THE PAUL NASCHY COLLECTION II: HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE (1972)/A DRAGONFLY FOR EACH CORPSE (1973)/THE DEVIL'S POSSESSED (1974)/EXORCISM (1975)/THE WEREWOLF AND THE YETI (1975) Blu-ray
Director(s): Javier Aguirre/León Klimovsky/Juan Bosch/Miguel Iglesias
Scream Factory/Shout! Factory

Scream Factory's PAUL NASCHY COLLECTION II upgrades one of the BCI discs to HD and debuts four other titles never before available legitimately in the digital realm to Blu-ray.

THE HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE is Gotho (Naschy), a pathetic lab flunky in a modern clinic looming in the hills far above a quaint German village. Abused by the local schoolchildren, the young medical students, and his fellow orderlies alike, Gotho's only source of comfort is childhood friend Ilse (María Elena Arpón, TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD) on an extended stay at the clinic due to a tubercular infection; especially after Ilse's boyfriend Udo (Fernando Sotuela) takes a drunken fall and kills himself after "winning" a drinking game at the local pub. When Ilse dies, Gotho is driven to murder two of his colleagues when they prepare to dissect her. Hiding Ilse's body in the inquisition's catacombs beneath the village, Gotho sets about getting even with others who have spurned him and his love, including medical student Hans (Kino Pueyo, THE LEGEND OF BLOOD CASTLE). With the police (HORROR OF THE ZOMBIES' Manuel de Blas and SATANIK's Antonio Pica) suspecting him of the killings, Gotho seeks the protection of Dr. Orla (Alberto Dalbes, TENDER AND PERVERSE EMMANUELLE) who takes advantage of Gotho's naivete and agrees to bring Ilse back to life if he lets him and colleague Dr. Tauchner (Vic Winner, VENGEANCE OF THE ZOMBIES) use the catacombs for their experiments in creating artificial life. When the two doctors realize success in creating a small amorphous but organic piece of living matter with an accelerating rate of gestation and growth, Orla first presses Gotho to obtain dead bodies to feed the creature only to realize that it requires living food that Gotho must obtain from the nearby girl's reformatory run by Tauchner's girlfriend Frieda (Maria Perschy, THE PEOPLE WHO OWN THE DARK). When Gotho meets the sympathetic and loving Elke (Rosanna Yanni, FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY TERROR), he is torn between the affection she offers and his devotion to Ilse and the horror it entails as Orla's creature grows stronger and hungrier.

Riffing on Victor Hugo's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" with a necrophilia twist inspired by Naschy's recollection of a macabre morgue attendant, THE HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE is perhaps the most successful of Naschy's films outside of the Waldemar Daninsky movies in which he depicts an outcast character driven to madness and behavior he finds repulsive by oppressive and intolerant forces. After setting up the story of Gotho as a macabre character study, the film veers into mad scientist territory, offering up more opportunities for some surprisingly graphic (for the time) gore – those who hate animal violence will find a sequence involving real rats a very unpleasant experience even though Naschy himself was on the receiving end of several real bites from the sewer rats – but little in the way of exploitable nudity (presumably taking a step back after some controversy with Naschy and director Javier Aguirre's prior production COUNT DRACULA'S GREAT LOVE). As with some of the other Naschy genre efforts, second-string hero Winner is on hand to take care of Naschy's love interest when he makes his redemptive sacrifice, which has the side effect of splitting the lead female role into two roles that offer the dependable Yanni and Perschy little to do but run around corridors screaming. Jess Franco regular Antonio Mayans (OASIS OF THE ZOMBIES) has a small role as one of the medical students, and much of the film's crew was carried over from COUNT DRACULA'S GREAT LOVE including production manager Francisco Lara Polop who would make his mark on the Spanish horror genre with the Scooby Doo-esque gothic MURDER MANSION the same year.

