The Tomb of the Werewolf
Directed by Fred Olen Ray, Starring ( more like an appearance of)Paul Naschy,and some porn actors.
This movie starts off promising enough with a buxom young woman tied to a tree as she is being fondled by another buxom woman.Thinking she will get on Satan's good side she summons the dark Lord, so she can sacrifice the bounded beauty to him. Her plan backfires and instead she is cursed to forever bathe in human blood , if not her body will show it's true age. Elizabeth Batharoy now needs her intended gift to the devil for her own purposes .This scene is a flashback to introduce Elizabeth Batharoy, a historically accurate countess who bathed in the blood of virgins to keep herself looking young.An unnecessary flashback as it does nothing to advance the plot.
A young television producer, his broadcaster girl friend and a young news team are offered an assignment to follow the inheritor of the Drasinsky castle to Europe. Richard Demitski the sole living ancestor to Waldemar Drasinsky proudly exclaims that he was born and raised in Massachusetts, but some how lacks that strong accent. Go figure.Richard is excited to have the news team at his newly acquired home where they are searching for a treasure hidden somewhere on the castle's ground, and the camera will be rolling when they do . Kind of like a reality TV show. This is all an excuse for the actors?( I use this term loosely)to get down and dirty in the various rooms of the castle. This is the first Naschy film that I have seen where he does not get a chance to play hide the salami, as a rule if there was any horizontal dancing to be done, he was the one to lead. Actually there is very little of Naschy to be seen here,a little of him when he is Waldemar Drasinsky heart broken by the death of his beloved wife at his own hands. Drasinsky suffers from the incurable curse of being a werewolf when the moon shines full. Naschy has played the role of Waldemar Drasinsky a total of eleven different times, obviously he loves the character and brings his own style and interpretation of a monster with a concious to the screen. I hav'nt seen all of these films but the ones that I have seen,Naschy's character earned my sympathy and pity. Unfortunately I didn't feel that towards him this time, even when Drasinsky took on the curse to save his wife.Ironically as a werewolf he ended up taking her life anyways, a tragic tale but still presented emotionally empty. I believe because of the little screen time we get to spend with him, there is no reason to care for his actions. Also when he is seen , it is merely to show him maiming and killing the locals of a nearby village. Mostly the fodder here are young women in dresses, carrying baskets. There may be some Freudian mumble jumble bullshit representing a sort of sexual innuendo to Little Red Riding Hood. But I really don't think the film makers were that smart. Considering the acting skills of the others ivolved,look like they belong in a porno flick, they were definitely hired for their physical assets. What we do get instead is some good old fashion lesbian love, kinky lesbian action, a bimbo and a jock like asshole tango,and other displays of female flesh.
Mr. Naschy in the entire movie interacts with only one of these characters making it look like two different films edited together. I think director Fred Olen Ray was'nt sure what he wanted when he set out to make this film. Parts of it wants to be a porno, while another part wants to be a horror. But fails on both accounts, not very horrific or titillating.Next time Fred, don't leave us hanging like that.
My Thoughts:Olen Ray will never be an Oscar winning director, but man he needs to get his shit together. I enjoy seeing skin in horror films , it should almost be mandatory. But when it looks like your horror film is anxious to quickly get the characters paired up, you better be willing to show us something. When things start to heat up a little , the old fade to black was put to use. I recommend watching Night of the Erotic Dead or Porno Holocaust instead.
One, one transformation scene in this film. It was done decent enough, but was over so quickly if you blinked or taking a piss you would have missed it ( this is one of those movies you would'nt bother to press pause for ). I think I saw one C.G.I effect used, and that believe it or not was to show gun smoke after a hunter had taken a shot at the werewolf. At least it did'nt overpower the rest of the film like so many Hollywood films have done. Hee Hee.
My Rating: 2.5 Go Go Girls out of 5. ( I would have given it less, but it had lesbians )
