NOVEMBER 6 VHS MOVIE REVIEW : WEREWOLF WOMAN (1976)
From cultflicks.net
Believe it or not kids, there was once a day when porn was not a mouse click away. Back in those days, we had to find other ways to see boobs, and horror films provided that opportunity. I remember the joys seeing “The Hunger” for the first time, that sexy section of video took some wear and tear I can tell you. So why this relevant? “Werewolf Woman” is basically a softcore porn film masquerading as a horror. The film starts off with a naked woman dancing around a fire before she turns into a werewolf and kills some people.
Flash forward to the “modern” day where distant relative Daniella Neseri (Annik Borel), having been recently raped, now makes an emotional connection to her family’s past before going on a killing spree which includes a lot of the biting out of men’s’ throats. She does not actually turn into a were-wolf; she just acts like one. She is, however, cured when she falls in love with a stuntman. They run along sandy beaches and they laugh and blah blah blah as he jumps through windows and crashes burning motorcycles. Fortunately, before it turns into the prequel to The Notebook, she is raped by three men and her boyfriend is killed. This sets her off again and she ends up in an asylum – typical. This is campy 70’s horror with bright red blood and loads of pointless nudity. Best of all, it’s based on a true story, but any similarities between anyone living or dead is apparently purely coincidental.
Reason to Watch
Porn is pretty easy to get hold of these days, so the number one reason to see this film is out. So my vote goes for the story. Seeing grown women running around, naked, biting out people’s throats is just plain super.
Context
This is a typical 70′s exploitation-horror film staple of Rino Di Silvestro, whose other films included “The Erotic Dreams of Cleopatra”, “Sex Slayer,” and “Love and Death in a Women’s Prison.” The nudity goes beyond what would have been seen in English language horror films and was even dubbed a “video nasty” and banned in the UK.
Most memorable quote(s)
“I saw you making love with Fabin. It was obscene, disgusting, but you liked it.” “Daniella, did you see that fall? Wasn’t it gay!”
What you need to get through this movie
I suggest watching this movie like a teenager from the 80′s. That means a box of tissues and the video remote control so you can fast forward the boring medical stuff.
Trivia
Annik Borel (also in “Blood Orgy of the She Devils”) made two more movies before she quit acting never to be seen again. The film was marketed under several titles including “Daughter of a Werewolf,” “Naked Werewolf Woman,” “Terror of the She Wolf,” and bizarrely in America, “The Wolf Man.” It was also selected by Quentin Tarantino for the First Annual Quentin Tarantino Film Fest in Austin, Texas in 1996. Tarantino had actually never seen the picture before he screened it. He loved it so much that all subsequent Film Fests had a surprise movie added to the end of each all-nighter known as the “Wolf Woman” selection; defined as an outrageous exploitation film sure to wake up the audience. “Wolf Women” selections over the years have included “The Blood Spattered Bride” and “Mighty Peking Man.”
Educational Content
Trained stuntmen can fall off buildings, fly through windows, but can’t take a chair to the back.
You are going to be at least as crazy your ancestors.
Avoid nude women in the woods.
Don’t make a she-wolf give you a blowjob.
She-wolves have really hairy boobs.
Stunt men can’t resist jumping through windows to impress the ladies.
Justification for Rating
This film was a lot of fun, although I could have done with less nudity and more wolf, but I guess the costume and make-up department blew their load on the opening sequence. It’s a great tale of revenge, the wicked are punished and the only victim is everyone else.
NOVEMBER 6 VHS MOVIE REVIEW : WEREWOLF WOMAN (1976)
From thehorrordrunx.yuku.com
An exclusive TheHorrorDrunx.com article
by EL VAMPIRO
I honestly don't know how I went as long as I did without knowing about this film. Several years ago when I did see it for the first time on home video, I recall actually shouting out "YES!" and diving for the reverse scan button to replay a scene. This was less than three minutes into the movie! It is one of those diamond in the rough exploitation / horror film experiences that you long for and dream about finding.
Yes, it is trash. Certainly it leaves you feeling slightly dirty. Without a doubt it grabbed me by the neck from the first scene, shook me until my senses were rattled, and didn't loosen its rottweiler like grip for the next 98 minutes. But wow, just the first seven minutes is worth the price of admission alone!
Originally titled LA LUPA MANNARA in its home country of Italy, the film has gone by many titles, including WEREWOLF WOMAN, DAUGHTER OF A WEREWOLF, TERROR OF THE SHE WOLF, and my own personal favorite NAKED WEREWOLF WOMAN. Unlike other movies that have a great title but fall short, this one delivers.