Released theatrically in the U.S. by Jerry Gross, THE HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE came to VHS intact under the title RUE MORGUE MASSACRES in a big box from All Seasons Entertainment. While Tripictures in Spain gave us a non-anamorphic DVD of the covered Spanish version, Germany's Anolis Entertainment presented the uncovered version in a pricey limited edition anamorphic DVD with tons of extras including a German-language, English-subtitled commentary by Naschy. Stateside, the legally-dubious MYA Entertainment converted the PAL master of the uncovered version to NTSC with some stuttering pans that added insult to injury with a poorly-translated English subtitle track. The first legitimate American digital release of the film, Scream's 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen is miles ahead of the DVD editions but with quite a bit of room for improvement. A disclaimer before the menu screens on all five discs in the set says that Shout! had to make do with the masters provided by the rights holders who would not allow the original negatives to be shipped from Spain so they could oversee their own transfers; indeed, these HD masters were prepared a decade ago by Victory Films for BCI's Spanish horror series (HUNCHBACK being part of the second string of titles that they did not release when the series was abandoned). The image is crisp and colorful but has not been as cleaned up as the masters that did make it to DVD from BCI so there are plenty of white specs throughout the presentation (what looked like a softish video insert early on was revealed to either be an out-of-focus shot or an optically-enlarged and reframed one when two more shots of the same location likely shot at the same time were just as soft). The disc includes two encodes of the film – covered (82:06) and uncovered (82:04) – with the sex scene between Naschy and Yanni (already abbreviated in all cuts due to how unconvincing Naschy's prosthetic hump looked on film) in full HD on the covered version and sourced from presumably the German DVD for the uncovered version (the 22 second scene offering only an oblique shot of Yanni's bare breasts before cutting to the next scene). Both versions are viewable with English and Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono tracks and optional English subtitles (translating the Spanish track and without SDH notations unlike the earlier set). Both tracks are a bit hissy and scratchy, being derived from optical tracks that were probably about as well-preserved as the image track.

HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE is the only film in the set to be accompanied by an audio commentary by Naschycast podcasters Rod Barnett and Troy Guinn who had recorded three tracks for the earlier set. They reveal that the film started production during a hiatus in COUNT DRACULA'S GREAT LOVE after a few cast members were injured in a car accident on the way to the set. They conjecture that Naschy had a few scripts ready to go at a moment's notice as funding became available but are uncertain as to whether Naschy and Aguirre would have made the film next had it not been for the accident, and are of the opinion that this is the more successful and persuasive venture. They cover the anecdote that inspired the character and whether Gotho is more villain than hero, and the fine line that Naschy as writer and star walks throughout the film in regard to that distinction. They also provide plenty of the usual biographical and filmography information on the Naschy regulars onscreen as well as their other contributions to the genre. Other extras include the Spanish opening credits (2:11) – the opening credits on both covered and uncovered versions are in English – the Spanish "fin" card (0:30), Spanish intertitles (0:19) denoting locations, as well as Spanish and English export trailers (6:11) and a stills gallery (3:44).

In A DRAGONFLY FOR EACH CORPSE, "The Dragonfly Killer" has been on a mission to "clean up the city" of deviants, brutally murdering pimps, prostitutes, drug addicts, and perverts of all social classes and leaving a bloodstained dragonfly with each body. Tough Paolo Scaporella (Naschy) is given the case by the police commissioner (Mariano Vidal Molina, CURSE OF THE DEVIL) after the police commander's son is axed along with a pair of prostitutes during a pot party. The only clue is an haute couture button clutched in the victim's hand which suggests the killer is a woman or wearing a woman's coat. Professor Capitelli (Eduardo Calvo, THE BLUE EYES OF THE BROKEN DOLL) draws a connection between the dragonflies and ancient Chaldean rites but soon finds his own necrophiliac kink implicating him when a prostitute (María Vidal, NIGHT OF THE SEAGULLS) playing dead in a coffin is dismembered with a hatchet. Within the high society circle of Paolo's fashion designer wife Silvana (Erika Blanc, THE DEVIL'S NIGHTMARE), there are as many suspects as social transgressors, including playboy architect Pietro (Angel Aranda, SATAN'S BLOOD) and his swinging wife Claudia (Susana Mayo), lecherous Edmundo (Ricardo Merino, INQUISITION) and his wife Ingrid (Maria Kosti, VENGEANCE OF THE ZOMBIES) who is having an affair with a crossdressing drug pusher (José Canalejas, HORROR EXPRESS), and fey designer Vittorio (Ramón Centenero, THE RETURN OF THE EVIL DEAD) who traces the source of the distinctive button and may pay with his life.

