Muchos Gracias Senor Lobo

Paper Naschy

Muchos Gracias Senor Lobo
by Thorsten Benzel
Creepy Images 
ISBN: 978-3000393419

This marvellous tome was given to me by “a very good friend” recently for my birthday... because she knew just how much I wanted to read it. Now, while the book isn’t quite what I was expecting it to be, I was so struck by the design and beauty of this limited edition that I really wasn’t overly worried and, as it happens, this proved an absolutely amazing read, in addition to the heady experience of looking over the thousands of beautiful posters, lobby cards, locandinas and foto busta reproductions which make up 99% of the book. It really is one of the three or four most beautiful books I’ve ever owned... right up there with Tim Lucas’ All The Colours Of The Dark (his epic work on director Mario Bava... and I mean epic) and my Taschen book, The Pedro Almodovar Archives (reviewed here).

Now, when I first caught sight of this wonder on the internet, I was labouring under the false impresssion that this book, which has all the text in two languages (one of which is English), was concerned with talking about the films of Paul Naschy... who was perhaps most famous for his Waldemar Daninsky wolfman character which he played on and off for a number of decades. Well this is not strictly true, although, it certainly is one of the most valuable resources on the films of Paul Naschy there is (possibly the most indispensable actually). I don’t think you would find as fine a collection of posters and lobby cards etc as comprehensive as this printed anywhere else. However, the sharper eyed among you may have noticed the subtitle of the book is actually “Paul Naschy Memorabilia” and while the book features all these quite rare and opulent examples of various promotional materials on a film by film basis, it turns out that it is these artefacts from the films themselves, and not the actual films, that are the source of discussion here.

The book is put together by a private collector of Paul Naschy items and, while there is obviously some technical background on the origins of each movie, the main thrust of the information is all to do with the history of each movie as seen by it’s release patterns and paper trail, so to speak.

Curiously, the book only goes up to the 1987 Naschy movie El Aullido Del Diablo (aka Howl Of The Devil, reviewed here), which co-starred the extraordinary Caroline Munro... and then covers some of the other films in a short appendix which also has some amazing poster artwork in it (I ordered a cheap copy of Mystery On Monster Island on DVD after finishing this book because of that appendix). So what would be a typical chapter here would be some bumph about the movie, followed by the curiosities manifest in the different styles of advertising campaign materials in different countries - things like a company logo being printed on the bottom right of a poster identical to another except for the absence of that logo or the fact that one country’s run of lobby cards was printed on a slightly thicker stock but printed offset litho instead of some other process. Some of the most amusing differences from territory to territory are the way in which some countries censor nudity... some will allow it, others will put little stars over ladies’ nipples and yet another went to quite elaborate lengths to “pen and ink” ladies underwear onto some of the actresses. All very strange but interesting.

Now, I’m a graphic designer for print, so I naturally found most of this stuff really fascinating anyway, but the real icing on the cake, and the strength of this book, is that the writer is able to then show you all these things illustrated in full colour with a wonderful (old, decaying book) background which is printed under the text and pictures on every page, presumably chosen to give the photographs of this rare, archival material a bit of 'lift' off the page in contrast. It’s really wonderful stuff and, even if there had been no accompanying text with each section, it would still be one of the most essential purchases going... not just for longstanding fans of Paul Naschy, but for anyone interested in knowing the ins and outs of the way films are marketed in different areas.

This is, untypically, one of my shortest reviews, but that’s because I really have nothing bad to say about this particular volume. The myriad illustrations of brightly coloured movie advertising confections coupled with the sheer enthusiasm and passion of the writer, who has obviously spent many decades putting together this collection of rare and sometimes rescued items, are more than enough to ensure this is a book I shall return to for reference and, well, to just lose myself in the pictures, time and time again. If you are a fan of either Paul Naschy, horror films or movie advertising in particular, I urge you to snap up one of the last copies of this book before it passes you by. An absolutely thrilling work of reference which is an absolutely essential purchase for lovers of film.

And another big thank you to my “extra special friend” who got me the book in the first place.

For some of my Paul Naschy movie reviews, check these links below...

Assignment Terror
http://nuts4r2.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/assignment-terror.html

Fury Of The Wolfman
http://nuts4r2.blogspot.co.uk/2010/09/like-werewolf-scorned.html

The Beast And The Magic Sword
http://nuts4r2.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/werewolf-vs-samurai.html

Howl Of The Devil
http://nuts4r2.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/howl-of-devil.html

Assignment: Terror

Rennie Dreadful?

Assignment: Terror

(aka Dracula Versus Frankenstein aka

The Man Who Came From Ummo)

Spain/Germany/Italy 1970

Directed by Tulio Demicheli

The Camden Collection Region 0

Spoilers: This review pits spoiler against spoiler in a spoilerific mash-up that can only end in inevitable death by big explosions!

