsky's(that's Paul Naschy). Girls disappearing at night....before the wolfman appears we are having a lot of nudity, full frontal. But the movie does have his failures. It's never scary and sometimes it really becomes laughable. The wolfman reminded me of the 1941 version. The way he changes from man into wolf is the same as they did in 1941. But the most frightening part of this flick are the moments of the full bushes, go figure out you have to bite that! They're more hairy than the wolfman. But some shots are gory for the time being even as you can see that it is a cheap effect. The blood really looks like ketchup and reminded me of the blood used in Blood Feast. Be sure to watch the uncensored uncut version.

Fairly enjoyable Naschy werewolf flick!

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 5 April 2006]

Paul Naschy, Spain's numero uno horror star of the 70s, hams it up in this cheesy slice of Euro-schlock.

From the impressive opening scenes (in which we get a beheading, a cut throat, several hangings and a burning at the stake) right through to the end credits, this fun film delivers the goods – gratuitous nudity, some none too convincing gore and hammy acting from all involved.

Waldemar Daninsky (Naschy) falls foul of a curse (placed upon his family by a coven of witches centuries before) and becomes a werewolf when the moon is full. His only hope of salvation is to die by the hand of his true love.

Curse of the Devil boasts pretty good production values and at times is very stylish in execution; at other times it is unintentionally funny. Whilst never up to the standards of a Hammer horror, which it resembles at times in plot and content, fans of this kind of stuff will find enough to enjoy for it to warrant a viewing.

Waldemar Daninsky - How It All Began

[Witchfinder-General-666 · 7/10 · 29 July 2008]

"El Retorno De Walpurgis" aka. "Curse Of The Devil" of 1973 is already the seventh film in which Spanish Horror/Exploitation legend Paul Naschy plays Werewolf Waldemar Daninski. These Waldemar Daninski films (many of them carry an "Hombre Lobo" title) are not exactly connected with each other (some of them play in the past, some in the present), but they all revolve around Waldemar Daninski, a usually kind-hearted man who is turned into a Werewolf by a curse. Unlike the title might make believe "El Retorno De Walpurgis" is not a direct sequel to the foregoing "La Noche De Walpurgis" (aka "The Werewolf Vs. Vampire Women") of 1971, the most famous of the Waldemar Daninski films. While "La Noche..." played in the present (1971), this film takes place in the past, presumably in the late 19th century. It is also not quite clear whether the Waldemar Daninski in this film is the same, or an ancestor of the other - he has quite the same traits of character, however.

In medieval times knight Irenius Daninski (Paul Naschy) rid the world of a coven of devil-worshipers when he killed their leader in battle, and had his witch wife burned and their followers hanged. Before being burned at the stake however, the devil-worshiping lady put a curse on Daninski's family, vowing to be back for revenge... Several centuries later, the kind-hearted Waldemar Daninski (also Naschy) lives in the castle... More than its predecessors, "El Retorno De Walpurgis" gives a little background information about how the Daninsky-curse came to existence. The film is quite typical for a Naschy-flick. On the one hand the story is often extremely cheesy, but on the other hand it has moments of great style. As far as I am considered, a Naschy flick is always worth watching, as they mostly provide a great atmosphere, and practically always provide two elements that all my fellow Exploitation-enthusiasts should appreciate: Loads of sleaze and female nudity, as well as stylish (if sometimes cheesy) gory outbursts. And this is definitely the case with "El Retorno De Walpurgis". The film is filled with gore scenes, which are quite nicely done for a budget that was supposedly quite low, and all the female characters have exhibitionist tendencies, most memorably the stunningly beautiful Maritza Olivares and Fabiona Falcón. The fact that the werewolf-makeup is not exactly frightening does in no way lessen this film's cult-value. Low-budget Spanish Horror-exploitation from the 70s is a supremely entertaining kind of cinema, and Paul Naschy is its king. While this "Retorno De Walpurgis" may not be a must-see, it is definitely a highly entertaining film that my fellow Eurohorror buffs should enjoy! Paul Naschy Forever!

CURSE OF THE DEVIL (Carlos Aured, 1973) *1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 3/10 · 8 March 2007]

This was my fifth entry from Paul Naschy's signature series of Waldemar Daninsky werewolf films – the others, with their respective ratings, were FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY TERROR (1968; **), THE FURY OF THE WOLFMAN (1970; BOMB), WEREWOLF SHADOW (1970; *1/2), NIGHT OF THE HOWLING BEAST (1975; **1/2) and THE CRAVING (1980; **1/2). As can be seen, they're a pretty mixed bag considering their reputation among horror-film fans; what's interesting in them is that, as opposed to Lon Chaney's Lawrence Talbot series for Universal (which were clearly the template for the later Spanish variant), Naschy/Daninsky gets cursed with lycanthropy all over again with each new entry – and the werewolf make-up is also different from one film to the other!

