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The Werewolf vs. Vampire Woman
[Madacy]
1970; color
Directed by Leon Klim
Starring: Paul Naschy, Gaby Fuchs & Andrew Reese
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As the movie opens, we see a doctor and his assistant chatting about the lifeless body on the table in front of them. The doctor explains that the dead guy, Waldemar Daninsky, was accused of being a werewolf—while he was alive, presumably—before being shot and killed with a pair of silver bullets. (Silver bullets being a sure sign that there's werewolfery afoot.) In the name of science the doctor has decided to remove the bullets, thus proving the man was not in fact a werewolf. How exactly the removal of the bullets proves anything, except that the doctor aced bullet removal 101 in medical school, I'm not exactly sure but let's not dwell on that. (There's like 80 minutes of film left!) Of course, the laws of irony coupled with the oh-so-convenient appearance of a full moon prove his theory wrong in short order, as the man turns into a werewolf within seconds of the bullets being removed and proceeds to add two more victims to his previous life's body count. While fleeing the lab, the monster dispatches a nubile red riding hood type for no good reason and at that point the credits roll. Fast forward to some French nightclub where we meet Elvira, a sexy French college student, and her beau, Marcel. Over drinks and dancing, the two discuss her academic interests, which include studying the history of dead vampire countesses. Elvira also tells her man that she and another nosy, sexy French college student, Genevieve, are planning a trip to the tomb of the specific vampire countess that has struck their fancy, Countess Wandessa. The very next day, as the girls are searching for the burial ground, they happen across a somewhat dilapidated structure and decide to look around for someone to point them in the tomb's direction. Luckily enough, there just happens to be a swarthy guy (which we recognize as the human form of Waldemar the werewolf) lurking in the shadows. He introduces himself to Elvira and, after hearing the girl's plans, offers to let them spend the night in his creepy, fog filled mansion. For some reason they accept and, after spending a somewhat restless night being hassled (and in Elvira's case felt up) by Waldemar's castle-bound mentally challenged sister, the trio of thrill seekers set out for the tomb and have no problem finding it. They decide to open the coffin and when they do, they're greeted by the countesses decomposed corpse, replete with a fancy, totally not decomposed, silver crucifix stuck in the chest cavity. Spunky Genevieve grabs the crucifix, somehow cutting herself in the process and - in a totally Friday The 13th-esque fashion - drips blood directly onto the corpse. And we all know what happens when fresh young blood meets a musty ol' dead vampire's corpse right? Wacky hijinks ensue! And because this is a Spanish film from the early '70s the hijinks are a little wackier, and much more slow paced, than your typical American monster movie of the era. What I've laid out above is really only the set-up portion of the plot, too; let's not forget that the girls don't even know their new friend is a werewolf and no one has been vampirized yet. Plus we've got to get around to the versus part where the werewolf and vampire woman face off in a fight to their respective violent and bloody deaths. Well, the movie doesn't exactly end that way but, rest assured, at some point werewolf does meet vampire and by the end of the movie both are dead. (For now. I mean, they were both dead at the start of this film as well, so there's no reason they can't be brought back to life again for a sequel.) This is actually the first movie I've seen that features Paul Naschy as the werewolf but a quick visit to the ever helpful IMDB told me that this isn't the first - or last - time he's inhabited that role. While The Werewolf vs. Vampire Woman does tend to drag in spots, and some of the action is almost impossible to make out due to the fact that much of this was seemingly filmed in total darkness, I definitely enjoyed it and look forward to seeing more entries from Naschy's extensive filmography.
—Bunny
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