WEREWOLF SHADOW and CURSE OF THE DEVIL: Not bad Anchor Bay

With the two Paul Naschy flicks WEREWOLF SHADOW and CURSE OF THE DEVIL now finally (and I mean FINALLY) available on DVD courtesy of Anchor Bay, we can now see these two films uncut and restored to crystal clarity as they should be.

WEREWOLF SHADOW: Waldemar Daninsky is brought back to life during an autopsy by having the two silver bullets removed from his chest (and this is done after finding "The Mark of the Werewolf" imbeded on his chest-smart move doc). Within minutes we see Waldemar in his werewolf state and killing some poor girl just in time for the credits to roll! Moving on, two student girls in France find an ancient tomb of the vampire woman Countess Wandesa, while running into Waldemar at the same time. Wandessa is revived and now it's up to Waldemar to stop her!

I must say that WEREWOLF SHADOW is one of my favorite Paul Naschy 'El Hombre Lobo' sequels. The werewolf makeup is fantastic and it makes a pretty scary wolf man. The storyline, while slow, is quite intriging and interesting. No complaints here.

Anchor Bay has presented a great transfer of WEREWOLF SHADOW. In the past, WEREWOLF SHADOW was released in the U.S. as THE WEREWOLF VS. THE VAMPIRE WOMAN by Ellman Enterprises. The American version omitted some important stuff, added some stock music over Anton Garcia Abril's original score, and added American named over the credits. Their have been LP released copies of the lousy American cut on video and was available on DVD from Madacy. I originally came into contact with the film from Something Weird Video in which they aquired the original uncut Spanish version (complete with Spanish language credits that are a real b***h to translate) that contains everything that is on the Anchor Bay version. I was glad to have the film uncut from Something Weird Video, but unfortunately their transfer was not too impressive to say the least. The print was saturated with yellow, only half of the film had and English language track (taken from the U.S. version) while the other track had the original Spanish language with no subtitles, and the widescreen 1:85.1 was maringly letterboxed! But now, Anchor Bay has come to the rescue. Restored from the original vault materials, WEREWOLF SHADOW is more colorful (the blood in the Something Weird Video print was dark, in Anchor Bay's release the blood is brighter and more clear) and enhanced widescreen 1:85.1. Also to put a rumor to rest, though shot on 70mm film WEREWOLF SHADOW was never photographed in 2:35.1 as some rumors have stated. The English dubbing done by Holywood Synchron and Atlas International is quite good, yet their are two scenes that are in Spanish with subtitles due to not being dubbed in English. Extra features are an interview with the mastero himself Paul Naschy, the European theatrical trailer, the U.S. TV spot, and a Paul Naschy bio. All in all, a great release!

CURSE OF THE DEVIL: Waldemar Daninsky is a descendent of an ancestor responsible for burning a witch. One day, Waldemar shoots a wolf in the woods but then discovers a dead man with a gunshot wound in his chest! Well, that man belonged to a group of gypsies who avenge their ancestors death (which is the burned witch folks) buy having ayoung girl seduce Waldemar and brand him "The Mark of the Werewolf" by using a skull of a wolf. With that, Waldemar becomes the werewolf and causes havoc.

CURSE OF THE DEVIL is not one of Naschy's best features, but it's still entertaining nonetheless. The werewolf makeup is rather poor and tries to be like the wolfman makeup that Lon Chaney, Jr. had worn in THE WOLF MAN (1940). Also, some of the nudity gets a bit off the mark as we are shown an orgy with a dark-clothed spirit and some babes who have their way with Paul. It's pretty much the standard full frontal nudity that we see in the flicks today. I am glad to see CURSE OF THE DEVIL uncut and it does have some unusual twists and gruesome gore and I like some female nudity now and then, but Naschy needs to lay off with imposing nudity to make up for the weak storyline for too much can be quite boring. Sure, WEREWOLF SHADOW had some nudity but at least it didn't interfear with the pacing and storyline.

Anchor Bay's release of CURSE OF THE DEVIL is quite good. Crystal clear, remastered nicely, and presented in widescreen 1:85.1. The dubbing, done by Hollywood Synchron and Atlas International, is so-so for some of the voice talents are good while others (particulary the one who voices Naschy) are quite disappointing. Extras include the Paul Naschy interview, European theatrical trailer, and Paul Naschy bio. A nice DVD and way better than the United Home Video LP video, it's not Naschy's best but it's not his worst either.

WEREWOLF SHADOW and CURSE OF THE DEVIL are wonderful little additions into the European-Spanish film that are worth looking at.

Upcoming review: The DVD of THE MIGHTY GORGA/ONE MILLION AC-DC