Okay... let me make something clear before I start my review of this awesome movie. This film is not to be confused with Al Adamson’s 1971 movie Dracula Versus Frankenstein (despite having the same title in some territories) which I’ve already reviewed here. Neither is it the version being sold in some countries on DVD as Dracula Versus Frankenstein which seems to be cut down by almost a half an hour. This “review” version is pretty much uncut... although it’s probably not in its correct aspect ratio.

This movie was the last film made by everyone’s favourite peace loving alien Michael Rennie (Klatu in The Day The Earth Stood Still) but in this movie he’s playing the bad guy... well, bad alien in fact. Sent to earth by his alien superiors, he is assisted by two resurrected earth scientists (one played by Karin Dor, who played the first German Bond girl in scenes in You Only Live Twice) in his attempt to kill off and control the planets population by... wait for it... resurrecting four of our worlds supernatural monsters to create a force of deadly destruction... or at least a fresh supply of victims to hold mankind enthralled in the fear created by its own superstitious beliefs.

I’m guessing this would take quite a lot of time to do since these monsters are not the size of a behemoth but what do I know. The similarly plotted Godzilla movie Invasion Of The Astro Monster (aka Godzilla Versus Monster Zero) seems to me to be a much more credible version of the same plot line in that, at the very least, monsters like Godzilla, Rhodan and King Gidhora leave a much more effective wake in their particular force of deadly destruction.

To be more specific... Michael Rennie’s plan involves bringing back to consciousness and using Dracula, the Frankenstein Monster (called something very similar, presumably to evade copyright but there’s frankly no doubt on screen as to who this Karloff-styled creature is supposed to be), The Mummy and The Wolfman and setting them loose on the Earth faster than you can say “Klatu Baradu Nikto.” And if that’s not interesting enough... The Wolfman character in this one is none other than the great Paul Naschy in his Waldemar Daninsky wolfman role. Naschy also wrote the movie and this is only his second appearance in the role (not counting the possible “lost” movie in the series). Unlike many of the later Waldemar Daninsky movies, Naschy’s wolfman character is actually given a credible explanation for being resurrected (instead of just reappearing as though the last film in the series never happened). He has almost no dialogue for most of the movie and very much plays a supporting role until the final third where he returns to his former glory and does a very creditable job... making the part his own once more and giving the role a certain conviction.

Dracula is brought back to life in exactly the same way he is brought back in Universal’s House Of Frankenstein, by removing the stake from the chest of his skeleton which is being exhibited in a side show carnival. This is almost certainly a deliberate homage from Naschy, who loved those old movies, but the make ups on both Dracula and the Frankenstein monster are... well not terrible but not great. The Daninsky wolfman make up is fine, however, but the one make-up job which really is quite good on this one is The Mummy... which manages to capture and crossbreed the withered Karloff as Imhotep face from Universals original 1932 version, with the walking bandaged visage of Kharis played by both Tom Tyler and Lon Chaney Jr in the sequels. The Mummy in this film is pretty eerie... although he doesn’t do that much, it has to be said.

Above all though... this movie is fun with a capital “F”! The policeman trying to work out the cause of the strange deaths in his city has a groovy, sixties, swinging theme tune that follows him around in his investigation and a main squeeze, who is “sixties cute”. They are, of course, no match for Michael Rennie’s permanently smirking alien villain but this is okay because Waldemar Daninsky comes to the rescue when our hero is ensconced in his vampire-bat death trap and as for Rennie, well he’s on to a loser from the start as his freshly undead human scientists fall prey to weak human emotions such as love.

This film is a great laugh. I can only refrain from commenting on the artistry of the cinematography because I’m pretty sure the transfer I saw is, as I said previously, in the wrong aspect ratio, but the film ends up with monster fighting monster... I especially liked the bit where Naschy’s wolfman traps The Mummy in something which is very similar to a mouse or hamster exercise wheel and then sets fire to him. Very funny... err... I mean chilling, very chilling!

There’s not really a lot more I can say about this film without damaging it in the eyes of some but certainly raising its credibility in the eyes of others. Seriously folks... this is a Paul Naschy movie from the Waldemar Daninsky canon that involves space aliens trying to conquer the earth using Universal style monsters... how could this movie ever put a foot wrong? Answer... it doesn’t. It’s brilliant trash and it seriously deserves a proper, commercially produced widescreen transfer... and so does its modern audience, most of whom exist without any proper access to this movie. Get on the case now. It’s brilliant!

Howl of the Devil

Naschyville

Howl of the Devil (aka El aullido del diablo aka Howling of the Devil) Spain 1987
Directed by Paul Naschy
The Camden Collection Region 0

Howl of the Devil was directed by Paul Naschy and he also plays several roles in this one too, including a quick cameo from everybody’s favourite Paul Naschy character, Waldemar Daninsky (in his wolfman form).