While I watched all the other films via ragged Public Domain – and, as far as I can recall, pan & scan – prints, CURSE OF THE DEVIL was culled from Anchor Bay's R1 DVD: however, this meant that the extra clarity and tidiness of the transfer also served to expose the film's budgetary limitations (particularly the fake gore) and slipshod technique all the more; the nail in the coffin, then, is supplied by listless dubbing and the ludicrous English dialogue (with a couple of sure-fire howlers – when the police report with news of an escaped lunatic to landowner Daninsky, he can only offer the deadpan remark "Sounds bad" and, later, during a village meeting concerning the brutal killings by the werewolf, the locals lash out at the police's inadequacy – causing the sole representative of the law, ridiculously outnumbered, to rebut this onslaught with the limp protestation "Look, man, I'm all alone here!"). One of the more risible moments occurs towards the end during the showdown between the werewolf and the Chief of Police: since the latter starts throwing stones at the former, rather than physically attack him as is his fashion, Daninsky chooses to lift a huge rock and smash his face in with it!

Anyway, the plot starts off with Naschy as a zealous medieval knight who despatches a Satanic cult: a witch subsequently curses him as she's being burned at the stake; the scene then relocates to a few centuries later, where the latest Daninsky lord shoots a gypsy werewolf while hunting: the latter turns out to have been a descendant of his ancestor's enemies and a young woman is thereby commissioned, after having cavorted with the devil during an invocation, to give Naschy the mark of the wolfman. The second half of the narrative sees our hero befriend a couple of young sisters – one loves him (and is finally instructed on how to kill a werewolf by Naschy's long-suffering old servant-woman), while the other is a nymphomaniac (whom he kills when transformed, as he also does the girls' parents!).

There's little more to say except that the film is eminently watchable in a naïve sort of way – but it's certainly not of the quality that the "Euro-Cult" stable could deliver at its best

One of the good Daninsky movies ...

[Teknofobe70 · 6/10 · 16 August 2005]

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.

Nice atmosphere & setting, a bit slow

[haxan · 9 August 2002]

Actually, "a bit slow" is sort of a complement. European horror films from this era frequently cover the range from very slow to painfully slow. So a bit slow is acceptable, in my opinion.

I have only seen one other Paul Naschy film (an edited bad print of Werewolf Vs. the Vampire Women) so I can't really compare this film to his others.

Anchor Bay just released this film on DVD in widescreen with a nice looking and uncut print. I can definitely endorse the film in this version for fans of the genre. I am more familiar with British and Italian horror films, less so with Spanish ones. The quote on the DVD box from Video Watchdog hails this as one of the best Spanish horror films and I would say that sounds fair. The atmosphere and settings are both quite good and there is a fair bit of blood and gore, although don't expect it on the same level with a Romero zombie film or a cannibal film.

Worth noting is the framing of the film. Having only seen this widescreen version I would say that it is definitely worth waiting to see it in it's original aspect ratio as opposed to any pan & scan version. This is one of the better framed films I've seen of this type from this period. While it is definitely not Psycho or Touch of Evil (in my opinion, two of the best framed films I've ever seen) the compositions are very nice and I would complement the director and d.p. both for having a good eye.

In my opinion the dubbing for this film is better than average as well. Fans of foreign horror are likely familiar with frequently bad (and unintentionally funny) dubbing. While I would say that the original foreign language track with subtitles is ultimately the preferred set of circumstances, the dubbing job on this film is better than most, especially for a lower budget film such as this.

I would say that any fans of Paul Naschy who haven't seen this film should track it down right away. And any fans of Euro-horror should take a look as well.

The DVD is released under the title Curse of the Devil and based on that, the description I'd read of the film, and the opening minutes, I expected a sort of mix between Satan worshiping witches and the werewolf story. In reality, after the opening section, the bulk of the story is werewolf-related. The film has gone under other titles that give more focus to the werewolf story, which may well suit the bulk of the film better. However, don't let that turn you away from seeing the film.