As with a lot of Spanish genre films made during the Franco regime, censorship extended to the scripting stage with many films lensed in Spain but set in other countries (WEREWOLF SHADOW in rural France, TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD in Lisbon, etc.). A Spanish example of the giallo, A DRAGONFLY FOR EACH CORPSE is set in Milan and attempts to make itself more Italian than most Italian examples which tended to lean towards the cosmopolitan. The investigation scenes tend towards the standard police procedural but the filmmakers also seem to have been aware that the Italian poliziotteschi (the Italian title was IL GIUSTIZIERE SFIDA LA POLIZIA) was supplanting the giallo and gave Naschy's cop plenty of opportunities to be beaten up and rough up various suspects. For a giallo, the film oddly does not linger too much on the more fleshy vices of its victims, but that is perhaps in keeping with the Spanish genre practice of shooting covered and uncovered versions of scenes for censorship purposes, keeping such scenes short and self-contained for easier editing. The solution to the mystery is really no more muddled than many of the middle-ground Italian examples. A Profilmes production directed with a modicum of style by Naschy regular León Klimovsky (WEREWOLF SHADOW) and photographed by Miguel Mila (THE LORELEY'S GRASP), the film is also scored with the usual assortment of CAM library tracks including cues from Stelvio Cipriani's score for Jose Ramon Larraz's WHIRLPOOL as well as Mario Bava's BAY OF BLOOD, and Carlo Rustichelli's BLOOD AND BLACK LACE among others. Antonio Mayans appears here in another supporting role.

Not released theatrically or on home video in America, A DRAGONFLY FOR EACH CORPSE was first available to English-speaking Naschy fans via boots of a Dutch-subtitled cassette with the title RED KILLER while Tripictures' non-anamorphic Spanish DVD was once again the covered version. Scream's 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen Blu-ray is one of the better-looking transfers, partially because a lot of it is shot in the studio and cinematographer Mila does not utilize any diffusion. This is the uncovered version of the film, and the nude shots are also in HD rather than the patch-up job on HUNCHBACK, but a ten-second piece of footage (41:22-41:32) has been patched in from a poor video source. Spanish and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 tracks are included and are fairly clean but not as meticulously remastered as the tracks for the titles that made it to DVD from BCI, and optional English subtitles translate the Spanish audio. The film is accompanied by one of two commentary tracks in the set by Troy Howarth, author of the three-volume giallo overview "So Deadly, So Perverse", who couches the film within the subset of Spanish gialli – including Naschy's BLUE EYES OF THE BROKEN DOLL as well as his appearances in AGONIZANDO EN EL CRIMEN and THE KILLER IS ONE OF THIRTEEN – and the influence of the aforementioned poliziotteschi and, perhaps, DIRTY HARRY. There is a lot of play-by-play amidst the biographies and filmographies, but Howarth does point out how Naschy's sympathy for "outsider figures" made his otherwise cynical and tough poliziotteschi-esque lead somewhat different from others (in ways which also might better distinguish him from the killer in their separate missions to clean up the city). Other extras include the Spanish opening titles (0:54) and Spanish end credits (1:17), as well as the Spanish theatrical trailer (2:56) which is missing its audio, and a stills gallery (2:05).

In THE DEVIL'S POSSESSED, Gilles de Lancre (Naschy) returns to his castle after being refused a loan by the king who also failed to recognize his services to the crown on the battlefield, deciding to devote himself fully to science and achieving the Ars Magna (making him invincible and able to supplant the king and take the throne himself). His bewitching wife Georgelle (Argentinian model Norma Sebre) employs the services of an alchemist Simon de Braqueville (Eduardo Calvo again) who requires of him the blood of young maidens to spin glass into gold. Initially reluctant to kill again after his experiences in the war, Lancre soon has his men raiding the town and the surrounding countryside to round up virgins – including NIGHT OF THE SEAGULLS' Sandra Mozarowsky – that he sacrifices in Black Mass ceremonies. Unbeknownst to him, Georgelle and Simon have resorted to trickery to convince him of the alchemist's abilities (with necromancer Simon providing a disembodied voice the death's head that assures him of his ascent to the throne). Returning from Normandy after being freed from imprisonment under the English, aristocrat Gaston de Malebranche (Guillermo Bredeston, THE WITCHES MOUNTAIN) runs into bandits on the road that are actually outlaws from Lancre's tyranny. Having fought alongside Lancre, Gaston is reluctant to believe the worst of his friend even after a run-in with Lancre's men and the warnings of tavern owner Estebano (Fernando Rubio, FIVE DOLLARS FOR RINGO) and love interest Bastiana (Carmen Carro, RED RINGS OF FEAR). Since Gaston's father Armand is on the side of those who oppose Lancre, Georgelle advises Lancre to have the man killed and then tries to take matters into her own hands when he refuses. Escaping back to the Malebranche castle where he finds himself recruited as the new leader of the bandits by his own sister Graciela (Graciela Nilson) when their previous leader is tortured and killed by Lancre.

