VENGEANCE OF THE ZOMBIES 1972 aka LA REBELION DE LAS MUERTAS
Paul Naschy (Krishna/Kantaka), Romy (Elvira), Mirta Miller (Kala), Vic Winner (Lawrence), Maria Kosti (Elsie)
Directed by Leon Klimovsky
Bodies are stolen from a morgue and a stream of brutal murders baffle detectives. A Satanist plot is uncovered leading police to an evil witch doctor who uses voodoo to create zombies from the recently dead to carry out his hellish plans. The mysterious and evil maniac also uses Thugee Indian ritualistic style slayings to accomplish his goal of attaining immortality through the blood of his victims.
Delirious, confusing, hallucinatory and irrational describe this nutty Naschy movie. It's simultaneously awful but strangely alluring in it's complete disregard for logic and inability to focus on one idea for longer than a few minutes before plopping another plot contrivance into your lap. The above synopsis is the best I could make out for this one as there is always something new bombarding the screen. Naschy himself says in his excellent memoirs that he wasn't quite sure what he was thinking when he did this one. It is never boring, however. The character of Elvira played by Romy sums it up best with this dialog exchange at an 1:02 minutes into the film, "What's happening here?!! What's this all about?!!"
Naschy is the reason to watch as he plays three roles here. One as the Indian guru Krishna(!), another role as his scarred brother, Kantaka and also as the Devil in a nightmare sequence that is both surreal and unintentionally funny. In addition to the totally wacky storyline, the acting is pretty bad for the most part. The film is so frenetic and all over the place that this doesn't hamper the enjoyment of the film at all but adds to the campiness of the whole affair. The music almost sinks the production sounding like it was taken from a spy or detective movie. It's all jazz and seems woefully out of place especially when its played over all of the murder scenes. But this, too, adds unwittingly to the enjoyment of this unconventional zombie flick. Even still, the main theme is catchy, but the score belongs in another movie.
The make up effects are easily the most memorable portions of the movie. One scene recalls Ossorio's TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD (1971) in which a zombie rises from a slab inside a morgue to kill an unsuspecting attendant with a soda can(!) no less. A very eerie decapitation scene is the highlight of the film in which Elvira (the dubber pronounces the name Elvira, but the subtitles say Elvire) encounters an old woman in a basement standing up smiling. As she approaches her, she nudges her shoulder then her head falls to the side!
Another scene recalls RETURN OF COUNT YORGA (1971) where two bumbling cops are beset upon by three zombie women in a graveyard. The zombies are controlled by a strange man who wears an assortment of Halloween masks before each voodoo murder, or Thugee styled murder scene. It's almost like there were two different movies being made at once-one harboring the voodoo angle and the other a crime story which appears to have been slapped together rather haphazardly. Animal rights didn't exist in Spain either as there is a rather unsettling chicken decapitation during a Baron Samedi-zombie resurrection ritual.
Towards the end, Naschy attempts to explain the entire plot to Elvira but by then you're so numb by all the out-of-left-field shenanigans that making sense of the storyline at this point no longer matters. Then, to throw further kinks into the mix, a final revelation is revealed that seems to have been thrown into the audiences faces for the sheer hell of it. The final credits are a hoot with pics of the cast matched to their names in big, bold red titles with an even more weird and psychedelic end credit music playing.
This may not be a very GOOD movie, but it is a very ENJOYABLE one and I'd watch it again before I'd sit through the recycled gothic horror of NIGHT OF THE WEREWOLF (1980) a second time. Although WEREWOLF is the better movie, technically, it's not as fun, nor is it as original as VENGEANCE OF THE ZOMBIES (1972). I highly recommend it to Naschy fans only as it probably won't appeal to casual horror fans nor will it appeal to fans of Romero or Italo zombie gut munchers. Fans of zombie cinema may get a kick out of it as well just don't expect any flesh eating zombies here. Naschy appeared in another zombie flick the following year entitled BEYOND THE LIVING DEAD.