I bought this, frankly quite bad transfer off of a Spanish TV channel, because it’s a film in which Naschy pays homage to many of the great monster creations from the 30s that he loves... there’s even a spiel about them by way of a written prologue to the film by the looks of it. Unfortunately the transfer was just too bad to make out what any of the words were, with the only word prominent enough to be able to be read being KARLOFF... so I’m assuming Naschy is happy to wear his influences on his sleeve and be upfront about them from the start.

There's also an extra special bonus... and I don’t think I realised this when I bought it... in that this film co-stars the one and only screen presence who is “the first lady of fantasy” Caroline Munro! Woohoo! One of my favourite women of all time in a Paul Naschy movie! Sorted. I’d actually read in an interview with Naschy a few years back that she was in one of his movies but I didn’t really twig that it was this one. Nacshy had been asked who, of all his leading actresses he’d worked with over the years, would be the one he’d most want to work with again. Of course, he named Caroline... which just shows the man’s good sense and taste is my view.

Howl of the Devil is a curious little film and quite unlike anything else I’ve seen Naschy do... mind you, bear in mind that I’ve only ever seen his Werewolf movies and this really doesn’t count as an entry in that series because the Daninsky character is only in the film for... well... probably less than a minute.

The set up is unusual...

Naschy plays a villainous, unsuccessful actor who’s dead brother, also played by Naschy, was a successful film talent. He lives with his brother's son who he hates and a cleaning lady called Carmen who comes in regularly, played by the aforementioned and gorgeous Caroline Munro. He repeatedly tries to lure Carmen into performing sexual favours for him with the promise of wealth and its rewards, but she is having none of it. His other hobby is to get his butler to pick up young lady hitchhikers and to sexually molest them under a famous horror-style role such as Bluebeard, Rasputin or Fu Manchu.

Meanwhile, his poor brother’s son talks with various phantoms projected by his dead acting father which are also Paul Naschy in famous roles and make-ups such as the Frankenstein Monster (in full Jack Pearce style), Quasimodo, Mr. Hyde or The Phantom of the Opera and this, of course, more than gives Naschy enough time to demonstrate his versatility as an actor... much more so than in his other movies. Actually, although most of these films are filled with bad acting, if you keep your eye on Naschy you’ll probably realise that he’s always quite believable in his roles and that, no matter how ridiculous his lines are (and they often are beyond ridiculous), he always takes his parts seriously and sells his roles well... which is obviously more than you can usually expect from a lot of the actors who populate these kinds of pictures.

I have to say that Caroline Munro acquits herself quite well in this one (well no surprise there then... she’s always fantastic) but it’s actually quite strange and disconcerting hearing her dubbed over with a Spanish voice. It almost, but not quite, threatens to pull the actual acting under with it but I’m happy to report that she takes the role very seriously indeed and it’s not hard to understand why Naschy would have liked to have worked with her again some day.

The film itself, if truth be told, is really not a very good one and the synthesised score shines at best but mostly just keeps up and doesn’t quite support the atmosphere at worst. There’s a nice little homage to Universal when the young boy asks the Waldemar Daninsky Wolfman character if he’s been talking to Lawrence Talbot who suffers from similar problems but these kind of enthusiastic references to the rich history of the genre, couple with some great make-ups from Paul Naschy and the beautiful eye-candy of Caroline Munro do not add up to the fact that this is probably one of the least fun of Naschy’s films that I’ve seen. This is by no means a criticism of the movie as a whole... just an observation. It is, however, one of the more curious entries in the cycle of horror movies that Naschy made in his quite considerable career and it even has quite a good little twist ending which I didn’t see coming. Which is kinda unusual for me.

Not a brilliant or as entertaining a film as many of his others but certainly a curio that’s worth some of your viewing time if you’re a fan of Naschy in general. Just don’t expect the excessive blood and thunder of some of his more familiar movies.

For my reviews of a couple of others of Naschy’s many wolfman movies, please click here for The Beast and the Magic Sword and here for Fury of the Wolfman.

Like a Werewolf Scorned

Fury of the Wolfman

(aka La Furia del Hombre Lobo

aka The Wolfman Never Sleeps)

Shot in 1970 but released in 1972 Spain

Directed by José María Zabalza

The Camden Collection DVD Region 0

Fury of the Wolfman is the fourth (or third if you discount legends of the “lost film”) in the cycle of Paul Naschy’s 12 movies about the Waldemar Daninsky character made between 1968 and 2004.

I would also have to say, it’s certainly the worst of the seven Naschy movies that I’ve seen to feature the titular wolfman/Daninsky character. And it’s really a shame too because the movie started off extraordinarily well... for a Daninsky movie.

