Frankenstein's Bloody Terror (1968)

I'm a softie. I feel, when watching any random movie with Paul Naschy, that he was something special. One of the few really passionate geeks out there, on the same level of geekiness as Luigi Cozzi and Mario Bava. Fans of all thing genre, especially the non-realistic, fantasy-injected genre cinema with more heart than money. Frankenstein's Bloody Terror isn't a Frankenstein-movie. The American distributors added a very, very, very silly pre-credit which explains that the Frankenstein family evolved into the Wolfstein family and that's it - the monster of a mad scientist suddenly becomes a supernatural wolfman.

The story is simple. Two gypsies accidentally awakens a werewolf, who - after killing them - goes after the villagers and infects Naschy, doing his old Waldemar Daninsky part, and makes him the new wolf in town. He seeks help from a famous doctor, who turns out to be a vampire and the battle beings. There's also something with a young loving couple and some old farts (their fathers) rambling stiff lines to each other.

Yeah, it's a bit of a mess - but it's also Naschy's first foray into werewolf-cinema (I just don't count that other "lost" movie, I seriously doubt it got made) and he sprinkles the story with the soul of American horror comic books rather than the old Universal monsters. It's basically lit like a story right out from EC Comics and with a story so wild it could be one of those poverty row monster flicks, but with more colour and very fake RED blood. I love it. It's god damn hard to NOT love, because there's so much fun stuff going on.

Naschy himself is big and bold and takes a big bite from every scene he's in. When he's a werewolf he's just furious and aggressive and just a marvellous fucking monster. One of the best. Maybe THE best werewolf ever existed (yeah, even better than Lon Chaney Jr). I think it's because Naschy goes so far down in the animalistic rage, the sexual tension between him and all the victims. Naschy just doesn't bit people, he almost rapes them - men and women - with his whole body and bodily fluids spurting in every direction. Naschy IS Waldermar Daninsky, he owned that part.

What I miss with this crazy production is - actually - the more straight forward storylines that he used in later movies. Daninsky is such a good and interesting character that he deserves something more than just chaos. Frankenstein's Bloody Terror is a fine movie, fun and silly and filled with love and coolness, but it's still the first trembling step of a master.

Give it a go. But remember that there's a lot of other adventures with Daninsky that's better and bloodier. 

Paul Naschy's Memoirs of a Wolfman (1997)

I've been enjoying several Paul Naschy movies the latest week or so, from stuff I haven't seen before to revisiting good old classics. During this time I've also been reading the US paperback of Memoirs of a Wolfman, the autobiography that was published in 1997. The version I have was release a couple of years later and includes a bonus chapter and a signed card by Naschy himself. Very nice and it makes me even more sad that I never hade the pleasure to meet him in real life.

The memoirs chronicles his life from childhood and we get a detailed look at his family and relatives - and friends of the relatives, which might seem to be a bit exaggerated - but you will also notice that more or less everyone of these persons is connected to what he did later. They introduced him to things in life, they said something, they experienced things together with him - everyone means something for Naschy and without very few exceptions he gives them their full credits.  Another fine thing he does - up to his 20-30's - is to write down the comics he read at the time and the movies he watched, which also gives a strong hint of what inspired him during his filmmaking career.

It's well known that Naschy had a big ego, close a to narcissistic persona. He's a very proud actor and filmmaker and never shies away from letting us know when he's done something good and brilliant and masterful - but he also, very emotional, digs deep down in his failures and depressions, how he was so weak that he couldn't take care of himself, how he did stuff for money just to be able to pay the rent. The last chapters is actually quite painful to read, and the part where he tells us about his heart attack is so sad! The bonus chapter is the worst, where his self-confidence is rock-bottom and he basically say "goodbye" at the end, to never return. Thankfully he obviously got back on the saddle again and had quite good career even after that, including his best performance ever, in Christian Molina's 2004 film Rojo Sangre. He also starred in an official Spanish Dogme-film, Once Upon Another Time - a film I need to see as soon as possible.

The bitterness overcomes the happiness, the enthusiasm, in the end, which is a damn pity. But we know better and Naschy knew better also. Memoirs of a Wolfman is packed with anecdotes - some of them extremely bizarre - and a good insight in the work of low-budget filmmaking in Spain and Europe during 60's, 70's and 80's. The strangest chapter is when he tells us how he got involved in a cult of real devil worshippers!

His enthusiasm for making horror movies, the macabre and living on the edge of society, which he seem like at the same time as he's missing the recognition from the elite, is the fuel of this book. Naschy seems to more than a good, decent guy - a person who always cared for people who cared for him. An interesting mix between a macho-man and lover of women to a supporter of gay rights, and a guilty-filled catholic and left-wing horror fan. Everything at once and probably the reason why he made such interesting and stand-out movies.

Sometimes difficult to read because of the hardships in his later life, but also a very rewarding story surviving and fighting for what you love. 

The Man with the Severed Head (1973)

I've poured a couple of whisky's in my poor, poor body and now I'm gonna try to write a few words about The Man with the Severed Head, aka Crimson. Forgive me if it's incoherent! This is an interesting movie 'cause of several reasons: it stars Paul Naschy, one of my favourite horror stars and it's also produced by Eurociné, the legendary cheapo production company owned and controlled by Marius Lesoeur (and later his son Daniel Lesoeur). They're mostly famous for a couple of extremely cheap Jess Franco production but also the notorious Zombie Lake, a movie poor Jean Rollin directed just because Franco never appeared to do his job!

A band of thieves gets in big trouble after their leader gets a serious brain injury after a failed robbery. To save him they go to a famous surgeon, who happens to don't have any working hands after an accident, to make a god damn brain transplantation! They need a new brain of course and kills some other gangster - who happens to be a raving psychotic - good choice, lads! Anyway, they make the transplant, but of course everything goes wrong!