It's certainly not the worst Naschy film I've seen

[bensonmum2 · 5/10 · 15 May 2006]

I'm like the Energizer Bunny when it comes to Paul Naschy – I keep going and going and going with the hope of one day finding a Naschy film I really enjoy. I know the man has his fans, but I've yet to see the appeal. My latest excursion into Naschy's filmography is Curse of the Devil. It's certainly not the worst Naschy film I've seen (that would be Dr. Jekyll vs. the Werewolf), but the best I can do is call it an average horror film.

The film gets off to a good start. The story explaining how Daninsky (Naschy) became a werewolf is well done. Much like Hammer's Curse of the Werewolf, the backstory presented in Curse of the Devil is nice as it provides a reasonable (well, as reasonable as horror movies can be) explanation behind lycanthropy. Too often, horror movies expect us to accept a person is a werewolf without any explanation other than they were bitten by a werewolf. It's as if it's always been that way, so just accept it. I really appreciated and enjoyed this portion of the film. These early scenes also have a nice Gothic feel to them and an attention to detail that really adds to the atmosphere.

But then Daninsky changes into a werewolf and the whole thing goes downhill. It's the same old story we've seen numerous times. And, if you've seen many Naschy films, you'll definitely feel like you've seen it before. If Naschy is anything, he's consistent and predictable. From what I've seen, his films rarely stray from the tired and true path. But more specifically, there are a couple of things about the werewolf scenes that bother me. First, how is he able to sneak up on everyone? Wouldn't the sound of a hulking, snarling werewolf be a tip-off that something's not quite right? Second, the "special effects" are abysmal even when taking into account the time period in which the movie was made and any budget limitations. Most of the werewolf victims in Curse of the Devil look like people who have, for whatever reason, poured marinara sauce on their faces. It's not very effective.

As I always seem to write when discussing a Naschy film, I'm not giving up. Even though I've yet to find that Naschy film that clicks with me, I'll keep going in hopes that sooner or later one will.

Curse of the Devil

[Scarecrow-88 · 6/10 · 16 August 2007]

Irineus Daninsky(Paul Naschy)and his men, crusading in the name of God, execute a group of Satanists and his ancestry are cursed by E Bathory as she is burned alive. The movie continues many years later as a descendant, Waldemar, kills a wolf which was actually a male member of gypsies who call upon the Devil(a man dressed in a black suit and gloves..quite a surreal sequence in a cave)to have sex in a cavernous worshiping lair swearing to torment him with a curse. A pretty one from their group seduces Waldemar later sprinkling some of her "infected" blood on the skull of a wolf's head pressing a nasty bite into his flesh. He is now to become a werewolf at the Full Moon always to terrorize innocents biting and slashing. A vicious ax-killer is also on the loose chopping up pretty ladies and beheads the satanic woman who accursed Waldemar with werewolf blood. The ax killer will also do battle with Waldemar in werewolf form. A family from Budapest set roots in a cottage nearby Waldemar. Waldemar falls in love with the older daughter of the Wilowa family who informs him she's pregnant with his child. Her jealous younger sister seduces Waldemar..at the wrong time, a night of the Full Moon, and becomes another in a growing line of werewolf victims. Soon many villagers(..and a traveling troupe camping nearby Waldemar's estate)are getting their throats slashed and faces ripped to shreds. By the end of the film, most of the film's cast are destroyed by Waldemar, in werewolf form.

Not too bad, I thought, as far as the series goes. Mixes the occult within the werewolf sub-genre for some interesting results. I think it would work a lot better if given a better soundtrack, in Spanish language with subtitles(truly terrible dubbing where it seems that those who spoke the dialogue had contempt for the material making this flick cheesy when it could be an more serious werewolf product), and had snappier pacing. But, this delivers on the gore..lots of bloody gaping throat wounds and facial tears. The werewolf even slams a huge stone across a victim's face! Also has a grisly scene towards the end as villagers decide to form a lynch-mob killing Waldemar's hired help and comrade with farm equipment. Beautiful location assists, especially at night where my favorite sequences seem to take place. Chock full of nude female flesh as well. Not as good as "Werewolf Shadow", but not the worst werewolf film I've seen.

"I loved only once in my life, it ended horribly." Poor even by Naschy standards.

