Friday 21 November 2014

Fury of the Wolfman (1972)



While on an expedition in Tibet, a man is bitten by a yeti and, as you might expect, becomes a werewolf.

... okay, so you probably didn't expect that, because it is pretty nonsensical.  But such is the origin story of the lycanthrope in this tale.  And trust me, there's precious little in this film that isn't similarly illogical.

Fury of the Wolfman is apparently the fourth in of 12 Spanish films dealing with a werewolf named Waldemar Daninsky.  The movies aren't a series, though: at least not in the sense that they share a continuity.  Daninsky's biographical details change from film to film, for instance, and dying at the end of one entry doesn't stop him being in the next.  It's a bit like how the new Spider-Man movies have nothing to do with the Tobey Maguire ones, despite them both being about Peter Parker, except that in these films, the same actor plays the lead throughout.

Anyway, this movie's version of Daninsky is a scientist, studying the effects of certain emissions on the human brain, and he hopes to use this technology to control his condition.  Unfortunately for him, his research partner has far more sinister (and believe it or not, stupider) plans for their work.

Upon discovering that his wife is having an affair with one his students, Daninsky wolfs out and murders them both.  Then, horrified by what he has done, he electrocutes himself to death.

Except it turns out that a werewolf can only truly die at the hand of a woman they love.  I wonder if that's only romantic/sexual love?  If it is, then a gay male or straight female werewolf would be immortal.  Or maybe the 'love' part is what matters, and not the gender of the lover.  In any case, I guess it is a change from silver bullets.

Since Daninsky isn't really dead, his research partner is able to revive him.  She's an ex-lover of his, but her motives are not friendly.  She wants to add Daninsky to the army of mutants she is breeding in her castle (because of course she has a castle).  She intends to release these creatures to cause havoc and prove her power.  Frankly, that this is the best idea she could come up with for what is effectively a mind control ray is a bit pathetic.

Will Daninsky be able to break free of the evil Dr Wolfstein's control?  (Yes, really.  Her name is Dr Wolfstein).  And more importantly, will the movie give you a reason to care?  (No it will not).

Production on Fury of the Wolfman was apparently something of a trainwreck, and what ended up on screen is similarly mangled.  You should skip it, though I confess to a kind of morbid interest in seeing one of the other entries in the series, Werewolf vs The Vampire Woman.

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