WEREWOLF
WOMAN (1976)Director: Rino Di Silvestro
Shriek Show/Media Blasters
WEREWOLF
WOMAN (1976)Originally released in the U.S.
by Dimension under the more apt title, THE LEGEND OF THE WOLF WOMAN, this Italian-lensed
terror is one of the most exploitive lycanthropy flicks you'll ever witness.
Not really a werewolf movie in the classic sense, it's more or less deals with
a woman with major psychological problems, mainly her believe that she's a modern-day
reincarnation of a she-wolf. But with French actress Annik Borel in the title
role, this film definitely has bounce and bite!
Borel plays a young woman named Daniela, still ruffled by a childhood rape incident. When Daniela discovers a photo of a look-alike relative accused of werewolfism, she enters a nightmare world and a downward path of psychotic violence. While under her wealthy father's (Tino Carraro) surveillance, she witnesses her sister and her husband (Dagmar Lassander and Andrea Scotti) making love, and subsequently lures the husband out into the woods to seduce him and take a chunk out of his neck with her bare teeth. His death is ruled an accident (blamed on ignorant watch dogs!) and Daniela ends up in a mental institution.
Now
under restraints in a ward, Daniela shouts out Exorcist-like obscenities to
a polite nurse and her still-mourning sister, and later escapes with the help
of a nymphomaniac lady patient who is stabbed in the process. Along the way,
Daniela munches on a number of other male and female victims and eventually
falls into the hands of a friendly movie stuntman (Howard Ross of NEW YORK RIPPER
fame) whom she trusts and falls in love with. More rape and revenge ensues,
and a narrator attempts to convince us that all this was based on real events
which occurred in 1968!
The only time we really see Borel
as a werewolf is in the opening sequence. Set 200 years earlier, is shows her
dancing nude by a campfire, subsequently turning into a furry creature (I would
loved to have been the makeup guy who applied the strands of hair to her body),
and being 
brought
down by angry villagers. The rest of the show has her as the modern descendant
who although is not really a wolf, acts as appropriately nasty as any of her
celluloid counterparts. The film works on different levels of trash cinema (even
borrowing from the popular 70s "exorcism" and "rape and revenge"
genres), and only bogs down during the dull police investigations (by American
1960s spy film star Frederick Stafford). The wild escapades and hallucinations
(including a horny lizard) of Borel's character keep things lively, and she's
quite intense, keeping things unpredictable with a nice blend of sensuality
offset by disturbing psychotic behavior. It's a wonder that the shapely and
somewhat talented starlet didn't get better roles in her heyday (she served
as leggy background furniture in films like BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE-DEVILS and
TRUCK TURNER).
When
released in the U.S., WEREWOLF WOMAN was viewed in a much-truncated form which
also surfaced on home video. The only way we could see the uncut version was
through blurry bootlegs from foreign sources. Now, Shriek Show redeems the problem
with this excellent DVD presentation, delivering the film in its 100-minute
full strength version. Presented in an Anamorphically enhanced 1.85:1 widescreen
transfer, the disc is a pleasure to behold. Colors are certainly acceptable,
and the print is clean with some minor grain in several dark scenes. Detail
is pretty sharp throughout. The mono audio is presented as the (preferable)
English-dubbed track, rendered well in Dolby Digital Stereo.
Supplements include a video interview
with director Rino Di Silvestro. Di Silvestro cheerfully discusses the film,
its stars, and Carlo Rambaldi, who apparently worked on the gory makeup effects.
The director 
also
holds himself and his contemporaries as "heroic" for their ability
to get films financed and completed in those days (the interview is in Italian
with English subtitles). Di Silvestro also supplies a gallery of his artwork,
as well as some of his personal behind-the-scenes photos showing him on the
set of the film. There is another still gallery of poster art and stills, as
well as trailers for other Shriek Show releases. I wish they had included the
original European WEREWOLF WOMAN trailer, as well as trailers and TV spots for
the sleazy U.S. ad campaign, but it's just a minor complaint for this otherwise
very satisfying release. The packaging also contains a reversible cover featuring
a sexy model for those who feel compelled to stray from the great original ad
art. (George R. Reis)