The historical figure of Gilles de Rais, companion-in-arms to Joan of Arc and later alchemist, child-murderer, and the inspiration for the fairytale of "Bluebeard", was one of Naschy's primary inspirations outside of the Universal horror movies that spawned Waldemar Daninsky. Naschy realized a more fantastical version of de Rais under the name of Alaric de Marnac in HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB. Lacking nudity and light on gore – as well as more salacious details of de Rais' proclivities thanks to Spanish censorship of the script – THE DEVIL'S POSSESSED feels like a more mainstream costume drama take on the story of de Rais with Naschy as "Marshall of Hell" Gilles de Lancre (taking his surname from fanatical witch hunter Pierre de Lancre whose surname had previously been appropriated for Alaric de Marnac's comely partner-in-crime Mabile de Lancre played by Helga Line). Eschewing the supernatural in favor of some poorly choreographed swashbuckling (that really could have used some handheld coverage to make it seem more dynamic), the film presents Lancre as suffering from epilepsy and seemingly post-traumatic stress syndrome as well as being a sadist (it seems to matter little that he ravishes his virginal sacrifices before strapping them down to the altar). It is uncertain whether the machinations of Georgelle and the alchemist are mean to be a con job or a means of placating Lancre for the interests of occult exploration and experimentation, but one wishes that Naschy had been able to do something both more salacious and historically accurate to de Rais' biography (Naschy would get to "play" de Rais himself briefly in HOWL OF THE DEVIL and ROJO SANGRE). The end result is interesting as a diversion from the more horrific works penned by Naschy and looks forward to the ambiguity of the role of magic in Naschy's directorial debut INQUISITION. Carlos Viziello (SOBRENATUREL) provides a lush medieval-sounding main theme and some avant-garde electronic sounds underlining the Black Mass scenes.

Unreleased theatrically stateside, THE DEVIL'S POSSESSED first became available on big box VHS from All Seasons Entertainment, presumably the source for Televista/Substance's typically dreadful unauthorized DVD. The film's first legitimate DVD release was in Spain from Tripicures in a remastered fullscreen transfer – there apparently never was anything to cover up – and the film element used for that PAL SD transfer was presumably the source for the master used by Shout! for their 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen master. The stately-looking production is at its best in the castle interiors – as well as the Cercon monastery ruins that were previously the stomping grounds of the Blind Dead and WEREWOLF SHADOW's Countess Wandesa – with sets, costumes, and props gleaning a sense of texture absent from the tape transfer (where everything looked a bit cheaper and makeshift) but we can again lament the lack of a master scanned at a higher resolution with newer equipment that would surely have better resolved grain and given a sense of depth that would make the rather sterile production more inviting. Audio includes English and Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono tracks that are both listenable but could have been better cleaned up while the optional English subtitles could have used some proofing, spelling Braqueville's surname correctly early on but later referring to him as "Brackville". The only extras are the Spanish and English export trailers (6:57), as well as the Spanish opening (1:10) and closing credits (1:46).

While the graphic and salacious possibilities of Satanism and possession would inform plenty of Spanish genre cinema in the post-Franco period (especially once the "S" classification was established), Spain's contribution to THE EXORCIST rip-off cycle came relatively late in the trend in 1975 with a pair of entries helmed by Amando de Ossorio with DEMON WITCH CHILD/THE POSSESSED and Juan Bosch (THE KILLER WORE GLOVES) with the Naschy-penned EXORCISM. The superior of the two, EXORCISM opens with aristocratic Leila Gibson (Grace Mills) and her archaeologist boyfriend Richard (Roger Leveder) taking part in a seaside Black Mass for kicks. On the way back to Bristol, the two are involved in a car accident whereupon Leila starts behaving strangely, trying to strangle Richard after he pulls her from the wreckage and cursing out her mother Lady Patricia (Maria Perschy again), older sister Deborah (Maria Kosti again), and half-brother John (Joan Llaneras) at the hospital. John suspects that Richard, who has just returned from Africa, is responsible for involving Leila in sex, drugs, and possibly Satanism, and appeals for help from family friend Reverend Adrian Dunning (Naschy) who conjectures that Leila's rebellious behavior is normal for a girl her age. Visiting the family, Dunning finds Patricia confiding in him that she is more worried about John who seems to be fixated on Leila because he has no friends of his own and is jealous of her happiness. When John and then Richard are brutally murdered with their heads twisted around EXORCIST-style, the police inspector (Juan Velilla, SOFT SKIN ON BLACK SILK) believes that occultists who worship the devil as an excuse for free love and drugs may be responsible while Dunning focuses on the well-being of the family; particularly Patricia who fears that her late husband's insanity may be hereditary while psychiatrist Dr. Lewton Buchanan (Jordi Torras, ANGUISH) tries to find a physiological cause for Leila's erratic behavior until they all have to accept that a malevolent spirit has taken possession of Leila and Dunning may have to resort to an exorcism to save her.