A number of Paul Naschy films were released remastered and restored through Tripictures in Spain. These US releases are representative of those releases although these versions utilize the English language versions (the Spanish versions with subs are also included) with alternate scenes to the Spanish counterpart.
DVD availability: BCI/Deimos Entertainment
NIGHT OF THE WEREWOLF 1980 aka EL RETORNO DEL HOMBRE LOBO aka THE CRAVING
Paul Naschy (Waldemar Daninsky), Julia Saly (Countess Elisabeth Bathory)
Directed by Jacinto Molina (Naschy)
The Countess Erzebeth Bathory de Nadasdy, along with her brother and Waldemar Daninsky, are executed for their satanic crimes. Several hundred years later, three young women are traveling in the Carpathians and end up at a mysterious castle. One of the girls is a satanist who wishes to resurrect the Countess using the blood of her female companions as the sacrifice. Meanwhile, two graverobbers open the tomb of Waldemar Daninsky and remove the silver dagger from his chest bringing him back to life. The revived Bathory plans to unleash the Devil unto the world with Daninsky as her minion, but is against being her slave again. Waldemar does battle with the vampire queen in the hopes of freeing himself from the werewolf curse.
Naschy directs his eighth appearance as Polish wolfman, Waldemar Daninsky in what is essentially a remake of WEREWOLF SHADOW (1971; aka WEREWOLF VS. THE VAMPIRE WOMAN). There is also re-creations of scenes from some of his previous wolfman movies. What is interesting here is the amount of gothic atmosphere on display which definitely enhances the lackluster werewolf attack scenes; the weakest aspect of the film save for the finale. The scenes of Daninsky attacking various villagers are lazily handled but this is amended for the ending when the wolfman battles it out against Bathory.
The make up is very good this time out most especially for Naschy's wolfman character. The scene where the Countess is resurrected is an R rated re-staging of the same scene found in Hammer's DRACULA- PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1966). As per most of Naschy's movies, he adds multiple monsters to this film, too including a Mummy/Zombie servant which is exactly like the one in WEREWOLF SHADOW (1971). Also repeated is the story conceit that only love can free Daninsky from his curse. This concept is present in a number of the other wolfman movies Naschy starred in.
Considering the wealth of recycled material on display, the only real reason to watch this movie is for the gothic trappings and cinematography. The photography really is quite striking possessing a nightmarish quality about it. Naschy is, as always, vigorous in his creature role and always fun to watch. However, it's not quite enough to warrant repeated viewings. Another recurring problem here as in other Naschy films I've seen are the odd and often abundant plot holes that seem to crop up in regular interims. Naschy's fans are really the only ones who will enjoy and appreciate these films. The women are also beautiful and like the Hammer films, you get to see plenty of girls in their diaphanous gowns wandering creepy and often times cobweb encroached hallways and musty tombs.
Naschy counts this as one of his favorites and one of his best films. It did win several awards as well as accolades for Naschy's performance. Previously released in the US in a cut form under the title THE CRAVING, I saw the film years back on VHS and didn't care for it at all. Seeing it again now, it's better but nothing overly special and I doubt I will be looking at it again anytime soon. It's never boring in the slightest and the moody theatrics give you much to look at, it's just that you've seen it before and done better.
Daninsky was Naschy's favorite character and below are the Daninsky werewolf films. Sadly, one of them is believed to no longer exist...