It has some good parts - but mostly really bad and boring parts. The best thing with the production is the awesome cast, from Paul Naschy in a supporting part and the always excellent Claude Boisson and the reliable character actor Víctor Israel, who also gets killed in the masterpiece Horror Express. Olivier Mathot has a bit of an underwritten role, but he's a welcome presence in any of these movies. The women are there to look pretty and nice, but has very little to do - it's a man's world, as usual.

What's good with The Man with the Severed Head is the brain-transplant part, which is something from an American fifties horror movie or maybe one of Franco's Dr Orloff adventures. It's cheesy and fun and colourful with a cool lab and a lot of unrealistic science explained in very serious ways. The rest is, unfortunately, not that good. This is one of those movies you'll watch because of the cast and nothing else. Well, at least if you're an un-experienced Eurociné-viewer. For us who love, adore and worships this very special production company this is one their most slick and expensive (well, everything is relative)) productions with some really nice cinematography, good directing by Juan Fortuny and a script that holds together, even if nothing much happens.

The biggest disappointment with it is how they take a fun premise and they never do anything good with it. If I did a movie with a brain-transplant I would let the patient run amuck really good and not just run around like a drunk reality soap contestant and not do much more than that. Why not let him roam the French countryside, perform some creative kills and THEN die. Now the final is just a bad episode of some German detective-show.

The Man with the Severed Head is only for us who needs to see either everything starring the talented Paul Naschy or produced by Eurociné. You rest... well, stick around and I'm sure there will be something more interesting for you to watch. 

Werewolf Shadow (1971)

Yeah, Naschy is without a doubt the best werewolf actor ever. He's mixing the classic werewolf with the more modern, animalistic creature without resorting to exaggerated make-up effects. He just doesn't need it, this athletic weight-lifter who was more focused on being an director and writer than acting, but when the production company of his first werewolf-movie found out that Lon Chaney Jr was too old, too fat, too alcoholic and too sick to work again the only solution was Naschy himself. And we should be eternally grateful for that. Werewolf Shadow became on of Naschy's biggest hits and it's easy to understand why. The story is tight (but hardly original) and it delivers some cheap and fun gore, gorgeous directing by the master León Klimovsky. It's a very handsome and attractive production, from the talents behind the camera to those in front.

Two beautiful chicks goes on a road trip to some distant parts of France, looking for the grave of a famous crazy medieval princess/fucked-up serial killer - and maybe even a vampire! On the road they meet Polish nobleman (and werewolf) Waldemar Daninsky who offers them to stay in his house for a couple of days. What they don't know is that the crazy vampire princess is an old enemy of Danisky and soon she's back from the grave, spreading her vampirism and the only solution is for Daninsky to fight her once again - in the shape of a bloodthirsty and uncontrollable werewolf!  

You see? The story is simple and fun and an excellent excuse to show a lot of werewolf-attacks, nudity and slow-motion vampires running in forests. The first scene is Daninsky laying in the morgue, ready for autopsy. According to Naschy himself they shot that in a real morgue and moments before there was a real, bloody body laying there, a young man killed in a motorcycle accident. They just flushed the blood away and Naschy was ready for his scene! This is one of the best-looking Paul Naschy's also. He's strong, looks vibrant and virile and he practically owns every scene he's in - even with beautiful women clinging around his neck.

But he really comes alive as Waldemar Daninsky, in a raging fury (that could be a cool 80's action film with ninjas: Raging Fury!) and with a foaming mouth he rips people to death, chewing on their throats and rolling his eyes it was his last day of acting ever. And it's SO convincing. The make-up is cool, it's simple compared to other movies, but there's no need for more. It's all about the acting, how the body works, the eyes. Naschy knew how to do it and he did it extremely well. But what to expect from a guy who wanted to be The Wolfman since he first saw him in the cinema as a teenager?

I'm not expert, but somehow it seems like Naschy was one of the first filmmakers to introduce graphic gore to the Spanish cinema. That doesn't mean it's much of it in any of his films, but Werewolf Shadow had a couple of graphic scenes that I totally forgot from the first time I saw it. The most surprising thing is when he chops a head off a vampire woman, all in one take - the effect itself isn't that good, it's primitive, but I was expecting them to cut away to a reaction shot of Naschy, because it felt like it should be like that. But instead we see him chop it off with a couple of whacks! No cuts, nothing. Not convincing either, but it's the thought that counts in cheap horror movies like this.

Now I've been writing about shallow, cheap things like gore and nudity and werewolf-attacks, but that's what Werewolf Shadow is about. I mean, for fucks sake, the alternative title is "The Werewolf Versus the Vampire Woman", which kinda says it all. It's extremely well-made entertaining with Paul Naschy in top form.

This is a timeless, slightly trashy, classic. A must in every collection of eurocult! 

Panic Beats (1983)

The first time I saw Panic Beats I didn't like it so much. It was okay and that's it. So after a few years, and a weekend spending in front of Paul Naschy's fine autobiography "Memoirs of a Wolfman" I decided to give it a new try, hopefully with a couple of years of experience and maybe, mentally, a bit more mature. Well, who am I kidding? I will never grow up! Panic Beats on the other hand was a bit of a revelation this second time, especially after reading about how it was made in Naschy's book and I would say it's a damn fine and fun horror movie after all.

Paul Naschy is Paul who's deeply in love with his sick wife. They're travelling to his family's old villa where they're gonna spend some time so she can relax and feel better. But what she doesn't know is that Paul is one horny motherf**ker and it doesn't take long until he's after the young maid! Soon weird things starts to happen in the villa, can it be old bastard Alaric de Marnac who's back from the dead to harvest victims again!

One thing I repressed after the first time is how many twists this little film have. It's far from the typical Naschy horror, and a owes a lot more to the giallos of Italy - including black gloves and something sinister happening somewhere in the background of the story. There's at least two, three... maybe four, twists coming at ya and it works and makes a movie that could have been very traditional work very well. Naschy, who also directs, delivers a good surprising character who's actions is very hard to predict.