While not quite possessing the complex psychological depth of its model, EXORCISM nevertheless makes up for the overfamiliarity of its possession theatrics and the low-tech way in which they are realized because Naschy seems interested in doing more than mere imitation. The dynamics of the family are relatively complex, and it is easy to interpret Leila's early rebellious behavior in light of the behavior of John – who is so self-righteous that one suspects that he is a hypocrite, and that there is an underlying motive of jealousy and cruelty however right he is about Leila's clandestine activities – possible jealousy of her more popular older sister, and the overbearing attention of her mother who is concealing a lot of stress from her children. While Dunning is first to look for other more realistic social and psychological causes, the lack of spiritual conflict in his characterization makes for quite the leap from psychologist/pseudo-detective to exorcist in the final act. While the British setting is never convincing – despite a visit to the country for some exteriors – this is a good-looking production (lensed by Naschy regular Francisco Sanchez, CURSE OF THE DEVIL) even if it is not all that satisfying as a horror film. The supporting cast includes Luis Induni (KILMA, QUEEN OF THE AMAZON) as the family chauffeur while Jack Taylor (FEMALE VAMPIRE) dubbed Naschy on the English track. Alberto Argudo (THE DEVIL'S KISS) provides a trippy score that is a nice change from the usual CAM tracks.

EXORCISM was unreleased theatrically and was first available stateside via All Seasons' big box VHS which was presumably the source for Sinema Diable's unauthorized and overpriced DVD. BCI's 2007 DVD presented the film in an HD-mastered 1.33:1 fullscreen transfer, and the same master has been utilized here for Scream's 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.33:1 pillarboxed fullscreen Blu-ray (the indents on the top and bottom of the screen suggest that 1.66:1 might have been the intended aspect ratio). As the only one that has had a DVD release of the same master, it is easier to compare and see that the cleanest-looking of the five presentations is also not a substantial leap in quality from DVD to Blu-ray, and the digital cleanup may date back to the period and technology of the masters; that said, it is, no doubt, the best the film has looked thus far on home video. English and Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono tracks are provided, and the latter is a bit more lively in its delivery even if the English track is preferable for Perschy dubbing herself. Optional English subtitles are also provided. The film is accompanied by another commentary by Troy Howarth who notes that Naschy claimed to have authored the screenplay before THE EXORCIST came out but might at least have read the novel (which had been published in Spain in a censored text). While he provides some background on Naschy and the other performers as well as the film, he digresses all too often to discussion of THE EXORCIST and ROSEMARY'S BABY (as well as the Manson murders) as models for the film and how it diverges. While the Naschy interview and the Spanish opening and closing credits included as extras on the DVD have not been carried over, the disc does feature the clothed sequences (5:58), Spanish and English theatrical trailers (5:11), and a still gallery (3:45).

In THE WEREWOLF AND THE YETI, anthropologist Silas Newman and his expedition are wiped out by a blizzard in farthest Tibet, and Professor Lacombe (Josep Castillo Escalona) in London discovers from his late colleague's journal photograph evidence of the existence of the yeti. Determined to travel to the unexplored Karakatom to actually capture a yeti, Lacombe recruits anthropologist/psychologist Waldemar Daninsky (Naschy) to accompany him on a new expedition. Also along for the trip are Lacombe's fetching daughter Sylvia (Grace Mills again), equally attractive victim-to-be Melody (Verónica Miriel, EYEBALL), lecherous Norman (Juan Velilla again), stalwart Larry Talbot (Gil Vidal, THE LOVES OF HERCULES), and expendable Ralph (Ventura Oller, KILLING OF THE DOLLS). Their Sherpa Tiger (Gaspar 'Indio' González, THE VAMPIRES NIGHT ORGY) is relieved when bad weather makes the trails impassable; however, guide Joel (Víctor Israel, THE WITCHES MOUNTAIN) offers to lead them up the lesser-used "pass of the demons of the red moon." While the others remain at the base camp, Waldemar and Joel explore the trail and are soon lost in the storm. A weakened Waldemar stumbles upon a cave temple guarded by two comely sisters who seduce him. When revitalized Waldemar comes to, he discovers the pair feasting on Joel's remains; however, they are no mere cannibals, they are werewolves, and Waldemar is bitten while fighting them off. While the newly-transformed Waldemar seeks a cure from a Tibetan monk (Fernando Ulloa), the expedition is attacked by the bandits lead by Temugin (José Luis Chinchilla, KILMA: QUEEN OF THE AMAZONS), and the surviving members are taken to the fortress of despot Sekkar Khan (Luis Induni, RICCO: THE MEAN MACHINE) who needs skin donors for a treatment by the sadistic Wandesa (Silvia Solar, DEVIL KISS)