[poolandrews · 3/10 · 5 August 2005]

El Retorno de Walpurgis, or Curse of the Devil as it's more commonly known amongst English speaking audiences, starts in Medieval Europe where Irineus Daninsky (Jacinto Molina under his usual Paul Naschy pseudonym) has a sword fight with some evil spawn of Satan bloke & ends up decapitating him. That night the evil blokes wife Elizabeth Bathory (Maria Silva) & some Satan worshippers hold a sacrificial black mass but are rounded up by Daninsky & his men, as Elizabeth is burned alive at the stake she puts a curse on Daninsky & all future Daninsky's. Centuries later & Waldemar Daninsky (Jacinto Molina again) accidentally shoots a Bathory descendant which sets the curse in motion. A gypsy witch (Elsa Zabala) holds yet another black mass in which some strange guy dressed head to toe in black has his wicked way with various naked women, hey all this gratuitous nudity is an essential part of the story telling process. One of the women Ilona (Ines Morales) is discovered unconscious lying in the middle of the road by Daninsky & his servant Maurice (Fernando Sanchez Polack as Fernando S. Polack). They take her back to Daninsky's castle to nurse her back to health, Daninsky's maid Malitza (Ana Farra) is suspicious of her. One night Ilona pulls some sort of animal skull out & bites Daninsky's nipple with it. From that moment on Daninsky is cursed to turn into a Werewolf at every full moon & kill, things become even more complicated when he brutally kills Maria Wilowa (Maritza Olivares) the young sister of Kinga (Fabiola Falcon) the woman he has fallen in love with...

Directed by Carlos Aured I thought El Retorno de Walpurgis was a very poor film, both technically & conceptually. The script by star Jacinto Molina is a mess, a dull boring mess as well. After a fairly good & exploitative opening few minutes it quickly goes downhill for the remainder of it's duration. The film feels extremely choppy, characters come & go far too readily, the gypsy, Ilona & the policeman to name but three. No one is given any sort of meaningful character development apart from Daninsky (talk about giving yourself all the best lines) & I found it almost impossible to care about anyone or anything. Even though El Retorno de Walpurgis only lasts for 80 odd minutes uncut it felt much longer & I actually started to go to sleep towards the end. The editing is very poor, the film cuts & moves all over the place & at one point a sequence is edited in such a way that it appeared to me that Daninsky wasn't the Werewolf when in fact he was. On the positive side El Retorno de Walpurgis is a handsome film throughout with nice production design, impressive detailed period sets & costumes. Don't expect much blood or gore despite what you read as it's not exactly going to make anyone lose any sleep. A few bites, a scythe through someones body, an impaling & a decapitated head at the start. The blood itself looks very fake, in fact it looks a lot like red paint. There is a fair amount of nudity as well but again it's nothing that's going to amaze or shock you. Forget about the great looking artwork on the DVD/video box as El Retorno de Walpurgis has to feature one of the weakest Werewolves in horror film history, he looks more like a teddy bear with fake perfectly white plastic fangs complete with cute little semi circle ears sticking out the top of his head, bless 'im. The acting seemed poor & the rubbishy English dub probably doesn't do it any favours. Overall I was very disappointed by El Retorno de Walpurgis, I usually really like these cheap Euro exploitation films but I didn't dig this one at all. Despite a good opening sequence & nice period production design there is nothing by which I can recommend El Retorno de Walpurgis as a piece of enjoyable entertainment. Probably one to avoid.

Fine Spanish Gothic horror, the Naschy way

[Leofwine_draca · 9/10 · 29 May 2016]

My second Naschy film (the first being WEREWOLF SHADOW) was much as I expected, more Spanish werewolf action. This time however the scenery is different and much of the film takes place in a large forest which is nicely atmospheric. It's also a 19th century era story which allows for some rich period detail. As for the plot, it's the typical werewolf story with the added bonus of witchcraft. I like the way Naschy always has to have as many different monsters as possible in his films, it certainly adds something and makes them more fun.

The film has much the same Gothic atmosphere as your typical Hammer film, and benefits greatly from this. The budgets are obviously lower but for sheer energy and enthusiasm there's more going on than in a rival Hammer production. There's a lot of nudity again, especially in the black magic ritual, I don't know why women have to strip off when the devil is around but I guess that's the way it is. And lots of werewolf action too. The werewolf makeup in this film is, I have to say, quite laughable, but there's a couple of excellent man-into-beast transformations (and the required reverse beast-into-man at the end). There's a lot of gore on offer, and you know it's the '70s when the blood is a little too paint-like. Lots of people get killed and have blood covering their faces.

Naschy himself is once again good value for money, always the likable yet tragic hero of the story. The scene where the curse is put into practice is also quite horrible and effective. Altogether, this film is a typical werewolf romp and a lot of fun to watch as it has a lot of action and people fighting and getting killed in it. If you're a Naschy fan then it really is a must see.

