Werewolf Woman (1976)

A woman has dreams that she is a werewolf so she goes out and finds men. She proceeds to have sex with them and then rip their throats out with her teeth. She eventually falls in love but ... See full summary »

Director:

Rino Di Silvestro (as R.D. Silver)

Writer:

Rino Di Silvestro (as Rino DeSilvestro)

Stars:

Annik Borel, Howard Ross, Dagmar Lassander

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Annik Borel	...	Daniela Neseri
Howard Ross	...	Luca Mondini
Dagmar Lassander	...	Elena Neseri
Tino Carraro	...	Count Neseri
Elio Zamuto	...	Psychiatrist
Osvaldo Ruggieri
Andrea Scotti	...	Arrighi
Frederick Stafford	...	Inspector Modica
Felicita Fanny	...	Doctor in Car
Isabella Rosa
Giuliana Giuliani
Anna Mallarini
Maria Renata Franco	...	(as Renata Franco)
Salvatore Billa	...	Rapist
Pietro Torrisi	...	Alvaro - Rapist

Storyline

A woman has dreams that she is a werewolf so she goes out and finds men. She proceeds to have sex with them and then rip their throats out with her teeth. She eventually falls in love but then she is raped and her lover is murdered so she goes out for revenge.

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Plot Keywords:

revenge | rape | crushed to death | crushed car | car junkyard | 

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Taglines:

A true story so brutal and horrifying it was kept from the public for over a century!

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Selected by Quentin Tarantino for the First Quentin Tarantino Film Fest in Austin, TX, in 1996. He had actually never seen the picture before he screened it. He loved it so much that all subsequent Quentin Tarantino Film Fests had a surprise movie added to the end of each all-nighter known as the "Wolf Woman" selection, defined as an outrageous exploitation film sure to wake the audience up. "Wolf Women" selections over the years have included The Blood Spattered Bride (1972) and The Mighty Peking Man (1977).

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Alternate Versions

Shriek Show's DVD release under the title "Werewolf Woman" is the uncut version, although an incorrect widescreen transfer results in the loss of some picture information on all sides of the screen, including some nudity.

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Connections

Referenced in Creaker (2019)

User Reviews

Werewulf wummin

Now here Rino De Silvestro also talks a stroll down copious nudity avenue, but this seemingly has some sort of point to make about childhood trauma, the cycle of sexual violence and perhaps the menstrual cycle. Either that or those are all an excuse for copious nudity. Let's find out!

Daniela (played by Annik Borel) has a dream where she turns into a werewolf and gets chased by some villagers, resulting in one particular village getting his face split open in a rather nasty manner. But, a dream is a dream, and although Daniela's is having a spot of the old brain trouble following a rape when she was younger, her father would rather just get on with life. After all, they stay in relative isolation in a villa in Italy, and Daniela seems happy enough, although the prospect of her sister visiting with her husband doesn't please her that well. Oh, and she's also become obsessed with a picture of a distant relative and a curse that her family always end up turning into werewolves.

Her sister is played by Dagmar Lassander, and it seems that Dagmar is a lot fonder of her sister than the other way round. Also, Daniela spends most of the conversation just staring out at the moon, but later gets it together to go spy on Dagmar and her husband getting some (and strangely, Dagmar isn't a real redhead, I now know...). After spoiling it for them, Daniela is followed outside by Dagmar's husband, whom she comes onto and of course bites the throat out of. Sisters, eh? It's all written off as a dog attack but just to make sure Daniela is sent to a loony bin anyway. I forgot to mention that Dagmar's husband looked like that guy from Daniela's dream and her relative from the picture came to visit her in a vision, but attention to detail is not my strong point. Neither is being coherent.

Daniela ends up getting strapped to a bed for her own good but as this is an Italian film that just gives someone else the opportunity to feel her up, but luckily Daniela is tooled up with a scalpel and the next thing you know someone's dead, Daniela's escaped, and as an added bonus she seriously assaults a doctor. Time to start a new life, Daniela! Well, after you kill that guy that tries to rape you.

This is where Howard Ross comes in and he's a good guy AND a stunt man! This leads to a bizarre romance/stunt montage while Daniela realises that not all men are jerks, just 99% of them as she finds out when a bunch of guys turn up and rape her and kill Howard Ross. Is there any plot left that I haven't described in detail? A little bit I guess.

I've never been a big fan of rape in films, and the last three films I've watched from Italy in 1976 have all featured it, so that's no good. On the other hand, I think the director here is trying to say something or other about female power as Daniela just straight up murders every man who does her a wrong, usually powered by the moon. Or periods? I don't know. There is an absolute blizzard of nakedness in this film but none of it erotic. It seems to be there to add to the animalistic tendencies of Daniela. I had no idea what to expect from this film and despite the dodgy subject matter stands out as quite an original film. Not a very comfortable one, however.

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

June 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Legend of the Wolf Woman

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dialchi Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1