In the age of Freddy vs. Jason, it’s hard to imagine that versus horror movies were ever anything more than contrived amalgams of popular franchises. But as The Werewolf vs. The Vampire Woman proves, an ostentatious title did not always mean a forgettably ludicrous monster mash. Yes there is a werewolf, and a vampire woman, and yes they eventually throw down, but this excellent Spanish production is an atmospheric and entertaining tale of gothic horror, and the battle throughout is more cerebral than physical, a centuries-old struggle between an immortality-seeking vampire queen, and an accursed werewolf trying to find a way to end his earthly days.
Like many Spanish horror films of the day, we never get a solid sense of when or where all this is happening (an unpopulated valley somewhere in France?), the few establishing shots in evidence (a ruined cemetery, a crumbling country estate) doing little to place this story within a larger world. And yet, by populating this amorphous, and isolated, location with but a handful of interesting characters (lecherous henchmen, drooling werewolves, slow-motion prone vampires), a wonderfully eerie intimacy is created that makes us feel we are participants, not spectators, in this involved tale of timeless monsters.
by Thomas Scalzo | Source: Mill Creek Entertainment DVD
30 Oct 2007 12:27 AM | Submit Comment
