Maritza Olivares in Curse of the Devil (1973)

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Curse of the Devil (1973) was my introduction to wolfman Paul Naschy, who has a legitimate claim as the grandfather of Spanish horror. Born Jacinto Molina, he had an interest in film, intending to do set design or special effects, then became a rather famous weight lifter. After his sports career, he wrote a horror script, and had no intention of appearing in it. He needed to have it made outside Spain, and, to avoid Spanish censorship, he set it in Hungary, and gave non-Spanish names to the characters. His producer convinced him to appear in the lead role, and the rest is history. He has 73 credits at IMDb, and is still working. Note that IMDb uses his real name as writer, but his stage name as actor. He has a large cult following, who have been eagerly awaiting Anchor Bay releases of two of his films this week.

The film starts in medieval times, where Naschy's ancestor wipes out a cult of devil worshipers who swear revenge. Cut to the present, and it is time for the curse to be carried out. The coven of witches summon Satan, who tries them all out, and decides which one is best suited to seduce Naschy. The chosen witch performs a ritual with a wolf skull, blood, and a full moon, that turns him into a werewolf. He meets two sisters, one younger, promiscuous and hot for his bod, and the other, older, and his kind of woman. Young women start turning up dead, but an escaped murderer is blamed at first. Nobody suspects the truth except his old housekeeper.

The film includes pretty graphic violence and gore for the era, and lots of nudity. This is a great transfer of a very good horror film from a master of the genre, but won't win any converts to the genre so is properly rated C+.

Nudity Report: Unfortunately, while they list cast, they do not reference character names, and I could only identify two of three women with exposure. One unknown woman is part of the witches’ orgy, and shows full frontal. The young sister is played by Maritza Olivares and also shows full frontal. The older sister, played by Fabiola Falcón, shows breasts in bed with Naschy.

IMDb Summary: IMDb readers have this at 5.0 of 10, but with only 12 votes, and those probably based on the R rated VHS version.

DVD Info: The transfer is very nice, it is the uncut version, and there is a very interesting 15 minute interview with Naschy, as well as a bio, and poster art.


Written by Tuna…courtesy of Scoopy.net