Director: Carlos Aured
Year: 1973
Country: Spain/Mexico
Alternate Titles: El retorno de Walpurgis; The Black Harvest of Countess Dracula; The Return of Walpurgis; Return of the Werewolf
Genre: Werewolf
Plot:
After accidentally shooting an intruder on his land, a man tries to leave his castle home to recuperate only to run into a young woman out on the road, and after taking her home finds she has carried out a curse to turn him into a werewolf and tries to fight off his killer urges around the family before they discover his secret.
Review:
There's a lot to like about this one. One of the film's greatest strengths lies in its exploiting of the essential sleaze aspects since this provides an ample showing of both nudity and gore. There are a large amount of really nice-looking women going unclothed periodically in this one, and there's full-frontal nudity in this on many occasions. As there are several sex scenes and a mass orgy scene, there's really nothing in here that couldn't be spruced up with nudity. The other big factor, the gore, is nicely staged in here and might be the goriest entry in the series. There's a huge amount of throat-and-neck biting, a couple of face scratches, a few get their heads sliced open and one gets their head crushed with a large rock. In addition, there's also gore in here that wasn't committed by the werewolf, including some stabbings with a knife, a wolf's skull plunged deeply into a chest, a scythe stabbed into a chest, and one person set on fire. The gory aftermath of several victims killed off-screen but shown with horribly mangled and rotting faces and bodies are also included, giving this a real heaping of blood that's quite refreshing.
There’s also a lot to like with the lead-up to these moments in the actual attacks. The scenes are pretty creepy at times, from the massacre at the actor's campsite being a great highlight as the driving wind, spooky forest setting, and low light, complemented with off-screen wolf howls and a mild jump during the initial attack bring out a lot of suspense in the scene. Also quite nice was the young couple killed off in their home, as the sudden appearance of the wolf by smashing through a window into the room and the ensuing kills complimenting a great sequence. The film is also wonderfully atmospheric, with plenty of old-school Gothic tones and vibes present in the film, mostly in the sequences of the coven looking on over their curse. With the swirling fog and back-lit, flowing blouses atop a wooden hilltop, it creates a chilling atmosphere. The forest areas at night are wonderfully shot, and look spectacular with the various confrontations between him and the gypsies or the locals looking for the culprit unaware of his true identity.
It also has plenty to like on its nicely original and clever plot. With the backstory in place due to the prologue featuring him hunting the witches down and killing them off, the addition of a Satanic coven and their revenge thrust into a Gothic werewolf story is nicely integrated into that they’d want to seek revenge on his descendent. Being unaffected by other means and only driven by the curse placed on him by outside forces, this is quite enjoyable on its own yet highlights the main flaw here in its highly improbable storyline. The concept of the curse coming from the gypsies for shooting their kind or from the Satanic coven for killing off their leader serve as viable options yet the film never chooses which one to attribute since they’re both mentioned, and the clumsiness of taking a skull along to cause it to be enacted just comes off as clunky. That also causes the only other problem in that it has somewhat clumsy pacing, dragging itself out with scenes that go way too long or don’t need to be there other than mere cannon fodder which can make this feel quite bland at times. However, these aren’t that detrimental overall.
Overview: ****/5
With all the elements needed for a great film found here in abundance, this is one of the best entries in the series. Fans of the others will have a lot to love here, as there's really nothing that would disappoint them in the slightest. Highly recommended, as well as to those with a passing interest in these kinds of movies.
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