La lupa mannara (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:

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

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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

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

Selected by Quentin Tarantino for the First Quentin Tarantino Film Fest in Austin, Texas, 1996. Tarantino 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

Although the UK cinema version was cut the pre-cert video release (on the Cinehollywood label) was uncut and was listed on Greater Manchester Police's list of films subject to seizure during the video nasty scare of the 1980s. It was eventually released on video (as "Naked Werewolf Woman") in 1986 with heavy pre-cuts to the rape scene and 42 secs of additional BBFC cuts to remove shots of a naked woman's stitched body on a mortician's slab.

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Connections

Referenced in Ban the Sadist Videos! (2005)

User Reviews

Tedious and dull exploitation nonsense

This film ends with a speech in which the narrator tells us the fates of two of the lead characters and that the names of people and places have been changed...before telling us that relation to actual people and events are purely coincidental. This ending line actually sums up everything that has gone before it; as Rino Di Silvestro's messy film completely lacks vision, and if there is any point to the plot; it wasn't put there on purpose. Werewolf Woman is often seen as a guilty pleasure or a 'so bad it's good' film, but I completely disagree. Normally, I enjoy films like this; but Werewolf Woman is indeed a bad film, and despite all the sex and savagery on display; it doesn't even make for a fun watch, and that really is unforgivable. The film really doesn't have much plot, but the thin sliver we are given involves a young woman, who also happens to dream that she is a werewolf. She dreams of going out and finding men, having sex with them and eventually killing them. Back in the real world, she falls in love, but her lover is killed and she goes out for revenge...

The film is made up of scenes of sex and gore, which are padded out with extremely dull talking sequences in which various characters mull over the recent events. These scenes are probably there to forward the plot and build characters; but they really don't do that, and succeed only in turning what could have been a passable exploitation romp into an extremely underwhelming film. It would seem that the director was more interested in style and atmosphere than the plot, and this is shown by the fact that the film looks and sounds nice. The sex scenes are often overlong and not very erotic, but the gore works well. The premise is ripe for giving way to a very sexy slice of exploitation, as there's plenty of naked women, and the fact that the central character has a werewolf origin means that there could be plenty of erotica; but this isn't capitalised on, and while I can stomach huge doses of bad acting and poorly done plot lines, I really can't stand watching films and being bored. Overall, I wouldn't even recommend this film to big exploitation fans. There's plenty of better stuff than this out there, and while the title may sound intriguing - the film isn't.