It takes a while for Alaric de Marnac (which also makes this an original sequel, spin-off to Horror Rises From the Tomb) to show up, but when it happens its with full power and quite surprising. Something that's been very overexaggerated over the years - probably with the help of hyperactive fan boys hugging their rare, now totally worthless, x-rentals - is the gore. Sure, it's violent, but there's actually only two really graphic kills - and both of them are more or else off-screen for the time. The effects is cheap and simple and the blood is plenty, but still... Naschy have done much gorier films through the years.

Panic Beats was shot in General Franco's old villa and Naschy have told how the whole places was filled with photos and letters, just abandoned and forgotten - like the pathetic but yet so dangerous former owner. Veteran actress Lola Gaos, who does a wonderful performance as the housekeeper Mabile, was one of those being terrorized by the fascists and that added to the tension of the acting and atmosphere of the set. Naschy himself was a socialist and it's easy to read in some of his movies - but I still haven't seen the highly political movies he made during the end of the seventies, for example the assassination thriller El Francotirador. I think it was a decision he made, both to mock the fascist regime and use them to produce something provocative and entertaining, like a good old horror movie.

My favourite Naschy film is still the gritty, sleazy and gory Seven Murders for the Scotland Yard (and Hunchback of the Morgue of course), but Panic Beats isn't far away. It's a good story, it delivers some nice kills and nudity for those who like that and foremost: it looks very good and truly prove what a good director Naschy was. 

Assignment Terror (1970)

I've read a lot of bad reviews about Assignment Terror, and more than a few of them has compared it to Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space, in that meaning that it's on the same level of crappiness. The thing is that Ed Wood's classics is not that bad, it's just very cheap and very rushed - its made with love and talent, but overshadowed by it's Wood's enthusiasm for filmmaking than his talent. Assignment Terror has a similar storyline, which is hard to deny - but with that nice, sexy eurocult flair that we love so much.

An alien species, lead by Dr. Odo Warnoff (Michael Rennie, without silver underwear), arrives to earth because their own planet is dying. They need a new place to live. The problem is how they're gonna take over earth without destroying it! Warnoff has a brilliant idea: use the superstitions of mankind! So he and his team searches for famous monsters: the werewolf Daninsky, the Mummy, Frankenstein's Monster (which more correctly is doctor Farangslang or something similar...) and of course Dracula! They take control over them and plans to - somehow - multiply their powers with injecting humans with their blood or something and create a monster army to take over the world!

Assignment Terror is as silly as it sounds, but far from bad. It's just another cheesy spin on the old Universal monsters (much like Jess Franco did with The Erotic Adventures of Frankenstein and Dracula: Prisoner of Frankenstein), but with a little bit more blood and stupid dialogue. The most interesting thing is of course Paul Naschy's character of Daninsky, who once again is raised from the dead to suffer under his werewolf-curse. Also written by Naschy, Daninsky is also the only character that gets some depth and also gets a change so fight all the other monsters. Good old Naschy, he knows how to steal a movie!

And do I even need to say that Naschy is the highlight here? When many of the other actors just is doing their jobs and cashing in their paycheck, Naschy is ready for action and dominates the scenes he's in. What a guy! He left this rotten world way too early...

It's impossible to take this film seriously, but why should we? It's a matinee, and a very good-looking matinee with gorgeous locations and splendid, but a bit gritty, cinematography. The comedy is more or less unintentional, but never disturbing - it's just a movie made of cheese, accept it or watch Transformers 3 instead.

What more to say about this film, not much really. Just don't take it serious and get the beautiful DVD from Germany company ArtFilm, who together with magazine Creepy Images put together a nice package including a cool 3D card and a special issue of Creepy Images, only with posters and other promotion materials from the movie. 

The People Who Own the Dark (1976)

From the deranged mind of León Klimovsky comes this oddity, The People Who Own the Dark, a doomsday-vision starring Alberto de Mendoza (the crazy priest in Horror Express!) and our beloved Paul Naschy, here on each side of the morality - Naschy being the baddie of course. I've never seen it before but Jocke has talked about it so many times that I've started to question my own sanity! Can Jocke be right? Well, usually he's right - and I'm happy I bought this one directly from Code Red! Why? Let's see...

A troupe of rich bastards - politicians, doctors, businessmen etc - goes to a villa out on the countryside for a weekend of sinful lust á la de Sade, complete with role playing in the cellar and gluttony like it was their last day alive. But when they're just gonna start the orgy a terrible explosion shakes the land and not long after they hear that it's a nuclear war out there. The next morning they goes outside and takes the cars to the next village to try to get some supplies. But what awaits them is hell, all people has gone blind and they're very aggressive! After some scuffle a couple of the blind people are dead and our heroes head back to the villa - but during the night they're attacked, the blind people wants their revenge and they do anything to get inside!

It's starts off like a simpler version of Pasolini's Saló, then becomes a post-apocalyptic thriller and finally enters the horror world with the nightly invasion. The atmosphere is more similar to George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead, but much of the interaction reminded me more of Boris Sagal's The Omega Man. This is of course very good, but Klimovsky sets his own stamp on the movie and in the end it's an original take on the world after a nuclear-tomorrow. The characters are cynical and the story itself is bleak, both visually and thematic. This is a tale of the corrupt bourgeois and how they're punished for being soulless people. But we all know that the bourgeois is just the middle man, and there's also a government that shouldn't be trusted in the background, which makes this movie even more dark and interesting.

The cast, lead by de Mendoza and Naschy is excellent. They do a perfect walk on a line between totally fucked-up and quite human. One of the characters suffers a nervous breakdown for example, believing he's a pig and can only walk on all four for the rest of the movie. Isn't that wonderful and bizarre detail! A young Antonio Mayans, seen in many Jess Franco movies, makes a good performance also - and don't forget the always stunning Maria Perschy in another part.

