''El Retorno del Hombre Lobo'' (''The Return of the Wolfman'') is a 1980 Spanish horror film that is the ninth in a 12-film series about the

werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely ...

Count Waldemar Daninsky, played by

Paul Naschy Paul Naschy (born Jacinto Molina Álvarez, September 6, 1934 – November 30, 2009) was a Spanish film actor, screenwriter, and director working primarily in horror films. His portrayals of numerous classic horror figures— The Wolfman, ...

. 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 15th 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) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

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

as Waldemar Daninsky *

Julia Saly Julia Saly (born Julia Salinero) is a retired Spanish 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 Na ...

, an evil countess * Silvia Aguilar as Erika *

Azucena Hernández Azucena Hernández IglesiasLa Vanguardia 4 August 1977, page 30. (21 March 1960 – 4 December 2019) was a Spanish actress known for her work in cinema, stage and television. Her artistic career began in the late 1970s and flourished during earl ...

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 a ...

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

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