Gory but not up to scratch.

[RatedVforVinny · 6/10 · 16 February 2019]

A rather silly, though gory, Spanish Werewolf movie, that had the U.K censors (of the day) running for cover; whilst trying to protect us fragile Brits from such European trash cinema. Seeing such films now, well it's hard to judge and certainly lacks against the higher budgeted Hollywood productions, whilst being way less charming than the British, beloved 'Hammer' releases (of the same era).

More Hombre Lobo

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 25 August 2020]

For the seventh appearance of Count Waldemar Daninsky, Paul Naschy threw out everything that came before and decided on a new origin for El Hombre Lobo. Now, his bloodline was cursed by Countess Bathory, a servant of Satan who one of Daninsky's ancestors had burned at the stake.

Well, there's that, and then there's Daninsky killing a wolf on his grounds that transforms into a man. He's cursed again by a gypsy witch who sends a young girl to seduce him and then bite him with the skull of a wolf while he's sleeping.

I kind of love the alternate title for this, The Black Harvest of Countess Dracula, which really has nothing to do with this story at all. But the real joy of this is one of its taglines: "Damn the Exorcist! The Devil won't let go!"

Insane murderers on the loose, Satanism, beheadings, gore, bad dubbing, Daninsky as a rich nobleman and witchfinder, more gore and, yes, the flesh that you expect when you watch a Naschy movie.

There's nothing like a movie starting with the beheading of a Satanic knight and ending with Bathory being reborn from her grave to engage a werewolf in combat. Pure magic.

Perverted Hairballs

[dccduk · 7/10 · 20 January 2007]

The previous reviewer was somewhat coy. Putting the curse on poor Valdemar fortunately requires a well-endowed coven to have a Satanic orgy, which is indeed a delightful slice of 70s Gothic-erotica.

The opening medieval fight scene really lets you know what you're in for. It makes 'Monty Python & the Holy Grail' look like 'Gladiator'.

Superb badly-dubbed dialogue throughout.

Tasty variety of buxom Spanish maidens thrust into the action, to keep things bouncing along.

Most shameless ketchup gore effects imaginable. I especially liked the killing of the tipsy woodsman in his house (towards the end) - he really looks as if someone's just rubbed a very saucy pizza all over his face. And watch out for Valdy's fantastic flying leaps - who would have imagined werewolves could swoop so gracefully into action?

Worth watching for the cleavage alone. Awoooooo...

Is it a werewolf or Burt Reynolds?

[Bezenby · 7/10 · 14 June 2018]

It's Walpurgis: Origins as we get the story of how perpetually-cursed Waldemar Daninsky and his lycanthropic ways came to be. Again.

Back way back then, way way back when, Waldemar's ancestor was a good fellow who hunted down witches and devil worshippers. One witch in particular curses the ancestor's family to be cursed forever, although there seems to be some sort of delay I guess as the Daninskys enjoy several centuries of happiness before the curse falls squarely upon modern day Waldemar when he pissed off a gypsy clan by accidentally shooting one of them while hunting.

The other gypsies are rather peeved that Waldemar can't be taken to court for killing one of their own, so during a bizarre selection process involving a lot of nude women and a strangely dressed man, a certain lady is selected to seduce Waldemar and curse him with lycanthropy, which she does, only to be hacked up five minutes later by an escaped mental patient. Not long after, Walmdemar discovers that his bic razor isn't quite doing the job once the full moon appears.

Although it take a little while to get there, once Waldemar goes full wolf the carnage begins, with rather a lot of innocent bystanders getting their necks chewed off (and in one instance, their face) while that poor innocent escaped psychopath gets all the blame (and a knife to his guts, courtesy of Walmemar). There's also a romantic sub-plot between Waldedededemarademer and two sisters that results in some full-frontal nudity. Some poor bastard also takes a huge rock directly to the face for good measure too.

Yep, this one ticks all the boxes too. Loads of gore, stupid situations, nudity and the usual 'old school' werewolf makeup. Does the trick for me. Nice ending too.

Certainly one of the better Naschy werewolf flicks!