The scariest thing with the antagonists, the blind people, is that they seem very sane. You can talk with them, discuss, they almost seem friendly - but still, the only thing they want is revenge. Their lack of sight has suddenly gotten them extra sensitive hearing, and maybe even sensory, making them to killing machines when they feel that someone is in the room trying to get away. How they find the house I have no idea, but when watching the movie it's nothing you react to. They're just the enemy and they're obviously very good at it.

It's not a graphic movie, but people die and the overall feeling is that it's a violent and dangerous world and it's easy to die - from the blind people or from someone inside the house. Everyone is dangerous in situation like this.

If you like your movies from the 70's with bleak endings and Paul Naschy doing one of this best performances, this is the movie for you. It's on a nice DVD from Code Red and it's a must buy!

The Crimes of Petiot (1973)

I'm pretty fond of the giallo-lookalikes that the Spaniards produced during the seventies, often with Paul Naschy in the lead or in a supporting part. The Crimes ofPetiot is another of these "Spanish giallos", and this is quite an original thriller with some ideas I haven't seen in similar movies before this one. I'm not sure it's been released on DVD or easy to get VHS anywhere, so I had to watch a subtitled bootleg. But this is one of those thrillers that deserves a restored, English-friendly release.

Set in a snowy Berlin, The Crimes of Petiot tells of a sadistic serial killer in a black coat, gloves and hat who executes - with a gun - young loving couples while getting nazi-flashbacks! The killer also films his evil deeds and send the filmed material to the police! A journalist, Vera (Patricia Loran) takes interest in the case and starts her own investigation. She involves her antique-dealing boyfriend Boris (Paul Naschy) and a couple of other friends. During a stake-out in a park the killer attacks them, but doesn't kill them. Instead he drugs them and leaves a message - he will kill them one by one when they least expect it!

The Crimes of Petiot might not be the smartest thriller in the world of European cinema, but it's not bad. It takes the plots and makes everything so simple - too simple - without any complications and pretends to be serious - but in the end it's just another cheap giallo-rip off with a few very good ideas. The lack of knives and other sharp objects makes it a not so bloody movie, but the executions is powerful and the nazi-flashbacks makes it even harder to watch. It's also a lot more classy than the director's, José Luis Madrid,  earlier collaboration with Naschy, my personal favourite and sleazerpiece Seven Murders for Scotland Yard, but also looses the exploitation-vibe that we all loves so much.

What feels fresh, for it's time, is the theme of the murders and the snuff movie aspect of the show. The script is filled with twists and never gets boring - and I also like the idea of a female journalists that involves her friends and lover in the case, which somehow seem even more realistic than just keeping the case for yourself like in every other murder mystery. This is more like Woody Allen's brilliant Manhattan Murder Mystery than Deep Red, if I can make that comparison - but without the comedy.

Maybe a movie who concentrates more on the plot twists than characters, which means that the actors more or less seem to be left alone with their characters, it's surprisingly effective. Especially Naschy, who as usual gives a lot more energy to his performance than he probably had to. With small gestures and a low-key performance he's the highlight of the movie - without casting a shadow on the other talents.

I understand my review is... all over the place, but it's because it's hard to evaluate The Crimes of Petiot. It's original and still quite generic, with Naschy stealing the show. But it's hard to avoid mentioning that it has a lot of very original and interesting ideas and is competently told by the director and screenwriter José Luis Madrid. I would suggest you give it a try and then tell me what you thought of it. Because I liked it, but maybe I'm wrong as usual?

El Asesino Está Entre Los Trece (1973)

The Spaniards didn't to be left out of the game and produced a couple of very Giallo-esque thrillers during the seventies, a few of the involving the great Paul Naschy in bigger or smaller roles. A Dragonfly for each Corpse from 1974 is one movie, but my favourite is the violent 1971 sleaze-classic Seven Murders for Scotland Yard, where a less fit Naschy plays a drunk ex-trapeze artist like only Naschy could do it. In 1973 this little known thriller game, El Asesino Está Entre LosTrece (literary: The Murderer is among the thirteen) and gives Agatha Christie's The Little Indians a nice spin with just pretending to go that route, but then turn out quite different.

Thirteen people gathers in a remote Spanish villa, after an invitation from the widow of a rich businessman, Lisa Mandel (Patty Shepard). All of them had some connection with her dead husband and she suspects, and claims have proof, that one of them killed her husband! With the help of her mechanic/gardener (Paul Naschy) she sabotage their cars and they just can't leave (if they don't walk, but you know how lazy rich fuckers are!). After intrigues, affairs and lots of talking one after another of them is getting killed by a murderer in black gloves...

El Asesino Está Entre Los Trece might not revolutionize the mystery-genre, but if you ignore the negative reviews out on the web this is a surprisingly effective little thriller. The main bulk of the movie is a talky, soapy story about a bunch of rich people sitting around in a big house, drinking, smoking and fucking. But believe it or not, this makes the last half hour even stronger and when the murders set in they are gory and bloody and very effective. Violent stuff, but without being to much (which of course is sad, we all want "to much" in a giallo) and with a nice, semi-ironic ending that actually lives up to one of the most used jokes about mystery-stories ever. 'Nuff said!

Paul Naschy as a quite small part, but makes a good performance of the little time he has. The rest of the cast is really good, and it's always to such veterans as Jack Taylor and Simón Andreu sleazing around in an obscure Spanish genre movie (something Taylor is good at, but this is the first time I've seen Andreu do that). The characters are well-written and has personality, so much of the entertainment comes from the actors and the charisma they have.

While the gore isn't overly graphic, it's well-made and hidden with clever editing. One of the cast gets and axe in his head and the clip where he get's it is SO short that it's almost too short. The other stabbings and throat-slits are nicely done, but we're not talking Carlo Rambaldi or Gianetto De Rossi exactly.

A slow-moving but still entertaining Spanish "giallo".

