''El Retorno del Hombre Lobo'' (''The Return of the Wolfman'') is a 1980 Spanish

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

that is the ninth in a 12-film series about the

werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...

Count Waldemar Daninsky, played by

Paul Naschy Jacinto Molina Álvarez (September 6, 1934 – November 30, 2009) known by his stage name Paul Naschy, was a Spanish film actor, screenwriter, and director working primarily in horror films. His portrayals of numerous classic horror figures&md ...

. It is also known as ''The Craving'' and ''Night of the Werewolf''. The film was first theatrically released in Spain in April 1981, and was later shown at the 1982 Fantasporto Festival. The film was released theatrically in the U.S. as ''The Craving'' in 1985, then released to video as ''The Craving'', and more recently on DVD as ''Night of the Werewolf''. Shout Factory also released it on Blu-ray as part of their "Paul Naschy Collection'' set.Howarth, Troy (2018). Human Beasts: The Films of Paul Naschy. WK Books. p. 319. ISBN 978-1718835894. The film had a much larger budget than previous Naschy werewolf productions. Angel Luis de Diego handled the werewolf makeup and special effects. Naschy followed this up with a tenth werewolf film, '' La Bestia y la Espada Magica'' (''The Beast and the Magic Sword'').

Plot

In 16th Century Hungary, the werewolf Waldemar Daninsky is sentenced to be executed along with his satanic mistress

Elizabeth Bathory Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...

and her coven of witches. Since it is nearly impossible to truly kill him, he is left in a kind of living death, with a silver dagger through his heart and an iron mask affixed to his face to keep him from biting. Centuries later, the dagger is removed from his chest by two graverobbers and Daninsky returns to life, and allows a group of travelling college girls to stay at his castle. One of the girls locates the tomb of the Countess Bathory and is hypnotically forced by the Countess to perform a bloody ritual that brings the Countess back to life. Daninsky falls in love with one of the girls named Karen, and when he realizes the Countess has been revived and is vampirizing the denizens of the area, he turns against his former mistress and her vampire slaves to save Karen. The end of the film features a classic battle in the crypt between Daninsky and Bathory, and he winds up biting the vampire's throat out. Now out of control, he goes on to bite Karen, but as she dies, she manages to stab Daninsky through the heart again with the silver dagger, thus ending the curse on the man she loves.

Cast

Waldemar Daninsky Waldemar, Valdemar, Valdimar, or Woldemar is an Old High German given name. It consists of the elements ''wald-'' "power", "brightness" and ''-mar'' "fame". The name is considered the equivalent of the Latvian name Valdemārs, the Estonian name ...

Julia Saly Julia Saly (born Julia Salinero) is a Spanish retired film actress and producer. She worked on many films over the years with acclaimed Spanish horror filmmaker Paul Naschy and was one of his favorite actresses. Her career ended in 1985, when Nas ...

, an evil countess * Silvia Aguilar as Erika * Azucena Hernández as Karen * Beatriz Elorrieta as Mircaya * Pilar Alcon as Barbara * Ramon Centenero as The Professor *

Ricardo Palacios Ricardo López-Nuño Díez (2 March 1940 – 11 February 2015), better known as Ricardo Palacios, was a Spanish actor, film director and screenwriter. Born in Reinosa (Cantabria), Palacios graduated from the Official Film School in Madrid as an ...

as Veres, a grave robber * Rafael Hernandez as Yoyo, a grave robber * Pepe Ruiz as Bandit * Tito Garcia as Bandit * David Rocha as Bandit *

Luis Barboo Luis Barboo (20 March 1927 – 30 September 2001) was a Spanish actor. He played Baxter Gunman in '' Per un pugno di dollari'' (1964). He played Truto in ''The Demons'' (1973), and Caronte in ''La Maldición de Frankenstein'' (1973), both direct ...

as Sandy - Bandit * Alexia Loreto as Woman Killed In Stall

References

External links

* 1980 films 1980 horror films 1980s Spanish-language films 1980s Spanish films Cultural depictions of Elizabeth Báthory Spanish zombie films Spanish werewolf films Spanish vampire films Waldemar Daninsky series Spanish-language horror films {{1980s-Spain-film-stub