Welcome back to my Dark Corner of this Sick World.
‘You were obscene’
If there’s a film called Werewolf Woman, then obviously we are going to review it.
But it may not be what you were expecting – certainly wasn’t what I was expecting –
a not always comfortable mash-up of monster horror, psychological horror and rape revenge horror.
‘What did you say?’
The opening at least is what you’d expect from a 1976 Italian exploitation movie.
This dance under a full moon brings on a terrifying transformation.
Why she did the dance on the night that everyone was out with flaming torches I don’t know,
but now she kills in typically werewolf fashion.
With an axe. She is caught…
but then…
This is Daniela ancestor of the unlucky wolf woman.
‘But above all this extraordinary resemblance of your daughter Daniela with her ancestor’
Daniela is already mentally fragile having been raped when she was 13.
‘She seems to be repelled by the opposite sex’
I think we can call that understandable.
‘No doubt it’s a sexual phobia caused by that unfortunate experience she had’
Unfortunate? Daniela’s doctor really is rubbish.
‘Breast – leg – same thing to a doctor’
Well I’m not coming to you if I hurt my knee.
The arrival of Daniela’s sister makes matters worse.
‘That’s the end of our vacation now’
because her sister’s husband bears an uncanny resemblance to the man her ancestor killed.
Talk about your bad luck.
This triggers hallucinations in Daniela of blood…
and a dirty lizard.
Then after watching her sister and husband have sex Daniela seduces the husband.
‘I could make you feel things Irena never could’
then kills him.
Disposing of the corpse very impressively.
This lands her in an institution where she kills one of the other patients and escapes.
‘If you don’t bite again I’ll untie you’
Also attacking the doctor whose car she hides in.
On the run, she happens on another couple having sex,
but this time kills the woman.
The police now get involved.
‘Seems funny this should bring to mind the stories my grandmother used to tell me’
Deeply disturbed woman, my grandmother.
'She'd say if anyone was born on Christmas Eve they would turn into a werewolf.'
Daniela meanwhile kills again, although she has good reason this time
‘Get your hands off me you pig’
The problem the film has is that Daniela kills for two reasons;
her traumatic childhood and dreams of an ancestor she resembles who was a werewolf…
and the film fails to reconcile these motivations.
‘When the spirit of a dead person penetrates someone who is obsessed, the latter follows the reincarnated sprit.’
falling back on tedious psycho-babble.
'Seems to be a case of nocturnal hypothermia, she's a hyper maniac.best by delirium. A phobic complex.'
while the rubbish doctor keeps on insisting it’s all real.
‘The phenomenon has been analysed, it was proven really’
That said, towards the end we move in the right direction; Daniela has found happiness with a good man and love has cured her.
‘And I love him and he’s made me really happy’
'You mustn't be worried, I'm so much in love.'
Slim comfort to the families of her victims I would guess but we’ll gloss over that. As happiness is not all it seems.
OK....
'Danella I'm OK, how did you like that fall?'
Her new boyfriend is a stuntman and the danger he puts himself through, brings joy and laughter into their lives.
But Daniela’s happiness is short-lived as this becomes a home invasion horror.
'She is some piece.'
She is raped, her boyfriend killed.
It should come as no shock that this film is well-liked by Quentin Tarantino because now this is Kill Bill.
Daniela can use her lycanthropic tendencies – albeit imagined –
to take revenge on the men who killed her boyfriend.
Hunting them down like a wolf…
a wolf that hits people with a spanner…
and can operate heavy machinery.
Earlier in the film she was going for the throat like a wolf, I’m uncertain why that would change now
‘Uncertain huh?’
but more importantly the revenge section lasts two and half minutes, this should have been the film.
‘What is this? Do you think I’m an idiot?’
Forget all the silly psychological stuff, a woman dealing with trauma by identifying with a werewolf ancestor
revenges herself on the men who raped her and killed her man.
‘What on earth are you saying?’
In a recent review we talked about exploitation films that piss away a good idea
because they’re only interested in violence and sex; this is one of those.
'What are you saying?'
Thanks for watching, to see an uncut version of this review join us on Patreon.'
Tarrintno stuck Werewolf Woman at the end of an all-night movie marathon to wake up the audience.
What film exploitation film would you use for that purpose? Let us know in the comments below.
'Was that the door.'
purpose let us know in the comments below was at the door yes