[The_Void · 7/10 · 14 February 2008]

Paul Naschy made a hell of a lot of horror films and, unfortunately, many of them are somewhat less than brilliant. His "Hombre-Lobo" cycle is a set of films that sometimes gets some attention and this film is a part of that series. I've seen two previously - Werewolf Shadow and 'The Werewolf and the Yeti', which somehow managed to make it onto the Video Nasty list. I'm not a fan of either film at all and I feared this may be another bad example of the cycle, but to my surprise, Curse of the Devil is actually quite good! The main inspiration obviously comes from the Universal classic 'The Wolf Man' and features an upstanding citizen struck with the curse of changing into a werewolf every full moon. It's one of those deals where an ancient ancestor messed with the wrong people and it's turned out bad for Count Waldemar Daninsky as he becomes the afflicted generation. A witch instructs a beautiful naked woman to put the curse on Daninsky with the aid of a wolf's skull. She has sex with him first and then does the honours, leaving the Count with a bit of a problem.

Spanish horror tends to be a bit slow, and that is the case here; though it's not a big problem as the film is always at least interesting and it's not as slow as some other examples. The title is a bit misleading and alludes to something more along the lines of Satanic horror, though obviously that's not the case; the 'curse' part makes some sense though. Paul Naschy delivers another good performance that fits his character, though he gets a lot of experience playing the same kind of roles so a good performance should really be expected. The werewolf effects appear to have been based on the Universal classic and possibly Hammer Horror's The Curse of the Werewolf too. I can't say they're very convincing, but there is a change sequence that's amusing. There's not a great deal of gore in the film but this is made up for by the way that the film delves into the werewolf legend. I can't say that this is a great film or a great werewolf film; but it's an enjoyable one and for my money the best of the three "Hombre-Lobo" films that I've seen.

Not the best, not the worst

[lazarillo · 13 June 2006]

This not one of your better Paul Naschy/"Hombre Lobo" movies, but it's not a total waste of time either. It begins in Medieval times where Count Daninsky (a Polish count?--okay, why not) kills his nemesis Count Barthory in a joust and then burns alive his wife Elizabeth, a notorious Satan-worshipper famous for bathing in the blood of virgins. Barthory curses Danisky with the promise that one of her descendants will someday curse one of his descendants with lycanthropy (THAT must have worried him). Cut to more or less the present-day where the modern-day Count Danisky (Naschy again)nearly runs over a woman, who has just left a coven meeting (featuring a naked orgy with the shadow of the Devil). He takes her home and, of course, ends up in bed with her where, after he falls asleep, she takes the opportunity to put a lycanthropic curse on him in an elaborate ritual involving blood and a fake wolf skull (the only potentially greater mystery than why Naschy is catnip to all the beautiful women in these movies is why he keeps sleeping with THEM when something terribly always seems to happen). The woman runs away and is promptly killed off by an axe-wielding escaped lunatic lurking in the woods for no good reason.

The oblivious Danisky doesn't worry too much about what happened to his bed-mate, but immediately falls in love with the daughter of a neighboring landowner. But of course, he also doesn't turn down the charms of her curious younger sister(who puts the "bare" in barely legal). In one the most memorable lines she tells him that she has "come a virgin but (is) not leaving as one". She doesn't have to worry it turns out because he turns into a werewolf in mid-coitus. Soon the bodies begin to pile up. At first, the killings are blamed on the axe-wielding lunatic and even Danisky himself, protected by a loyal servant, remains oblivious, but then the lunatic is found dead too and the angry villagers start howling for werewolf blood. And what about the satanic coven?--oh, never mind.

Obhviously there is no way to tie all the incredibly random threads of this movie together satisfactorily and they really don't. Basically it ends more or less the same sappy and tragic way as all these movies do. Still if you like the "Hombre Lobo" series, you'll probably like it. It's not as good as "Werewolf Shadow" (which it is supposedly a direct sequel of), but better than entries like "The Werewolf vs. the Yeti" or pretty much all the "comeback" films Naschy did in 80's and 90's. Recommended to Naschy fans if no one else.

Really impressive Euro-werewolf film

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 9/10 · 1 January 2021]

After accidentally shooting an intruder on his land, a man tries to leave his castle home to recuperate only to run into a young woman out on the road, and after taking her home finds she has carried out a curse to turn him into a werewolf and tries to fight off his killer urges around the family before they discover his secret.