Curse of the Devil (1974)

The fourth movie (fifth if you count the never released - and maybe not even existing - Las noches del Hombre Lobo) with Paul Naschy as the unlucky nobleman Waldemar Daninsky, Curse of the Devil is one of the slickest and most commercial entry in the werewolf-saga. Even if I love the work of Naschy, more than a few of his movies lacks a coherent storyline and tries to mix everything into one story, which makes them a bit confusing. Here's the story is clear enough even for me to understand.

The movie starts with Irineus Daninsky (Naschy of course) chopping the head of an enemy in a duel. The family of the now headless dead guy puts a spell on Daninsky. Cut to modern times, and the - as usual - hunky Naschy gets the spell again from a descendant of the guy his forefather killed. He befriends a nearby family and falls in love with one of the daughters, but both daughters fall in love with him (surprise!) and this complicates things of course. But even worse, the werewolf-spell now works and every full moon Daninsky is transformed into a hairy beast and soon no one is safe in the village!

Believe it or not, but the story works very fine and there's an effective love story and a lot of werewolf-attacks. As usual people claims this is a gory movie. It's not, but it's a BLOODY movie - which is a big difference. So there's not lack of the red fluid here, trust me! Just don't expect graphic throat bites and bellies ripped open in gory fashion.

The only time I reacted to something, that kinda took me out of the story, was when one of the characters goes out in the yard and stumbles over a dead body that lies on the open ground without her seeing it. It's like something from a parody, because there's no doubt she would have seen the body. But details like that is just for people who must say that a movie is so bad it's good, just because they can't stand really liking a "b-movie". Mistakes can never destroy a movie. The only bad movies are boring movies.

I think this movie really shows the charisma and talent of Paul Naschy. From the intensive and colourful acting to showing of his torso from time to time. Naschy was well aware of his interesting sex appeal, probably both aimed at a female and male audience. He's not a typical handsome man, but more of a strong, cuddly and macho guy with an impressive way of just being very likable. You would never confuse the real Naschy with characters. He seem to have been a quite soft person in real life, liberal-minded and one-woman only. Maybe his films was a way to be able to play something very different from himself and having some fun at the same time?

Naschy took famous characters, or concept, and injected them with some sleaze, gore and blood - but still stayed surprisingly old-fashioned. When Hammer started to wind down and loosing their audience, Naschy and his friends took over some of those that wanted more action and the modern violence and still old-school horrors. Curse of the Devil is an excellent example of really good Spanish horror.

Exorcismo (1975)

There’s never wrong with a Paul Naschy movie, and when all other movies fail to entertain, Naschy is there with a magnificent beard doing his job like a real man! Exorcismo isn’t known to be either the best or the bloodiest in Naschy’s vast filmography, but I found it to be better than I thought it would be. Why? I guess because I have a shitty taste in movies, but also that the script was pretty decent and easy to follow. Not so episodic, but with a clear and quite interesting storyline.

Paul Naschy is Father Adrian Dunning, a local priest in a small British small town somewhere. One of the families he knows has a couple of rebellious daughters, and a whiny big brother, and something is terribly wrong. One of the girls, Patricia (Maria Perschy) has gotten herself involved in satanic worship and drugs, mostly due to her boyfriend. But when even he starts to stay away from her, it’s quite clear that Patricia has gotten possessed by something during the childish satanic games. Soon members of the family and staff is starting to get killed by someone twisting their necks, and it’s up to Father Adrian to solve the murders and get the evil spirit out from Patricia’s body!

Exorcismo is a quite slow movie, not much is happening except Patricia getting angry and her family looking worried. But the occasional bloodless murders and the bearded presence of Naschy make up for the pacing. I read a review were someone wrote that this movie has a “mediocre performance from Naschy”, which is of course as stupid as it sounds. Sure, Naschy was Naschy and he mostly played the same version of himself, but most actors do – even if the critics will deny it. What’s interesting with Father Adrian is that he’s a-sexual, which is very unique in Naschy’s case. He’s famous for getting laid numerous times in every movie, often showing off his muscles and hairy chest. But not here, Father Adrian seem even aggressive against when women show him some interest, which once again strengthens Naschy’s ability as an actor. His character don’t need to fuck around, he’s a man of the lord and has other pleasures in life.

The story gets more creepy during the last fifteen minutes when Patricia’s demon finally manifests himself in her look, and it’s extremely effective. Way better and scarier than in William Friedkin’s The Exorcist, but maybe not as spectacular. From the dried face and transparent slime running from her lips, to the nasty eye lenses, this is just awesome and very well-made.

If you turn your expectations down a little bit and doesn’t expect gore and nudity, Exorcismo is a decent and cozy Spanish horror-thriller with a very fine performance by every one, and Naschy in the front row of course. I recommend the OOP release from BCI, easy to find on eBay or other places who still might have it in stock.

Rojo Sangre (2004)

Rojo Sangre is both a tribute to his career as a sharp satire over how easy media forget. Actors are like vampires, they need blood to survive, and blood in this case is the love from the audience, the film crew and director. Paul Naschy had his ups and downs but worked steadily over the years, where he could find money or interest. From big budgets in Japan to shot-on-video crap-fests in Amsterdam. But at least he worked and worked and that passion, that energy, gave him a stamp of approval in the horror community. He was proud over his work, had a great ego and knew how to get in bed the most beautiful women.

In Rojo Sangre he is Pablo Thevenet, an ex movie-star, now an old man trying to find jobs with humiliating himself in the hands of arrogant newcomers and a cold-hearted agent. One day he’s offered a job in a sex club, nothing graphic – just stand outside the door doing famous characters from history. 10000 euro per week! He can’t say no even if he feels humiliated and hates the job. Soon he finds himself in more and more violent situations, killing of people in the movie- and entertainment-business, often dressed like his characters. He’s becoming a killer, a killer of bad entertainment! But every job has plus and minuses, and this has a couple of VERY devilish minuses…

Written by Naschy, this is in a way the most daring and emotional “personal” and self-reflecting movie you will see. Much like Targets and Madhouse, this is a movie about the final days, or at least the golden years of a genre actor who just works because he must survive and seeks that extra boost to finally find inspiration again. Naschy has a sharp pen and the scathing criticism towards the celebrity culture, the obsession of youth and the shallow entertainment news is of course even more up-to-date now then it was in 2004.