Unlike most of the other movies I’ve seen in this “loose series”, the film opens with some really good cinematography (reminiscent perhaps of the gialli that were being made in Italy at the time) with excellent use of contrasting colours and some quite unexpectedly competent sound design which gives the earlier sections of the film a nice, genuinely haunted atmosphere. In these start up sequences we are given yet another “origin"... this time around Waldemar has recently been bitten by a yeti during his scientific research visit in Tibet, although I believe this has nothing to do with the later entry into the series - The Werewolf and the Yeti (aka Night of the Howling Beast). Now I’m getting quite used, as I said in an earlier Daninsky review a month or so ago, to Naschy’s recurring character having a new and completely different origin to his lycanthropic curse in each movie... just as I am getting used to him being killed for good at the end of each picture, only to return in the next film in the series without any fanfare or continuity from the last picture.

That being said... Why was Daninsky on a scientific expedition in Tibet in the first place? You guessed it... because in this film he’s a scientist. What? So Waldemar Daninsky is a scientist now? Okay. And everyone is calling him Professor Daninsky? Okay, I can live with that. Paul Naschy is not the best actor in the world but compared to the lame theatrics displayed by most of the rest of the cast in these films... well... if they say he’s a scientist then he’s a scientist. He doesn’t possess a pipe though so I’m not 100% sure I can buy into that idea completely.

The soundtrack of the film uses a lot of audio flashbacks of conversations with words like pentagram repeated almost endlessly in a not bad trick which works quite well at the beginning of the movie to help create a certain sense of impending dread. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a cheesy and cliched way of handling things but it’s actually quite sophisticated and reined in compared to what I'd usually expect from these kinds of movies. But like I said earlier, it doesn’t take long for this film to take a detour into being an absolute mess of celluloid.

Here’s what I could make out of the plot in a nutshell (and if I had a nutshell I’d stick it in there and give it to a squirrel to horde somewhere far from me!)...

After being bitten by said yeti, Daninsky returns to Spain to continue his scientific research job with a fellow scientist, a woman with whom he has had a passionate three year fling in the past, prior to his marriage to another woman. Now I know this other woman is definitely a scientist because she keeps using terms like “chemitrodes”... rather a lot actually. I don’t know what a chemitrode is exactly but this lady loves them.

Anyway, Daninsky finds his wife having an affair with another man, but they’ve “fixed” the brakes on his car and he crashes it into a tree. He survives the crash and returns home to find his wife and her lover... the full moon has it’s usual effect on him and he kills them... or “wolfs them up good” as I like to say. During his hairy frenzy, he manages to electrocute himself to death. His ex-lady friend colleague takes his body away to her scientific retreat which seems to be a castle of some sort... easily affordable as a second home if you’re a scientist and dealing with unwieldy and worrying things like chemitrodes in your workplace, apparently.

She revives Waldemar with her chemitrodal meddling in her attempt to alter his mind... a term called “human zebra” here... but whatever it’s called, the plot is just not going to stay black & white for long. While she goes away for some supplies for her dastardly experiments (presumably Chemitrodes R Us is open 24/7), Waldemar rekindles love with a young scientific assistant whom he is trapped in the castle with... along with some drug crazed mutant hippies who sometimes seem to be their friends and sometimes attack them. In fact... by this point I’ve got no idea what’s going on anymore... other than the fact that Waldemar finds the affair his wife was having was caused by mad scientist lady altering his wife’s and her lover’s hypothalmus with... oh, you know what with by now. Those chemitrodes have a lot to answer for... it was all a plot to kill Waldemar so she could revive him and control him.

But seriously, by now the editing has got the better of this film... Why is Walfdemar’s girlfriend attacked by someone hiding in a suit of armour? Why is there a masked figure stalking the castle? Why are the hippie people friendly, then hostile, then friendly again, then hostile... honestly, by this point it’s like somebody has got all the footage cut in little strips, thrown it into the air, and re-edited into a sequence that makes no sense from shot to shot. I truly believe that the director, who was apparently disliked by Naschy and apparently spent a lot of the time drunk, just didn’t get the footage required to be able to edit this mess into a coherent, decodable narrative. More’s the pity since it had such a promising opening (been a while since I saw a promising opening but since I’m not writing a porn blog I’ll refrain from going down that avenue, gentle reader).

All I know for sure is that the scorned scientist revives Waldemar’s dead wife who is now infected with the lycnthropy passed on for her husband and you get to see two werewolves fight before Waldemar gets killed... again... and finds his final peace... which will be shattered when he revives for the next film in the series.

Fury of the Wolfman is, frankly, a terrible movie and, unlike most others in this wonderful series of bizarre Spanish werewolf movies, not much fun either. My favourite of the seven I’ve seen so far is still Doctor Jekyll and The Wolfman from 1971... love those swinging London locations which I remember as such from my childhood. If you want to see a fun Waldemar Daninsky movie... watch that one and let this horrible, ravaged carcass of a movie rest in pieces.