The most action-oriented of the Naschy werewolf films, THE WEREWOLF AND THE YETI is a nice departure from the doomed romances of the other Daninsky films (Naschy's character is never addressed by his surname in this film) with a good amount of sex and gore to accompany the swashbuckling action, with the height of violence being the flaying of a female victim by Wandesa for one of Khan's skin treatments. This is also one of the more fast-paced Naschy films, affording Naschy just enough time to agonize about his curse before he has to rescue his friends (he even considers that the curse might actually help him fight Wandesa and Khan). Besides Mills' heroine, the film does feature more assertive female characters than mere eye candy, from Wandesa's sadist to the Princess Ulka (Ana María Mauri) who was grabbed by Khan's bandits and puts the silver dagger given to Sylvia to alternative use and then fearlessly leads the other escaped women in an effort to settle a score with Wandesa. The yeti is such a McGuffin that upon first viewing one actually forgets that it is responsible for the opening deaths (what with the title sequence consisting of shots of Naschy's werewolf lunging at camera long before he is bitten) and popping up again at almost the last minute for a battle considerably less exciting that what came before. The score features more CAM library tracks, including a couple that would pop up in THE NIGHT OF THE WEREWOLF. The film recycles the second unit montage of London exteriors from VENGEANCE OF THE ZOMBIES for its post-opening credits establishing shots but accompanies it with Scottish bagpipes.

Released intact theatrically by Independent-International as THE NIGHT OF THE HOWLING BEAST and on television as HORROR OF THE WEREWOLF, the film made it to VHS in its uncut theatrical version courtesy of Sam Sherman's Super Video in a memorable clamshell case while the TV version was available from Majestic Home Video under the title HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING (replacing the title sequence with a montage of stills from NIGHT OF THE DEMON), THE WERWOLF AND THE YETI was first available on DVD from Tripictures in Spain in an HD-mastered DVD of the covered version. Scream's 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.33:1 pillarboxed fullscreen Blu-ray restores the English title sequence with the export title and is of highly variable quality given the original photography which makes use of diffusion in some scenes, stock footage (including some stills that flicker as the camera pans over them), some scenes that look faded but may have been given a warm tint, and the blue gels in the cave scene look odd at first but attain their full saturation after Waldemar has killed the werewolf women and the contrasting pink/purple gels dissipate. As with EXORCISM, the indents above and below the scrolling end credits suggest 1.66:1 would have been the projection ratio (while it was certainly cropped to 1.85:1 for the American release). Roughly a minute of the first sex scene has been patched in from a poor video source but this is not a composite of the covered HD master and nude scenes from video, the rest of the sex scene and all of the other nudity is presented in HD. The menu for THE WEREWOLF AND THE YETI breaks from the style and layout of the other four discs and actually looks pretty cheap.

Housed in the slipcase with the five discs is a twenty-four page booklet by Latarnia's Mirek Lipinski who has edited and revised essays he wrote for BCI on each film. Although each essay is only a few pages long, they are packed with information drawing on his own interviews with Naschy, a Spanish interview with Winner on HUNCHBACK, the offscreen importance of DRAGONFLY bit player Henry Gregor on some of Naschy's other works, identifying DRAGONFLY's main title CAM library track as Roberto Pregadio's "Amore e Violenza", the impact of Spanish censorship on the script of THE DEVIL'S POSSESSED (as well as some background on the owner of Castle Coracera in which some of the production was shot), the ambiguities of the final shot of EXORCISM as a result of production interference, Naschy's dissatisfaction with THE WEREWOLF AND THE YETI's yeti (as well as identifying the CAM title track as a Bruno Nicolai track from the film LOVE BIRDS). The booklet goes some way towards making up for the feeling of a certain lack of enthusiasm on the part of Shout! for this follow-up set of "leftover" Victory Films library Naschy titles after packing in the more notable ones in the first set. (Eric Cotenas)

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