Finally we can also see Naschy has “himself”, playing a character that’s not a monster under make-up or silly dialogue. This is him, doing a magnificent performance has a very vulnerable and frustrated man. The first scene when he’s doing an audition for a small movie part is painful to see. We sense that this is something that actually could have happen during the years when Naschy was a nobody, before he found his way back to the fans and audience.

Like the character of Thevenet the story and visuals get more and more abstract along the way, until we’re not sure what is fantasy and what is reality. Our hero finally gets his best actor prize in the end, and in real life he got the Time-Machine Honorary Award at the Sitges festival for his life-time achievement in movies.

Rojo Sangre is a fantastic final, big role for Naschy and he will live long after many other so called movie stars has left us.

Long Live Naschy!

The Werewolf and the Magic Sword (1983)

Count Waldemar Daninsky is back in action, in another dimension of his life. Yeah, another backstory, another ending, another in-between. Just the way we want it. The only really bad thing with The Werewolf and the Magic Sword is that they can’t have a motor trouble on a forest road and getting attacked by gangster, until Paul Naschy comes and saves them. Like in all of his other movies.

Bascially Paul Naschy did movies about himself, by himself and around his own persona. Very few actors can handle this egomaniacal trip (look at Tom Cruise), but Naschy has such a cool charisma, nice beard and wide chest that he can do this completely without shame. This is about him fucking maidens, if you cut away the horror parts.

In this part of the saga Daninsky and some Hungarian chick travels to Japan to find a cure for his werewolfness. But like Europe, Japan is one of those parts of the worlds where the full moon appears several times a week and this means Daninsky gets a lot of yellow flesh to eat and lots of virgin-blood to suck (I’m sure those samurais were virgins to!). They meet up and be-friends Kian (Shigeru Amachi) who soon feels guilty over not stopping Daninsky’s slaughter of the proud Japanese people. The only salvation is an evil witch… but first some maidens to make love to!

Here we have a Daninsky-movie with, it seem, higher budget and longer shooting schedule. It’s a more even movie than some of the other flicks he made during the same period, but my main complain is that it’s slightly too long. There are one or two scenes to much of him trying to get someone in bed or just walking around whining about his werewolf-illness. The werewolf action is nice, with the normal amounts of blood and with a couple of very entertaining sequences when Naschy burst into a room (or camp), just throwing people in every direction and spitting blood. Pure poetry.

Naschy is one of those actors that live on his charisma and big ego, because in his case it never was a problem with a big ego. It just made everything he did even better, more colorful and spectacular. The Werewolf and the Magic Sword is not his best movie, but it’s a good-looking production with nice production values and Naschy having a ball in the Japanese setting.

As usual, it’s recommended to everyone with a great taste in movies – and awesome Spanish macho-actors.

Hunchback of the Morgue (1973)

Of all movies Paul Naschy made, Hunchback of the Morgue – in all it’s gore and blood – could be the most classic, most nostalgic, yes in a way: the most classy Naschy-movie ever made. Sure, it has some parts that feel unnecessary, but the good thing over-shadows the bad things in this tale of haunted love and a modern Frankenstein.

Naschy is Gotho, a hunchback working at the local hospital. He’s really a quite charming man, more then you are led to believe anyway – and of course more romantic than most other men. He falls in love with one of the patients, but she’s deadly ill and soon she dies, just seconds before he arrives with some fresh flowers. Stricken by sorrow he kills two of the staff and brings her body down in the catacombs under the hospital. His only real friend, one of the doctors, sees a brilliant opportunity to make his own dream come true and constructs a lab down there, trying to create new life from just the flesh of humans…

I’ve heard about Hunchback of the Morgue for many years, mostly because it’s one of the most legendary x-rentals ever released in Sweden (under the title Bårhusassistenten if I remember it correctly). But I never got around too watch the movie until now, but mostly because Naschy is one awesome actor. What strikes me the most with Hunchback is how big it is. We’re not talking about an epic here, but Javier Aguirre really uses the village, the city, to maximum. All the sets and locations look great and have a lot of atmosphere. The catacombs, a mix between real locations and carefully build sets is especially good.

This is also one of the goriest Naschy-movies I’ve seen, with some really nasty and graphic moments – from decapitations to belly’s ripped open. It’s never realistic of course, but that’s not important – as long as the blood flows. The infamous burning rats are a bad thing, but what’s done is done and what can we do now? Just close our eyes or pretend that they are advanced mechanical rats being sent to their destiny.

But it’s Paul Naschy who’s the best thing with the movie, with a quite complex character and very little of that cool overacting that he sometime can divulge himself in. I would say he’s sympathetic and well-written in the same characters that we once saw in the old Universal movies.

Hunchback of the Morgue lives up to its legendary hype, which is nice to experience for once. I great part of my little Naschy-collection.

A Dragonfly for each Corpse (1974)

I’ll have to admit that this review will lack one thing, a full understanding of the story. I watched it without subtitles, which usually isn’t a problem for me, but this time they talked so much and I guess I miss a lot of plot in that way. Once again León Klimovsky is back in the directors chair which makes A Dragonfly for each Corpse a handsome bastard to look at. Another handsome bastards is of course Paul Naschy as the cool, cigarre-smoking police investigating the dragonfly-murders. The murderer is killing of immoral people: prostitutes, drug addicts etc, and is leaving a plastic dragonfly on each body. More victims and more suspects show up…

Yeah, you can see for yourself. Of course the story is more convoluted than this, with a lot of characters, red herrings, murders and a sparkling and brilliant Naschy playing a pure good guy for once. What I especially like about it is his good relationship with the gay fashion designer Vittorio, who he seem to have no problem with at all – this is a bit unique because it’s almost standard that the macho police in these movies must show at least a little suspicion against the token gay character. A very good thing from writer Naschy himself.

