Book Review: The Werewolf Filmography

The Werewolf Filmography
By Bryan Senn
Published by McFarland, 2017. 408 pages.

Why a book like this has never been written before is beyond me. Yeah, there was the The Illustrated Werewolf Movie Guide by Stephen Jones, but that just quickly goes through titles with very little written about them, as well as it covering movies having ANY connection to werewolves or changing into a creature listed. A nice book to chew on, so to speak, but not one to go to for any real meat. But it can also be said that maybe the reason a book like this hasn’t been written before was, as author Senn puts it in his introduction, since the werewolf sub-genre is so huge, there are many, many titles that are far from good. So since the bad definitely outweigh the good, it would be a very tough hill to climb to watch and write about all of them. But Senn has taken on that task, and has done an admirably job!

The Year of Naschy Continues…

And yet we have even ANOTHER Naschy title being announced for a Blu-ray release. In fact, I believe this title never even got a DVD release, at least not here in the states. Up until now, we’ve had to deal with dupes off the old VHS tape. But today, Mondo Macabro announced they would be releasing the 1976 film Inquisition, a nice little tale of love, Satanism, and those purveyors of evil…the church!

Year of Naschy

When the news broke today of the Paul Naschy Collection coming from Shout Factory, I was notified by more than a few friends on social media about it. I’m guessing my fondness of Senor Naschy and his work has gotten around! With all the titles that have been released, or have been announced, or ones that I’ve heard rumors are still coming, I am just in awe that this man’s work is finally getting the treatment and recognition he’s been deserving for way too long. It’s one thing for a company like Shout Factory to release a Vincent Price collection, since we all know that Price is a horror icon (and rightly so). So to see them give the same kind of treatment and spotlight on Paul Naschy…well, it is just an amazing thing. Even after his death, I know there are plenty of us out there still waving the flag to bring attention to him and his work, and with all these Blu-ray releases does nothing but help that cause. 2017 really will be the Year of Naschy!

Naschy Fan Heaven!

Okay, so last week the news of Paul Naschy’s The Mummy’s Revenge was getting a Blu-ray release from Code Red, which since it had never even been released on DVD here in the states, this was pretty stellar news. Granted, we don’t know a lot of details, like if it is uncut or what the source is, but we have our fingers crossed.

Then a couple of days ago, we got more news of yet another Naschy flick will be hitting Blu-ray, his werewolf outing, The Fury of the Wolfman. This might be considered one of Naschy’s lesser quality Daninsky films, but I know more than a few people that just love this film. I may not be one of them, but it is still a Naschy flick, so it is more than worthy for my collection! Besides, if there is a Naschy film that comes out on Blu-ray, I will be picking it up just to show support! Plus…come on! It’s a Naschy Werewolf flick! How could you pass on this?!?!?

Of course, the real question is going to be which version is this going to be, since there has been a few different versions released on video over the years, some with nudity, some without, some footage in some and not the other. So we are hoping that not only is Code Red doing another splendid job re-mastering the film, but that it will be uncut as well. They have reported that it will have a brand new 2K scan, so that is a great start.

Naschy’s Mummy’s Revenge on Blu-ray!

One of the best bits of news I’ve heard all week, that Naschy’s 1975 film The Mummy’s Revenge (originally title La venganza de la momia) will be making its way onto Blu-ray, thanks to Code Red. They haven’t stated what extras this release will have, but honestly, as long as it is the widescreen version and hopefully uncut, then that would be fine with me. Sure, it would be great to have some interviews with maybe Jack Taylor or Helga Liné, but those definitely would be a bonus.

Cult Movie Screenings

Next weekend at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago, Odd Obsession Movies with another midnight screening. This time it will be Richard Stanley’s Hardware (1990), coming from Stanley’s own personal 35mm print. This movie is a visual, audio, and sensory overload, all intertwined in a story about a killer robot in an apartment building. It was Stanley’s first feature film and it remains one of my favorites. Starring Dylan McDermott, John Lynch, Stacey Travis, William Hootkins, Mark Northover, and even Lemmy from Motorhead has a cameo! You don’t want to miss out on this opportunity to see a film like this on the big screen.

More Naschy Blu-rays!!!

To say the news of more Paul Naschy films hitting blu-ray is a bit exciting to me, especially when they are two titles that never even hit DVD, is the definitiion of an understatement. Earlier today, Mondo Macabro announced that they will be releasing both of these titles at some point next year. They haven’t said what the extras might be, but at this point, who cares. The fact that they are coming out is amazing and whatever extras they do come up with is just going to be icing on the cake.