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There's something endearing about the amount of "crazy" that Paul Naschy can put into his portrayal of a werewolf. I mean, you can look at Naschy's work one of two ways. You can see him as a man who found a niche in euro-horror and exploited it for (at present count) ninety-three films while never really evolving as an actor/writer or, you can see him as a man truly inspired by the dark side of things who is just so enamored of the subject matter that he doesn't feel passionate about any other genre.
I tend to side with the latter and here's why. It's the "crazy". No hack actor sleepwalking through 70+ years could consistently pull out the "crazy" unless they really, really were submerging themselves into the mindset of the character.
In Curse of the Devil, that character is Naschy's creation, Waldemar Daninski. It seems Daninski's forefathers were witch hunting one day when they actually found real witches.  Go figure. As the head witch was toasting to a golden brown hue whilst tied to a stake, she cursed the elder Daninski's entire bloodline and swore that the curse would be set in motion… eventually. Talk about covering your ass!
Anyway, it turns out that a few centuries later, Waldemar is the unfortunate successor. Through an inticate series of double-crosses and sexual encounters that involve gypsies, virgins and escaped murderers (I'm not exaggerating) he finds himself turning into a werewolf on the full moon. The thing is, he doesn't realize what's happening to him.
Now, this review may sound flippant but there is something here that I want to make absolutely clear. Nobody in this movie approached it with anything other than the intention of making a serious horror film and that's what it is. It's solidly in the line of the gothic Hammer style movies only with more nudity (THANK YOU EURO-CINEMA!) and it's got something going for it that Hammer films don't.
 Paul Naschy brings the "crazy". His struggles and crazed expressions as the werewolf bring to mind Lon Chaney Jr in the first Wolfman movie.
More importantly though, his portayal of Daninski as a tortured soul is semi-believable. He doesn't come across as your uncle, the 1950s league bowler who is having a bad week (sorry Lon). Instead we get something more akin to what you'd see on a telanovela. Drama!
I, for one, think that's a good thing.
Oh, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that yes, there is good old 1970s nudity here for those of you who track this stuff and no, that's not the werewolf peeking out from between Maritza Olivares' legs.
 Presentation
First, let me tell you that the beginning of this film may look washed out but in reality, it was shot with a golden hue for some artistic reason that has completely escaped explanation. However, when watching the film, keep this in mind and you'll see that when the movie jumps to the 19th century portion (as opposed the middle ages) everything becomes normal. There are a few flaws in the transfer and I didn't think it looked as good as Werewolf Shadow but it's still not bad at all.
The sound is fine also.
Extras
You get trailers in both English and Castillian Spanish, which are fun and a still gallery that suffers from the same issues that Werewolf Shadow's still gallery does (too many stills from the movie and not enough vintage posters).
 Most importantly though, you get the liner notes by Mirek Lipinski which are very informative. I particularly enjoyed the explanation of how this film was marketed to American audiences by trying to associate its plot with that of The Exorcist.
The Bottom Line
This is my favorite of the Naschy films I've seen so far. Now granted, that amounts to five films, but still I recommend this one and hope that you'll take the time to check it out.
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