The murders? Well, it’s a high bodycount. Often with axe, knife and one very dangerous umbrella. But except a graphic, and very crappy-looking, hand-chopping it’s almost nothing on screen. Everything happens off screen with some splashes of blood here and there. A disappointment after the extremely sleazy and bloody “Spanish giallo” Seven Murders for the Scotland Yard, also starring Naschy.

But if you don’t understand Spanish, like me, the main thing to watch this movie for is Naschy himself. Always up for a good fight with bad guys, chewing cigars and making sweet love to his girlfriend Erika Blanc. He’s a walking testosterone-sprinkler, and I just love him more and more. I don’t understand people who say he’s a bad actor, he’s not. He’s just Paul Naschy, and I rather see Paul Naschy doing his stuff than… there’s no one to compare with. Sorry. He’s the best.

Did I say I love him?

Dr. Jekyll Versus the Werewolf (1972)

Before I saw Dr. Jekyll Versus the Werewolf I had a vision of a totally different movie. Waldemar Daninsky with the alias of Dr Jekyll and when he transformed, he transformed into a werewolf with the alias of Mr Hyde. So wasn’t the case of course. Instead we have something that starts of like the normal Waldemar Daninsky-flick and then takes a quick turn to something else…

A British couple is going on a honeymoon in Hungary, their car breaks down in the forest (surprise, that has never happen in a Naschy-movie) and runs into a scary guy. They move along, chats with a guy at a hotel and continues the trip. After stopping at an old graveyard they’re attacked by a gang of bandits – but of course Waldemar Daninsky shows up and saves the day. But the husband is killed and Daninsky brings the women to his castle. He’s not a popular guy in the neighbourhood, because he’s a werewolf, and she brings him to London to meet the grandchild of THE famous Dr Jekyll, played by the great Jack Taylor… and there the shit hits the fan as usual!

León Klimovsky directs with a very steady hand and this movie really looks very good. A lot of the castle locations look gorgeous, but the hastily shot London-footage looks like the normal tourist-stuff we see in these movies. The rest is probably shot on soundstage in Spain. The first half feels exactly like a normal Daninsky-movie – mountain road, attack, castle, lynch-mob, macho-Naschy – but it because extra fun when he flees from there and ends up in party party party-London. The disco scene is way to short, but the whole storyline of Dr Jekyll trying to cure Daninsky from the werewolf-syndrome is fun and creative.

It has some blood, but no real gore. The werewolf-make up is as cool as it can be (I want one of those masks! Can’t anyone start to manufacture them?) and Naschy is great in the part. He actually plays three parts: Daninsky, the werewolf and Mr Hyde – and the latter character is a creepy guy with weird eyes and a pale face who strangles prostitutes and being rude and abusive to drunks.

Dr. Jekyll Versus the Werewolf is a very nice addition to the saga of Waldemar Daninsky.

La Herencia Valdemar (2010)

Nah. Bah. I'm not sure really. Or? Shit. Really, this is difficult. On one side La Herenica Valdemar is a prime example of classic Spanish horror, and with Paul Naschy in a supporting role (his last too). On the other side it's the first part of two movies, and if this one didn't leave so much hopla around the world, will we ever see a sequel?

The Valdemar Estate is not up for sale, but the owners - a strange organization - want's it valued and cataloged. The send the young and ambitious Luisa Lorente (Silvia Abascal) there, but she soon disappears after a terrifying experience and soon the president of the organization and a private investigator is on it's way. On the train the president tells him about the Valdemar legacy and it's a tragic story. The house was once owned by a young couple and uses it as an orphanage (of course, it's Spain...). They also gets some extra money by arranging seances for the rich and powerful. After some trouble, the husband gets in contact with Alistair Crowley... and then shit hits the fan!

Now, Le Hernenica Valdemar looks stunning. It's a beautiful piece of cinema, and it really feels old-fashioned. It has that wonderful European feeling. The pace is not especially fast, and they spend to much time showing the young couples life and troubles before the fun starts. They spend way to much time doing that, which probably is because it's meant to be the first part. Big mistake, because this means we get one seventy minutes of drama, and just thirty minutes of Crowley doing what he does best, demons, some gore and cool and well made visual effects. All this, in the finale, looks stunning - but it's probably not only me that asks why they couldn't have done the opposite: thirty minutes drama and seventy minutes horror (it even has some kinda zombie!)! Most of the story is also a flashback, and in the end it leads up to those horrible events that starts the show.

It's a lot of loose ends, and I'm almost willing to pray to Satan Almighty so they can get the money to do the sequel! The best thing with the movie is of course Paul Naschy. He looks frail and old here, not only because of the make-up, and moves slower. But he's still Naschy and injects so much humanity and layers in his character as the young couples manservant. He's in the whole movie, but the part isn't that big - but important and well written. Like in Rojo Sangre, he really shows the world what a master-actor he was, something that can be forgotten among all naked ladies, werewolf-masks, beards and fistfights.

La Herenica Valdemar is one part excellent horror movie, but also a big part disappointment. That last disappointing part could be saved and erased if they made the sequel, if not I'm afraid this will be more forgotten than it deserves.

Seven Murders for Scotland Yard (1971)

Jack el destripador de Londres is of course a fantastic title, but I will stick with Seven Murders for Scotland Yard just because I'm lazy! I've seen this a second time now, and I must say it's starting to get higher and higher up on my Naschy-list of cool movies. Sure, it's cheap and silly, but it also has a lot of bloody murders, nice locations and Naschy in full macho-mode. 