There's a lot to like about this one. One of the film's greatest strengths lies in it's exploiting of the essential sleaze aspects since this provides an ample showing of both nudity and gore. There are a large amount of really nice-looking women going unclothed periodically in this one, and there's full-frontal nudity in this on many occasions. As there are several sex scenes and a mass orgy scene, there's really nothing in here that couldn't be spruced up with nudity. The other big factor, the gore, is nicely staged in here and might be the goriest entry in the series. There's a huge amount of throat-and-neck biting, a couple of face scratches, a few get their heads sliced open and one gets their head crushed with a large rock. Also, there's also gore in here that wasn't committed by the werewolf, including some stabbings with a knife, a wolf's skull plunged deeply into a chest, a scythe stabbed into a chest, and one person set on fire. The gory aftermath of several victims killed off-screen but shown with horribly mangled and rotting faces and bodies are also included, giving this a real heaping of blood that's quite refreshing. There's also a lot to like with the lead-up to these moments in the actual attacks. The scenes are pretty creepy at times, from the massacre at the actor's campsite being a great highlight as the driving wind, spooky forest setting and low light, complemented with off-screen wolf howls and a mild jump during the initial attack bring out a lot of suspense in the scene. Also quite nice was the young couple killed off in their home, as the sudden appearance of the wolf by smashing through a window into the room and the ensuing kills complimenting a great sequence. The film is also wonderfully atmospheric, with plenty of old-school Gothic tones and vibes present in the film, mostly in the sequences of the coven looking on over their curse. With the swirling fog and back-lit, flowing blouses atop a wooden hilltop, it creates a chilling atmosphere. The forest areas at night are wonderfully shot, and look spectacular with the various confrontations between him and the gypsies or the locals looking for the culprit unaware of his true identity. It also has plenty to like on its nicely original and clever plot. With the backstory in place due to the prologue featuring him hunting the witches down and killing them off, the addition of a Satanic coven and their revenge thrust into a Gothic werewolf story is nicely integrated into that they'd want to seek revenge on his descendent. Being unaffected by other means and only driven by the curse placed on him by outside forces, this is quite enjoyable on its own yet highlights the main flaw here in its highly improbable storyline. The concept of the curse coming from the gypsies for shooting their kind or from the Satanic coven for killing off their leader serve as viable options yet the film never chooses which one to attribute since they're both mentioned, and the clumsiness of taking a skull along to cause it to be enacted just comes off as clunky. That also causes the only other problem in that it has a somewhat clumsy pacing, dragging itself out with scenes that go way too long or don't need to be there other than mere cannon fodder which can make this feel quite bland at times. However, these aren't that detrimental overall.

Rated Unrated/R: Full Nudity, Graphic Violence, several sex scenes and mild Language.

Look, man, I'm all alone here!

[lastliberal · 7/10 · 9 December 2009]

This was an excellent print. That means that you unfortunately have to look at blood so fake that it is funny. The dubbing was excellent in a technical sense, so the poor dialog is crystal clear. Why don't they leave the films alone and subtitle them?

Paul Naschy is Waldemar Daninsky, in what is the 7th in the series. Don't worry if you haven't seen any others as Daninsky gets freshly injured in each one and the werewolf costumes are all different. However, this one gives us a glimpse back to the beginning and the origin of the Daninsky curse when an ancestor runs afoul of Elizabeth Bathory.

There are plenty of luscious women and lots of full frontal to enjoy as the movie proceeds.

Certainly there is sufficient gore for the most rabid horror fans.

A Step Down from Previous Entries

[Michael_Elliott · 20 October 2013]

Curse of the Devil (1973)

** (out of 4)

Disappointing entry in Paul Naschy's Waldemar Daninsky series has his character falling victim to a curse put on his family centuries earlier. It turns out Satan worshipers cursed him so now each time the full moon rises he turns into a werewolf. It seems his only saving grace will come from the beautiful woman who loves him. CURSE OF THE DEVIL, also known as RETURN OF THE WEREWOLF, doesn't have too much going for it thanks in large part to a rather slow pace that never really leads to any excitement and a screenplay that seems to try and do too much. The best parts of the story deals with the curse being put on Daninsky but after this there's just a bunch of stuff thrown in that often doesn't make too much sense or adds up to very little. This includes just about everything dealing with the axe and machete carrying maniacs who pop up every now and then. Another negative thing is that the filmmakers were obviously working on a very low-budget but they don't do much with it. Most of the werewolf transformation scenes look pretty cheap and none of the attacks are staged very well. The actual look of the werewolf is quite good as there's a lot more hair this time out and there are several scenes where the blood just gets caught in it for a rather nice effect. The death scenes aren't all that memorable but I'm guessing a lot of this is due to the small budget. Naschy is in fine form as usual and there are some beautiful woman around him who constantly get naked but outside of this the supporting players really don't add too much. There's some nice atmosphere in a few scenes but in the end there's just not enough that works here.

