Customer Reviews

The Fury of the Wolfman

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2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

One of Naschy's lesser Werewolf films, this is a confusing mess, not helped by the terrible transfer - barely colour, pan and scanned and badly dubbed. But it's cheap, and there's so little Naschy available. So for Naschy fans only.

Over time, I've come to appreciate Paul Naschy, the horror icon sometimes referred to as the Lon Chaney of his native Spain. Certainly, no one has worked as extensively in the werewolf genre as he has (with 13 werewolf films to his credit). However, his 1970 effort, Fury of the Wolfman (which is, I believe, his fourth werewolf movie)is a convoluted mess; this is the kind of movie you read about on the Internet after you watch it in order to find out what the heck was really going on.

As the film opens, we find Professor Daninsky having just arrived home as the sole survivor of a scientific expedition to Tibet (the details of which are told quite inarticulately in a small series of woeful flashbacks). Life does not rush to meet him with open arms. As if being somehow stricken by the curse of the werewolf atop the snowy rooftop of the world weren't enough, the guy finds out his wife is cheating on him and that she and her lover have set in motion a plan to kill him (the latter part of which he figures out a little too late). Meanwhile, there is this really weird doctor at whatever "school" this is who goes on and on about how her discovery of "chematrobes" will allow her to control the minds of everyone on earth. She knows Daninsky's secret, and she brings him back to life in order to experiment on him; she seems especially fond of letting him out in his werewolf form in order for him to stalk the countryside killing people and acting like a fool. You have several weird love stories interlaced through all this mess to further complicate matters. Inconsistencies abound; for instance, the good doctor has a gang of crazy young people locked up in her castle, supposedly the product of earlier experimentation. One minute, these folks are having an intoxicated love-in, and the next they are all chained up and mute.

The special effects aren't anything to write home about, as the werewolf looks more like a big monkey to me half the time. The kills are as unsatisfying as can be; the werewolf basically puts his head on the victim's shoulder and raises his head back up, leaving a big red spot on the victim's throat and cheek. Nobody even bleeds in this film. This plus the confusing and really rather ridiculous plot make Fury of the Wolfman more of an ordeal to be endured than a film to be enjoyed.

Paul Naschy is at it again! He's a wolfman in facial-fuzz, rubber fangs, and a big Elvis wig! He actually looks more like Wolfman Jack than a true lycanthrope. Anyway, this time around, he gets in a car wreck (arranged by his loving wife and her boyfriend) and supposedly dies. Luckily, the local M.D.(mad doctor) named Eva Wolfstein (!!) digs him out of his grave, takes him back to her secret lab, and revives him. You see, the good doctor wants a man like Naschy real bad! She wants both a love slave in human form, and a werewolf to cause mayhem during the full moon! I told you she was mad! FOTW is alright. It's schlocky to the core, but it's probably supposed to be. I especially like the drugged hippies in the castle dungeon! What was that all about?? An extra star for Dr. Wolfstein. She's a sadistic sort w/ an eeeevil twinkle in her eyes! My kind of woman! Rowwrrr!...

Fury of the Wolfman fits in the category of "so bad, it's almost good." With shabby dubbing, washed out colors and choppy editing, no one will mistake this for one of the classics in the werewolf genre. The sheer badness, however, is mixed with a campy fun that gives this movie a measure of quality it shouldn't have.

The story focuses on a man named Waldemar who has survived an attack by a yeti in the Himalayas. At least, that's what he thought it was until he starts turning into a wolf-man every full-moon. There is also a mad scientist (playing against the cliché, the scientist is a young woman instead of an old man) who has come up with a method to control minds and intends to make Waldemar her slave.

There's a lot that goes on, with only a limited amount of sense to any of it. To explain it would be futile. The "science" is obviously made up by someone with little concept of science, and the supernatural aspects have little logic. It's a mess, but it has a certain appeal that rates it a low three stars. It's a waste of time to watch this, but there are worse ways to waste time.

