Dr. Jekyll Versus The Werewolf (1972)
Cast: Paul Naschy, Jack Taylor, Mirta Miles, Shirley Corrigan
Director: Leon Klimovsky
Synopsis: heady stuff where Evil is used to fight evil to save a heroic werewolf!?
Reviewed by: Omar Khan

 

This exotic slice of Euro Horror comes from the formidable partnership of director Leon Klimovsky and writer-star Paul Naschy, who teamed up once again to continue the long-running saga of Waldemar Daninsky—the tragic Polish werewolf who is often far more pitiful than terrifying.

The film opens at a farewell party hosted by Imre and his beautiful blonde wife Justine. The couple are about to leave for the snowbound Transylvanian countryside, where Imre hopes to revisit his ancestral village. Curiously, however, it is Justine who seems more fascinated by the mysteries and legends surrounding the region than her husband.

Setting off in a decidedly battle-scarred old Mercedes, they head into the bleak wilderness, only to become hopelessly lost before their car finally gives up altogether.

Things rapidly go from bad to worse.

Imre is attacked and fatally stabbed by a gang of thieves attempting to rob the stranded couple. The thugs then turn their attention to Justine, whose ordeal is interrupted by the sudden arrival of Waldemar Daninsky. Demonstrating that he is every bit as dangerous in human form as he is under a full moon, Waldemar proceeds to dispense brutal justice, crushing one attacker's skull beneath a rock and squeezing another to death with his immense strength. The surviving thieves flee in terror, crying, "It's him... it's him!"

The grateful Justine is carried back to Waldemar's gloomy castle, where he lives in near isolation with only the elderly Ulvika for company. The surrounding villagers fear both the castle and its mysterious occupant, believing them responsible for every evil that has befallen the district.

The surviving thieves eventually return to avenge their fallen comrades, only to discover that Waldemar harbours a far more terrible secret than they could possibly have imagined. As the full moon rises, he transforms into a savage, drooling werewolf and promptly tears into his attackers with spectacular enthusiasm. One unfortunate soul loses a sizeable portion of his neck, another ends up impaled upon iron spikes, and only a single terrified survivor escapes.

Gradually, Justine learns that Waldemar is not an evil man but a deeply tormented one, condemned to live with a curse beyond his control. Having already saved her life more than once, she finds herself falling for the melancholy nobleman—even though poor Imre's body has barely had time to cool.

Eventually she witnesses the dreadful transformation for herself and realises the true nature of Waldemar's "illness."

Determined to help him, Justine persuades Waldemar to accompany her to London, where her close friend Dr. Jekyll—the grandson of the infamous scientist—is practising medicine. Believing he has discovered a way to free Waldemar forever, the doctor devises an extraordinary plan. By injecting Waldemar with the very serum that once transformed his grandfather into Mr. Hyde, he hopes the evil created by Hyde will somehow destroy the evil of the werewolf curse. Once the serum has worn off, only the original Waldemar should remain.

At least, that's the theory.

Naturally, things refuse to go according to plan.

Before the experiment can even begin properly, Waldemar becomes trapped inside a lift during a full moon and, much to the horror of the unfortunate young woman sharing it with him, undergoes yet another transformation with predictably messy consequences.

As if that were not enough, Dr. Jekyll's devoted assistant, mistress and supplier of conveniently available corpses, Sandra, becomes consumed with jealousy over the doctor's growing affection for Justine. Her warning that "the deepest love can easily become the deepest hatred" leaves little doubt that further complications lie ahead.

This was the sixth appearance of Paul Naschy's immensely popular Waldemar Daninsky, a character he would portray more than a dozen times over the course of his career, writing many of the films himself under his real name, Jacinto Molina.

Naschy gives another typically dignified performance. His acting may occasionally appear somewhat wooden, but somehow that restraint lends Waldemar an appealing vulnerability and quiet sadness that makes the character surprisingly sympathetic.

The plot itself is gloriously bonkers.

To combine the legend of the werewolf with the descendants of Dr. Jekyll and the Hyde serum, then somehow make the whole thing work as a coherent Gothic horror story, requires no small amount of imagination. Credit is certainly due to Naschy for dreaming up such an outrageous but entertaining concept.

Director Leon Klimovsky, one of the great unsung figures of European horror cinema, approaches the material with admirable sincerity. Unlike the flamboyant visual excesses of Argento, Fulci and many of their Italian contemporaries, Klimovsky favours a straightforward, atmospheric style that allows the story to unfold without unnecessary embellishment.

One intriguing curiosity is the background score, portions of which sound remarkably similar—if not identical—to music heard in Armando de Ossorio's Blind Dead films. Whether this reflects shared library music or simple coincidence is open to debate, but it is certainly noticeable.

On the whole, this is an immensely likeable slice of Euro Horror. It is atmospheric, charming, wonderfully eccentric and built around one of horror cinema's most endearing monsters—a werewolf who would give almost anything to be rid of the curse that has blighted his unhappy existence.

I had the huge honour and good fortune to be able to spend a few precious moments with Paul Naschy at the Sitges Film Festival in 2003.  He exuded charm and not a hint of any starry heirs at all.  He was there being feted for his fabulous body of work and though he has since left us, his work and his name will forever be royalty wherever horror movies are cherished and watched with due reverence.  For me, meeting Paul Naschy was a moment to savour and treasure for the rest of my days.