Curse of the Devil (1977)

Curse of the Devil (1973) ** (out of 4) Disappointing entry in Paul Naschy's Waldemar Daninsky series has his character falling victim to a curse put on his family centuries earlier. It turns out Satan worshipers cursed him so now each time the full moon rises he turns into a werewolf. It seems his only saving grace will come from the beautiful woman who loves him. CURSE OF THE DEVIL, also known as RETURN OF THE WEREWOLF, doesn't have too much going for it thanks in large part to a rather slow pace that never really leads to any excitement and a screenplay that seems to try and do too much. The best parts of the story deals with the curse being put on Daninsky but after this there's just a bunch of stuff thrown in that often doesn't make too much sense or adds up to very little. This includes just about everything dealing with the axe and machete carrying maniacs who pop up every now and then. Another negative thing is that the filmmakers were obviously working on a very low-budget but they don't do much with it. Most of the werewolf transformation scenes look pretty cheap and none of the attacks are staged very well. The actual look of the werewolf is quite good as there's a lot more hair this time out and there are several scenes where the blood just gets caught in it for a rather nice effect. The death scenes aren't all that memorable but I'm guessing a lot of this is due to the small budget. Naschy is in fine form as usual and there are some beautiful woman around him who constantly get naked but outside of this the supporting players really don't add too much. There's some nice atmosphere in a few scenes but in the end there's just not enough that works here.

"El Retorno De Walpurgis" aka. "Curse Of The Devil" of 1973 is already the seventh film in which Spanish Horror/Exploitation legend Paul Naschy plays Werewolf Waldemar Daninski. These Waldemar Daninski films (many of them carry an "Hombre Lobo" title) are not exactly connected with each other (some of them play in the past, some in the present), but they all revolve around Waldemar Daninski, a usually kind-hearted man who is turned into a Werewolf by a curse. Unlike the title might make believe "El Retorno De Walpurgis" is not a direct sequel to the foregoing "La Noche De Walpurgis" (aka "The Werewolf Vs. Vampire Women") of 1971, the most famous of the Waldemar Daninski films. While "La Noche..." played in the present (1971), this film takes place in the past, presumably in the late 19th century. It is also not quite clear whether the Waldemar Daninski in this film is the same, or an ancestor of the other - he has quite the same traits of character, however.In medieval times knight Irenius Daninski (Paul Naschy) rid the world of a coven of devil-worshipers when he killed their leader in battle, and had his witch wife burned and their followers hanged. Before being burned at the stake however, the devil-worshiping lady put a curse on Daninski's family, vowing to be back for revenge... Several centuries later, the kind-hearted Waldemar Daninski (also Naschy) lives in the castle... More than its predecessors, "El Retorno De Walpurgis" gives a little background information about how the Daninsky-curse came to existence. The film is quite typical for a Naschy-flick. On the one hand the story is often extremely cheesy, but on the other hand it has moments of great style. As far as I am considered, a Naschy flick is always worth watching, as they mostly provide a great atmosphere, and practically always provide two elements that all my fellow Exploitation-enthusiasts should appreciate: Loads of sleaze and female nudity, as well as stylish (if sometimes cheesy) gory outbursts. And this is definitely the case with "El Retorno De Walpurgis". The film is filled with gore scenes, which are quite nicely done for a budget that was supposedly quite low, and all the female characters have exhibitionist tendencies, most memorably the stunningly beautiful Maritza Olivares and Fabiona Falcón. The fact that the werewolf-makeup is not exactly frightening does in no way lessen this film's cult-value. Low-budget Spanish Horror-exploitation from the 70s is a supremely entertaining kind of cinema, and Paul Naschy is its king. While this "Retorno De Walpurgis" may not be a must-see, it is definitely a highly entertaining film that my fellow Eurohorror buffs should enjoy! Paul Naschy Forever!

The previous reviewer was somewhat coy. Putting the curse on poor Valdemar fortunately requires a well-endowed coven to have a Satanic orgy, which is indeed a delightful slice of 70s Gothic-erotica.The opening medieval fight scene really lets you know what you're in for. It makes 'Monty Python & the Holy Grail' look like 'Gladiator'. Superb badly-dubbed dialogue throughout. Tasty variety of buxom Spanish maidens thrust into the action, to keep things bouncing along. Most shameless ketchup gore effects imaginable. I especially liked the killing of the tipsy woodsman in his house (towards the end) - he really looks as if someone's just rubbed a very saucy pizza all over his face. And watch out for Valdy's fantastic flying leaps - who would have imagined werewolves could swoop so gracefully into action?Worth watching for the cleavage alone. Awoooooo...

On the surface, this movie uses the same basic plot as several other of Jacinto Molina's movies ... he is cursed with lycanthropy and must find a woman who loves him enough to kill him and end the curse. However, it is the setting and the back story which makes "Curse of the Devil" stand out.Four hundred years ago, an ancestor of Daninsky executed a bunch of satanic witches who swore a rather drawn-out and unfrightening curse upon him. One day, Waldemar is out hunting a wolf and is shocked and saddened when he shoots it and discovers that it is a man. Apparently he didn't know he was hunting a werewolf (why was he using silver bullets then?), and he also didn't know that the person he killed was a descendant of the previously mentioned witches. As a result of this, the witches finally take their revenge upon him, sending one of their minions to curse him on the night of the Walpurgis ...This yet another stand-alone movie which doesn't appear to fit in with the rest of the Waldemar Daninsky saga. However, it can be thought of as an improved remake of his first movie "Mark of the Wolfman", and it kind of works as a historical prequel to the other movies as well. It's certainly one of the more entertaining Daninsky movies ... the opening sequence is one of the funniest things I've ever seen (unintentionally, of course), but mostly due to the awful dubbing rather than anything else. Yes, awful dubbing. Awful, awful. Bleurgh. In fact, all pretty much all the problems here seem to be caused with the dubbing. I believe that in it's original language this may in fact be (shock horror) a GOOD horror film. Often these movies can feel like a bit of a chore to watch, but not this one! The period costumes and settings are realistic and cool. There's a very nice castle, for all you archaeologists out there. Most of the women once again wear those flowing sheer nightgowns which Jacinto Molina seems to love so much ... and they, of course, throw themselves at Waldemar screaming "deflower me! deflower me!" The acting seems decent all round, but you can't really tell due to the terrible, terrible dubbing. Director Carlos Aured worked with Molina on several movies, but this was the only Waldemar Daninsky movie he directed -- he did later do some uncredited work on Alice Cooper's "Leviatán". His directing is pretty good for a Daninsky movie, although the editing and placement of the scenes is a little off sometimes."Curse of the Devil" is one of the better Daninsky movies of the seventies, and certainly among the more entertaining. And it has a great ending, too.