Enjoyable entry in the Waldemar Daninsky series

[Groverdox · 7/10 · 4 February 2016]

One of the funny things about the Daninsky movies being largely unconnected was the necessity of showing the origin of Daninsky's lycanthropy in every movie, and of course, needing to make it something different each time. It's a bit like Jason Voorhees being reanimated in a more ridiculous way with each Friday the 13th movie.

In Curse of the Devil, this origin (the "curse" of the title) is at least actually shown; I never got over the ridiculousness of Fury of the Wolfman's explanation: Daninsky was bitten by a yeti in an arctic expedition of which he was the sole survivor... and yet none of this was shown, and only warrants a passing mention in the film's dialogue.

I still found it kind of weak however that the curse is here transferred not through the bite of an actual living creature, but that of a skull someone holds over the sleeping Daninsky, pressing its jaws together to make it "bite" his flesh.

That awkward origin aside, this is a fairly enjoyable Daninsky tale, in which an ancestor of the original Daninsky, opponent of Countess Bathory, is cursed by a group of gypsies after accidentally killing one of their lycanthropes. He falls in love, but there is an escaped killer on his property, and with the curse on him, who's to know whether the mounting body count is the work of the killer or el hombre lobo?

The movie has the usual Naschy violence, nudity, and beast that can only be tamed through one thing: love. It's a worthy addition to the Daninsky canon; not one of the best, but far from one of the worst.

Naughty Naschy...

[poe426 · 7/10 · 3 June 2010]

Outstanding production values (and some nice full frontal nudity throughout) help make Paul Naschy's THE RETURN OF WALPURGIS watchable. The direction, unfortunately, feels half-hearted and Naschy's habit of retelling his character's origin in every single outing doesn't help. Of course, the prologue here fills in some gaps in the history of his character's curse, but a simple flashback (in black and white, say, to differentiate it from the "current" action) would've saved a lot of time. While I would've preferred to have seen the confrontation between Naschy and the axe murderer the climax of the movie itself, it's just as well, I guess: Naschy simply seems to be going through the motions himself in this one; his "attacks" are half-hearted swipes that lack the true FURY OF THE WOLFMAN.

The Spanish Lon Chaney

[liodavix · 7/10 · 6 February 2019]

Te Return of Walpurgis is probably one of the best films of the extensive career of Paul Naschy.

The movie enjoys a good quality in terms of settings and sets, costumes and story usually with enough media and actors and with excellent photography and dark lighting.

The direction of the unjustly forgotten Carlos Aured is very appropriate, with accurate plans and a good narrative pulse that is agile and fresh.

The story tells us through a prologue set in the Middle Ages as an inquisitor named Ireneus Daninsky is cursed by members of the Bathory family for interrupting a satanic ritual of these and executed, said curse specifies that if some descendant of Daninsky lineage murders another from the Bathory family this will transform into a horrible monster during full moon nights.

The film has a really sublime and disturbing atmosphere, full of darkness, which fits perfectly with the nature of the lycanthrope, which shows a careful makeup, while walking the mountains murdered people.

The film contains a bit of gore, castles, many deaths, nudes and maintains a good rhythm during its rather short duration.

A good Spanish horror movie, showing that Spain did not have much to envy to other international productions, and that here you could also make quality films.

Recommendable.

Somber Spanish horror not suited to American tastes

[naschy-163-376497 · 8/10 · 6 April 2022]

I love Spanish horror films. Their baroque settings, atmospherics, offbeat takes on established genre characters, ironic endings and frank sexuality and violence distinguish them from more self-conscious British entries and literal American horrors of the period. Paul Naschy during the early 1970s wrote and starred in several prime examples of romantic horror permeated with a sense of gloom and death. This film released in the US under the misleading title Curse of the Devil is a prime example of Naschy's effective use of locations and period setting to tell a tale of accursed lycanthrope Waldemar Daninsky, in this case adding themes of witchcraft and colonialism to add subtext to the more standard tale of Waldemar's need for peace at the hands of a woman who loves him. Peppered with picturesque gore and eroticism, in its original Spanish language the film comes off as one of the more dramatically sound Spanish horrors of the period topped off by a perfect surprise ending manifest in a single freeze frame. Carlos Aured directed two other excellent Naschy films during this period, Horror Rises from the Tomb and The Mummy's Revenge, as beautifully photographed as this but destined to be shunned by those who are either unwilling to read subtitles or ready to reject anything that does not follow prefabbed formulaics.