To start with, the titles of Paul Naschy's cheesy European horror films are usually more exciting than the finished product. The daughter of Dr. Wolfstein is at it again. She uses Naschy's werewolf as a lab rat to justify her father's evil experiments. The unwary first-time viewer might expect an attempt to emulate the Universal and Hammer monster thrillers. The full moon and silver bullets reign. There are attractive women in revealing clothing and heavy eye mascara. Even the female mad scientist is distracting in a mid-life sort of way. Eye candy is fine, but the film suffers from a herky-jerky presentation. A sensible plot line is absent. Dubbing and choppy editing may be part of the problem. In one example, the rampaging werewolf gets in bed with a woman in a baby-doll nightie. This looks interesting, especially when the guy starts caressing rather clawing. The scene cuts too quickly to patrolling cops, who find the bloody female corpse under the covers after the werewolf fled the bedchamber. The action takes the viewer to a point, but then fizzles. The fright makeup copies the usual hairy look. The technical quality of the budget DVD is sufficient. No extras. Low budget is low budget, regardless of nationality. Even we who enjoy mocking bad movies have trouble with this one. Adjust your expectations accordingly. ;-)

I'm reviewing this as yet another from the Mill Creek "100 Sci-Fi Classics" collection of public domain trash. (Hint, if it's in the public domain, it's probably not a "classic"). This is far from the worst thing in this collection however.

Poorly dubbed from the original Spanish, this film features Paul Naschy who is regarded a bit as the Lon Chaney of Spain, and this film is one of 13 werewolf films he did in the character of Waldemar Daninsky -- and is the only one I've ever seen. I would be interested in seeing some of his others however, as Naschy is actually pretty good and this film has some decent elements despite being fatally flawed overall.

Let's get the worst elements of this film out of the way. As already mentioned, it's very poorly dubbed. I just about always prefer subtitled, and this is no exception, but a well dubbed film would have sufficed. The actors reading the English language script on this are stilted and the dialog is atrocious. Based on their physical mannerisms, I had the feeling all along that the actors in the original Spanish in this particular film probably weren't all that bad, and the poor quality of the dubbing shouldn't be held against them. The plot is a bit difficult to follow, but intriguing none the less. Finally, the score is at times ridiculously wrong and inappropriate for the scenes taking place. At times, I felt the score more akin to a 1970's porno than one intended to set the mood for the scenes being projected.

This film does have some good things working for it however. The sets are pretty good -- almost Hammer Film style gothic and well crafted. There's an eerie castle, creepy night scenes, and pretty convincing chamber of horrors where a mad doctor's human guinea pig experiments live -- at times in orgiastic pleasure with one another, and at times, in abject torment. The story, although muddled and difficult to follow, is quite original. Daninsky's werewolf curse, transmitted through a bite from a Yeti like creature in the Himalayas is of course only a minor variation on the werewolf theme, but this film also features the daughter of a scientist working on some quite unethical mind control experiments who labors to control the werewolf, and who also, through mind control, directs the infidelity of Daninsky's wife in order to provoke him into murderous jealousy, as you see, she also seems to have the hots for Daninksy while at the same time needing to control him. The ending (spoiler alert!)sees the murdered wife back in action, as the werewolf's bite has spread the curse to her as well, leading to a final showdown between husband and wife werewolves. Overall, not a bad twist on a story that's been done to death over and over again since the the 1930's.

I'd actually like to see this film in the original Spanish with a decent subtitling job, but realistically, I know that's never going to happen. I might also be interested in seeing some of Naschy's other dozen or so film portrayals of the Waldemar Daninsky werewolf character.

Dare I say it too, this is exactly the type of film that could benefit from a competent remake. Frequently, remakes tend to be films in which there's nothing wrong with the original. If one thinks of the ideal candidate for a remake as being a film with some good ideas but in which the realisation of those ideas ended up being flawed, than this film fits the bill.

Boy was this bad, this one has the Werewolf possessed by an evil scientist. To me it was very unclear just how the scientist got the wolf under control but not Naschy, plus there are all sorts of continuity & edit issues. The Werewolf walks around in some scenes and suddenly we get stock footage scenes from Frankensteins Bloody Terror where the Wolfman attacks people & back again to him just wandering around. The ending was weird with Naschy becoming the wolf during the full moon, of course gets killed in the ending, and the detective says "its a beautiful day", as they walk into the daylight. I guess night lasts about 5 minutes or something. This series is decent to very good at best, but this one was a step down - it was lacking in a few areas mainly continuity and just a lot of scenes that came across as 'huh" or pointless. And the editing and jump cuts were atrocious
The Alpha DVD is grainy, probably edited in some places. It is watchable but it is your standard Alpha release, grainy crummy print. Even if BCI Deimos were to release this I would still pass just because this movie was just awful.