Curse of the Devil (a.k.a. Return of the Walpurgis)
(Paul Naschy; 1973)
(Anchor Bay Entertainment)
-Overview-
When a medieval knight condemns a coven of witches to death, they place a curse on his bloodline that will come true many years later when one of his blood kills one of theirs (the witches/Gypsies), seemingly by accident. Years later an ancestor whilst hunting a wild dog on his property unwittingly kills a local peasant man. The evil Gypsy witches upon discovering that the dead man is one of their own sends a nubile young seductress to the noble’s estate with the intention of placing a curse on him via a wolf’s skull. She does so and the man is transformed into a werewolf, doomed to transform into a beast and kill every full moon. Meanwhile, a crazed killer is loose on his property, hacking people’s heads off with a wood axe. Mayhem ensues.
Paul Naschy’s films are strictly love them or hate them fare (the old stuff, anyways). I am of the former mindset. His films are moody and visceral and virtually every pretty young female (and he casts a LOT of them) gets stark raving naked. The effects are cheesy, and the blood looks like red paint, but Naschy still manages to make it all look good and albeit not convincing, entertaining. The wolfman makeup is acceptable as are the severed heads, and the film just sort of has a broodish air about it. Curse of the Devil is the follow up to the excellent Werewolf Shadow (a.k.a. Night of the Walpurgis, Werewolf vs. Vampire Woman). If you consider yourself a horror fan, you owe it to yourself to check Naschy’s stuff out.
-Sound-
No noticeable flaws. Mono.
-Picture-
A decent print. Presented in Widescreen 1.85:1.
-Special Features-
- Theatrical trailer
- Poster / Photo gallery
- Return of the Werewolf featurette
-Packaging-
Standard DVD keep case. Atrocious cover. The included card insert with the original artwork would have been preferable.
Sound: 5
Picture: 5
Packaging: 4
(Rating scale is out of 10, with 1 being the worst and 10 the best)