A woman (Annik Borel) who believes herself to be the reincarnation of one of her werewolf ancestors, hunts men to pick up for quickie encounters. However, because of a sexual trauma of some kind that happened in her past, when they start to get down to the nitty gritty she goes insane and transforms into a naked she-wolf that rips their throats out with her teeth. Will she finally find true love while running down a beach at sunset in slow motion (in a see through blouse) with a virile movie stunt man that she meets by chance? I won't ruin it for you... I'll just say hope for the best, but expect the worst. You've got to see this movie to believe it.
Now if you are a fan of Grindhouse movies at all, you no doubt have crossed paths with writer /director Rino Di Silvestro before. He is one of those guys that caters to a few very specific exploitation niches in the sexploitation / horror / Nazi Chicks-In-Chains sub-genres. His titles over the years have usually been pretty brutal, bordering on the offensive and majorly politically incorrect. They have included DEPORTED WOMEN OF THE S.S. SPECIAL SECTION (1976), WOMEN IN CELL BLOCK 7 (1973), RED LIGHT GIRLS and several others. He has also been a much in demand uncredited ghost writer on an amazing 200+ screenplays for other peoples movies. Sadly Rino Di Silvestro died just a few months ago on October 3, 2009 (of cancer) and his passing went largely unnoticed outside of his core group of cult movie fans.
ABOVE: What would an Italian WEREWOLF WOMAN
exploitation movie be without the prerequisite
giri on girl scene in a mental institution?
The lead WEREWOLF WOMAN actress is none other than double-hot French import Annik Borel. Described most often as voluptuous, statuesque, buxom and gorgeous, if there was ever a woman equipt and destined to rip her clothes off while dancing around a campfire and transform into a werewolf woman, she was it. Director Di Silvestro was quoted as saying about her: "Even with no make-up, she had an amazing wolf-like quality. She looked like a wolf." What he meant here wasn't at all a left handed complement, because Annik is a very attractive woman. There is something very primal about her though. Lord do I wish I had been the make-up guy that applied the wolf hair to her nubile nakedness on this film.
Unfortunately, Annik Borel only appeared on screen a small handful of times in her career, the most high profile one being an episode of the TV show THE ODD COUPLE. Out of those, she only ever made one other horror film in her too short career, the awful Ted V. Mikels BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE DEVILS (1972). But don't get your hopes up even with that one, because she was only a leggy background player in a witches coven scene. Then, she just seemed to vanish off the face of the earth. Several film fanatics have tried to track her down over the years, but with no luck. It is a mystery.
Other members of the international cast of WEREWOLF WOMAN include Czech actress Dagmar Lassander (who has appeared in everything from horror films to movies in the Emmanuel series), Dario Argento movie veteran actor Tino Carraro, and several other familiar faces from Italian cinema.
ABOVE: Wait! Is there a Lizard on Girl
scene in this movie too?
There I go saying "cinema" as if this is a European art film or something. Nope, never forget that it is just one GREAT exploitation horror (with a lot of skin showing) Grindhouse sweat inducer!
When Quentin Tarantino held his first annual Grindhouse film festival a few years ago, he threw this outrageous movie on the screen as a surprise entry during an all-night marathon screening. Quintin himself hadn't ever seen the film yet, but was just looking for something completely insane to liven up the weary audience. The crowd and Quentin's reaction was that they all went bugshit crazy over this one and it turned out to be a favorite of the festival. Ever since then, when he springs a surprise movie on audiences at his Grindhouse screenings, he refers to it as a "Wolf Woman secret selection".
A bit more trivia here: When that unoriginal stealer of all others ideas, Rob Zombie, wanted to kiss Quentin's ass and get on his good side, he pitched the idea of doing a trailer for the movie GRINDHOUSE that was a cross between WEREWOLF WOMAN and ILSA: SHE-WOLF OF THE S.S. (another of Quentin's guilty favorites). I guess the brown nosing worked, because Zombie did the WOLF WOMEN OF THE S.S. trailer segment.
I'll warn you about WEREWOLF WOMAN though... This lovely bit of sexy Italian horror might just also cater to a few bizarro fetishistic leanings with many audience members. The Bride Of Frankenstein had Elsa Lanchester, the vampire fans have the alluring Vampira and the vampire ladies of Hammer horror movies, and with WEREWOLF WOMAN now the werewolf fans have a sexy poster girl too in Annik Borel.
Watching this movie was a sweet glistening vision of days gone by exploitation that you will have to see to believe. Get a copy on DVD for your collection and it will fill a hallowed place on your shelf. Or, if you are a cheapskate, NetFlix it. You must see this and you must inflict it on as many of your friends and acquaintances as possible by screening it for them too. You'll be glad you did!
"My name is Vampiro and I am a Horror Drunx"
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