LA MARCA DEL HOMBRE LOBO (1968; aka FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY TERROR)
LAS NOCHES DEL HOMBRE LOBO (1968; the only remaining remnants of the film are some stills)
LOS MONSTRUOS DEL TERROR (1970; aka ASSIGNMENT: TERROR)
LA FURIA DEL HOMBRE LOBO (1970; aka THE FURY OF THE WOLFMAN)
LA NOCHE DE WALPURGIS (1970; aka WEREWOLF SHADOW)
DOCTOR JEKYLL Y EL HOMBRE LOBO (1971; aka DR. JEKYLL & THE WOLFMAN)
EL RETORNO DE WALPURGIS (1972; aka CURSE OF THE DEVIL)
LA MALDICION DE LA BESTIA (1975; aka THE WEREWOLF & THE YETI)
EL RETORNO DEL HOMBRE LOBO (1980; aka THE CRAVING)
BUENAS NOCHES SENOR MONSTRUO (1982) Not Waldemar but Naschy plays a werewolf
LA BESTIA Y LA ESPADA MAGICA (1983; aka THE BEAST & THE MAGIC SWORD)
EL AULLIDO DEL DIABLO (1988; aka HOWL OF THE DEVIL; the character appears in a dream sequence)
LICANTROPO (1996; the return of the Daninsky character; aka LYCANTHROPUS)
A number of Paul Naschy films were released remastered and restored through Tripictures in Spain. These US releases are representative of those releases although these versions utilize the English language versions (the Spanish versions with subs are also included) with alternate scenes to the Spanish counterpart.
DVD availability: BCI/Deimos Entertainment
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Bodies are stolen from a morgue and a stream of brutal murders baffle detectives. A Satanist plot is uncovered leading police to an evil witch doctor who uses voodoo to create zombies from the recently dead to carry out his hellish plans. The mysterious and evil maniac also uses Thugee Indian ritualistic style slayings to accomplish his goal of attaining immortality through the blood of his victims.
Delirious, confusing, hallucinatory and irrational describe this nutty Naschy movie. It's simultaneously awful but strangely alluring in it's complete disregard for logic and inability to focus on one idea for longer than a few minutes before plopping another plot contrivance into your lap. The above synopsis is the best I could make out for this one as there is always something new bombarding the screen. Naschy himself says in his excellent memoirs that he wasn't quite sure what he was thinking when he did this one. It is never boring, however. The character of Elvira played by Romy sums it up best with this dialog exchange at an 1:02 minutes into the film, "What's happening here?!! What's this all about?!!"
Naschy is the reason to watch as he plays three roles here. One as the Indian guru Krishna(!), another role as his scarred brother, Kantaka and also as the Devil in a nightmare sequence that is both surreal and unintentionally funny. In addition to the totally wacky storyline, the acting is pretty bad for the most part. The film is so frenetic and all over the place that this doesn't hamper the enjoyment of the film at all but adds to the campiness of the whole affair. The music almost sinks the production sounding like it was taken from a spy or detective movie. It's all jazz and seems woefully out of place especially when its played over all of the murder scenes. But this, too, adds unwittingly to the enjoyment of this unconventional zombie flick. Even still, the main theme is catchy, but the score belongs in another movie.
The make up effects are easily the most memorable portions of the movie. One scene recalls Ossorio's TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD (1971) in which a zombie rises from a slab inside a morgue to kill an unsuspecting attendant with a soda can(!) no less. A very eerie decapitation scene is the highlight of the film in which Elvira (the dubber pronounces the name Elvira, but the subtitles say Elvire) encounters an old woman in a basement standing up smiling. As she approaches her, she nudges her shoulder then her head falls to the side!
Another scene recalls RETURN OF COUNT YORGA (1971) where two bumbling cops are beset upon by three zombie women in a graveyard. The zombies are controlled by a strange man who wears an assortment of Halloween masks before each voodoo murder, or Thugee styled murder scene. It's almost like there were two different movies being made at once-one harboring the voodoo angle and the other a crime story which appears to have been slapped together rather haphazardly. Animal rights didn't exist in Spain either as there is a rather unsettling chicken decapitation during a Baron Samedi-zombie resurrection ritual.
Towards the end, Naschy attempts to explain the entire plot to Elvira but by then you're so numb by all the out-of-left-field shenanigans that making sense of the storyline at this point no longer matters. Then, to throw further kinks into the mix, a final revelation is revealed that seems to have been thrown into the audiences faces for the sheer hell of it. The final credits are a hoot with pics of the cast matched to their names in big, bold red titles with an even more weird and psychedelic end credit music playing.
