"Werewolf Shadow"
Review Written by Alien Redrum
Distributed by Anchor Bay
Runtime - 95 Minutes - Not Rated

Writers: Paul Naschy and Hans Munkel
Director: León Klimovsky

Cast:
Paul Naschy as Waldemar Daninsky
Gaby Fuchs as Elvira
Barbara Capell as Genevieve Bennett
Patty Shepard as Countess Wandessa d'Arville de Nadasdy
Andrés Fuerno as Inspector Marcelle

The Story...

The movie opens with two gentlemen getting ready to perform an autopsy. The story has it that the deceased man (Paul Naschy) on the autopsy table is *gasp* a werewolf! One of the men scoffs at this notion and to prove to the other that the dead guy is not a werewolf, the doctor proceeds to remove the bullet! Well, we know how this goes.
After a few deaths, the wolf is off and running.

The next scene shows our heroine Elvira (Gaby Fuchs) telling her boyfriend a torrid little tale involving the evil Countess Wandessa (Patty Shepard), dark rituals, virgin's blood, vampires, and the silver cross knife that killed her (the
Countess). Not only has Elvira figured out where the Countess' body lies, she plans on making a road trip to check it out.

Elvira and her friend Genevieve (Barbara Capell) go searching for the silver cross knife and low and behold, they get lost! Low on gas, far from town, and short on a sense of direction, they investigate a barn-like house they happen to run into. There we meet Waldemar Daninsky (Paul Naschy). Waldemar is an author who lives around these parts and he is more than happy to have Elvira (pronounced Elveera) and Genevieve over his house for dinner and company. There is a downside,
of course. Waldemar has no phone, no electricity and no car. The ladies can't turn the man down. Shocking.

After a strange dinner, a stranger event that night involving Waldemar's insane sister, and yet a stranger event involving chains (again with Waldemar's nutty sis) the next day, the three go off to find the Countess's grave. After a few minutes of searching, they find it. Strangely enough, Elvira picks this time to go off exploring. Oddly, she wants nothing to do with the digging up of the grave of Countess Wandessa. Wasn't this whole field trip her idea in the first place??

So off goes Elvira, leaving Genevieve and Waldemar to deal with the grave. After
some digging and such, they lift the lid and their lies the Countess. She's dead,
she's a mummy and a silver cross protrudes from her chest. What's a woman to do?
Don't worry, Genevieve knows EXACTLY what do to. Pull out the cross of course! In
the process of pulling out the cross, Genevieve not only cuts her hand, but her
blood drips into the Countess's mouth. Oh no! Genevieve tells Waldemar, "The
legend says if the silver cross were pulled out of her chest, she would regain her
power. And then it says, the breath that will bring her back to life will be red."
Oh no!

Don't worry, it's just a legend says Waldemar. For a werewolf, this guy sure is
narrowminded.

So starts the party.

Thoughts...

Where to begin? I'll make it simple.

This movie is not good.

All this movie has is potential. But that is it.

I was excited to see this movie. I mean, can you go wrong with a werewolf fighting
a vampire? Lesbian vampires? Hot women?
It should have everything I need! This SHOULD be my favorite movie of all time!
But it just left me hanging.

The movie drags on and on with little action. For a running time of only 95
minutes, it felt like 3 hours. I kept waiting for something to happen. When
something did happen, it was too short. Very disappointing.

I will say one good thing about this movie though. Everytime the vampires came on
screen it got a little creepy. There is something about creepy music and surreal
slow mo that gets me everytime. But that's it. Not much else good about it.
Except for Genevieve. She is smoking hot.

Picture...

Hey, it's Anchor Bay here. The picture is awesome. There are a few (and I mean
very few) spots here and there. But for the most part Anchor Bay kicks tail as
usual.

Sound...

The soundtrack is presented in English dubbed Dolby Digital Mono. I had no problems
understanding any of the actors and I didn't notice any highs or lows during my
watching of the film.

Special Features...

Interview With the Werewolf - A conversation with Paul Nashy.
Theatrical Trailer
TV Spot
Paul Nashy Poster Gallery
Paul Nashy Bio

I enjoyed the interview immensly. It's about 15 minutes long and subtitled, but a
pretty informative interview. Paul Nashy is a pretty interesting guy.

The poster gallery is very cool too. There are quite a few posters to go through.

Probe Results...

Movie */***** - A blown opportunity
Video ****/***** - Looks fantastic for it's age
Sound ***/***** - No major complaints, just a little flat.
Extras *****/***** - The extras get a perfect score because most studios wouldn't
even put on a trailer for an old horror movie. Anchor Bay not only threw on a
trailer, but a tv spot, a bio, a poster gallery and an interview. That, as usual,
is going above and beyond.