Paul Naschy plays a crippled ex-trapeze artist, Peter Dockerman, that lives a bitter and slightly alcoholic life in London with his even more bitter wife. He spends most of his time drinking in bars, trying to find a job and get into fights with other drunks. When his wife is murdered by a Jack the Ripper-copycat he becomes the main suspect himself, and has to find the killer before the killer finds another victim. And regarding that detail, he fails totally, because there's one murder after another on the cold and rainy streets of London...

Seven Murders is a cheap, silly, fucked up little crap-movie. But ya know, I love every second of it. Somehow reminds me of French Sex Murders, because of the cheap and gritty look, but it's a much better movie. The murders are plenty, the gore is cheesy and bloody, the acting is most of the time quite good - Naschy himself is always good - but one of the ladies overacts during a scene that I almost thought it was satire, parody, whatever. My favorite scene is when a chopped of head is being delivered to the police station by the killer, and while there's a dialogue in the foreground, a policeman is showing the head (who's in a hat box) to his colleagues in the background. It's like some scene from The Naked Gun!

There's a lot to laugh at, but in the end it's also a satisfying "Spanish giallo". There's a murder every ten-fifteen minutes, often gory, and between there's a lot of red herrings, a bar fight or two, a lot of cool location footage from London and Naschy walking around look sad because the police is after him. The final twist is good, and I already forgot who the real killer was, which for me is a good thing with a murder mystery. José Luis Madrid, the directors, keeps our interest up and I must say I'm impressed. What could have been a real snoozer is now a fun, entertaining and sleazy giallo-wannabe that deserves more respect. Buy it.It's out on a grey market dvd which is anamorphic widescreen and is perfectly passable for that price.

Vengeance of the Zombies (1973)

Okey, come on! Really! I read so many bad reviews of this movie, so I sat down with no expectations at all - and surprise, it's so far one of my favorite Naschy-movies ever! Once, on a Swedish forum, some retard started a petition to erase me from the earth, only because of my bad taste in movies (because I'm one of those that don't think that Kubricks The Shining is the best movie ever made). Maybe I have bad taste, but really... I don't give a fuck. So that's why I'm not ashamed to say that Vengeance of the Zombies is one of the best Naschy-movies I've seen - in it's own weird way.

The script is much more coherent than some people claim, though of course there's some big jumps in logic. Naschy plays Krisna, an indian guru with his base in London. There he have a little sect and lives a good life. But there's evil in the air, and a masked killer with a black cape and black gloves is killing people all over London! Sometime together with the resurrected body of a woman! Everytime he kills a woman, he makes zombies of them and uses them in his attacks.

Romy plays Elvire Irving, who's father and butler (?) get's murdered. She want's to calm down after this terrible incident and travels to the English countryside where Krisna has bought a house. But the murders continues, and something is lurking in the basement of the house... maybe a satanic sect worshipping the devil? Or the unknown killer? Or is Krisna hiding something?

Here we have 100 % entertainment. The script is a bit unfocused, but there's no problem understanding the storyline. A massive jazz score fits very good into the crazy story, and the use of slow-mo when the zombies arrives works very fine. There's more gore and blood in the latest couple of Naschy-movies I've seen and my favorite is a cool head-falling-of-body-scene that is a lot more effective than most of those I've seen so far.

What I love with Vengeance of the Zombies is the surreal and trippy feeling. There's slow-mo, dream-sequences, weird jazz, a truly strange scene where Naschy plays the devil, some quite not so surprising twists, the indian mumbojumbo, the blood and a stunning blu-ray release from BCI. I guess some people are missing the gothic feeling, but I felt this was a refreshing movie among the more slow-moving (but excellent) horror movies Naschy made before and after. The London-setting (which of course most of the time are stock footage) is nice and Naschy seem to have a lot of fun in three different roles.

Fantastic eurocult and something everybody should have in their collection!

Night of the Werewolf (1981)

What is it with Paul Naschy, cars stopping on a forest road and someone trying to rob the passengers? It's probably only my imagination, but it seems like that happen in at least fifty percent of all Naschy-movies I've seen! And yes, that also happens in Night of the Werewolf - directed, written and starring Naschy himself.

Countess Elisabeth Bathory (a brilliant Julia Saly) is standing in front of the judge. She's being sentence to life in prison, her friends and co-workers, among them Waldemar Daninsky, is executed. Many many years later a woman decides to wake them all up from the dead with black magic! Together with a couple of friends, she's going up the mountains to visit the old castle ruins where everyone is buried.

Daninsky is already awake actually, saves the girls from some evil robbers, and then invites them to his castle. But what he don't know is that Elisabeth Bathory is getting stronger and stronger, and after a human sacrifice and some nice black magic she's resurrected and plans to once again make Daninsky her slave...

First of all, Paul Naschy is magnificent. He has a screen presence like few other actors in his field. The script, written by the man himself, is good - but very similar to Naschy's other movies. Nothing original, but there's a lot of atmosphere and the Bathory-character is always cool to use in a horror movie. But have you seen one Naschy-movie you've seen this one too.

The first hour is a bit to generic. People walk around, Naschy looking macho, some nudity, Naschy transforms into a werewolf and not much blood. But then, when it's around 30-40 minutes left something happens. Bathory finally wakes upp and starts to attack the castle with her female vampire-friends, there's a nice zombie and even some blood! It also looks gorgeous, with wonderful sets and atmospheric lightning. There's some truly stunning images during this grand finale.

What I love about Naschy's Daninsky-character is that the werewolf-make up is sooooo cool. It's old-fashioned, but very effective. And when he growls in the darkness, with blood-drenched teeth... it's quite creepy and disturbing. He also has the physics to play a brutal werewolf, which of course helps.

Of course I own the blu-ray and Night of the Werewolf looks fantastic. Like many eurocult-movies the visuals and sound are rough, but this still can't take away the powerful bloodthirsty rage of Daninsky!