DR. JEKYLL AND THE WEREWOLF (1972)
Label: Mondo Macabro
Region Code: Region-Free
Duration: 85 Minutes 56 Seconds (Spanish Version), 86 Minutes 13 Seconds (Export Version)
Rating: Unrated
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1)
Audio: English or Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles (Spanish Version) Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with No Subtitles (Export Version)
Director: Leon Klimovsky
Cast: Paul Naschy, Jack Taylor, Mirta Miller, Shirley Corrigan, Jose Marco, Barta Barri, Luis Induni
Directed by Leon Klimovsky, Dr. Jekyll and the Werewolf (1972) is the fifth film to feature Spanish actor Paul Naschy (Howl of the Devil) as Waldemar the Wolfman, and his second team-up with Klimovsky, the first being The Werewolf Vs. the Vampire Woman. This scrappy monster mash-up is quite a bit of sleazy fun, at the start of the film London newlyweds Justine (Shirley Corrigan, Syndicate Sadists) and Imre (Jose Marco, The Horrible Sexy Vampire) are on their honeymoon vacation, while travelling to the Carpathian Mountains they stop off at Imre's family cemetery along the way to pay their respects to his dead parents, but find themselves not just scared by a lepper, but attacked by trio of scoundrels who kill Imre. Justine is rescued by the Waldemar Daninsky, who offers her safety in his rural castle villa. The pair end up falling in love, nevermind that her new husband Imre just died a violent death, and that she discovers that he is a werewolf by night, it's love, trust me. After Waldemar as the werewolf attacks and kills some men from the nearby village, the villagers lead by disgruntled inn-keeper Gyogyo (Barta Barri, Horror Express) and scoundrel Otvos (Luis Induni, The Killer of Dolls), grab their trusty torch and pitchforks and get after him mob-style, decapitating his elderly maid, which is when Justine convinces him that maybe they should flee the area and he could return to London with her so that her dear friend Dr. Henry Jekyll (Jack Taylor, Panther Squad) can treat his lycanthropy, the descendant of the original Dr. Jekyll, can cure him using a variation on the Hyde serum.
Rating: Unrated
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1)
Audio: English or Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles (Spanish Version) Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with No Subtitles (Export Version)
Director: Leon Klimovsky
Cast: Paul Naschy, Jack Taylor, Mirta Miller, Shirley Corrigan, Jose Marco, Barta Barri, Luis Induni
Directed by Leon Klimovsky, Dr. Jekyll and the Werewolf (1972) is the fifth film to feature Spanish actor Paul Naschy (Howl of the Devil) as Waldemar the Wolfman, and his second team-up with Klimovsky, the first being The Werewolf Vs. the Vampire Woman. This scrappy monster mash-up is quite a bit of sleazy fun, at the start of the film London newlyweds Justine (Shirley Corrigan, Syndicate Sadists) and Imre (Jose Marco, The Horrible Sexy Vampire) are on their honeymoon vacation, while travelling to the Carpathian Mountains they stop off at Imre's family cemetery along the way to pay their respects to his dead parents, but find themselves not just scared by a lepper, but attacked by trio of scoundrels who kill Imre. Justine is rescued by the Waldemar Daninsky, who offers her safety in his rural castle villa. The pair end up falling in love, nevermind that her new husband Imre just died a violent death, and that she discovers that he is a werewolf by night, it's love, trust me. After Waldemar as the werewolf attacks and kills some men from the nearby village, the villagers lead by disgruntled inn-keeper Gyogyo (Barta Barri, Horror Express) and scoundrel Otvos (Luis Induni, The Killer of Dolls), grab their trusty torch and pitchforks and get after him mob-style, decapitating his elderly maid, which is when Justine convinces him that maybe they should flee the area and he could return to London with her so that her dear friend Dr. Henry Jekyll (Jack Taylor, Panther Squad) can treat his lycanthropy, the descendant of the original Dr. Jekyll, can cure him using a variation on the Hyde serum.
As you might well imagine injecting a werewolf with the Hyde serum proves to have some serious side effects, at times his alter ego the werewolf emerges, other times it's the more sinister Hyde, who has a sleazy good time wandering the seedy streets of 1970's swinging London in his Victorian cloak and top-hot tearing women up! The matter is made all the more worse when Dr. Jekyll's spurned assistant Sandra (Mirta Miller, Eyeball) sabotages the experiment and attempts to kill the doctor, causing Waldemar to become Hyde for an extended period, which is not good for anyone.
There's some nice compare and contrast between the werewolf and Hyde, as Waldemar is a tortured soul who doesn't want to kill, but does under the full moon, as where Hyde is truly sadistic, enjoying the pain he inflicts, never more so than when he whips women, the dual-role also allows Nachy to really tear and chew-up the scenery playing two different monsters, and I am here for it!
Waldemar looks pretty swank in his top hat and black cloak as he stalks the neon-lit London streets looking for fresh flesh to tear into, as does his furrier alter ego, who also tears up a few women on the streets of London, both have a penchant for ripping open the blouses of their female victims though. The werewolf transformation scenes are a mixed bag, on one hand we have slow lap-dissolves that were pretty well antiquated by this time and don't look terrific to be honest, but as a Monster Kid who grew up on Universal horror I still love 'em, then you have Waldemar's Hyde alter-ego transforming into a Werewolf at a disco, this time triggered by the club's strobing lights. Another fun scene has Waldemar trapped in an stuck elevator with an unfortune nurse (Marisol Delgado, The Killer Is One of 13) during the full moon, and of course she gets torn-up. Also cool are the creepy castle in Transylvania that Waldemar called home, and the neon-lit and fog-shrouded streets of London that the Waldemar/Hyde hybrid stalks. There film looks especially cash strapped with poorly decorated interiors and labs, but we do get some fun if at times ropey gore-bits, and Naschy's werewolf makeups and sharp teeth look particularly solid.
While Dr. Jekyll and The Werewolf is certainly not my favorite Naschy werewolf flick, nor the goriest, nor best looking of the bunch, it's better than the sum of it's part, and ends up a truly entertaining b-movie monster-mash that could be summed up as A Spanish Werewolf in London or Hyde After Midnight, or something along those lines. It's also quite sleazy in the longer Export cut, and it moves pretty fast, plus blonde starlets Shirley Corrigan and Mirta Miller are both pretty easy on the eyes, all of which helps make this a fun Daninsky the Werewolf entry, and it's never looked better than what Mondo Macabro have offered up right here.
Audio/Video: Dr. Jekyll and the Werewolf (1972), both the Spanish cut and the U.S. version arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro in 1080p HD framed in 1.66:1 widescreen. We get the following disclaimer pertaining to the versions:
"It appears that Dr. Jekyll and The Werewolf was released in at least 4 different versions. The original Spanish cut, with "Clothed" scenes, a version released in the US with some "Clothed" and some "Naked" scenes, a version released in the UK with some scenes cut and a version available in Germany with all of the stronger scenes intact. The current owner of the film only has access to the Spanish version. Despite a long search we were unable to locate usable 35mm materials for all the cut or altered scenes. To recreate the most complete version of the film, as presented here, we had to use a mixture of 16mm footage and clips from analogue and digital video sources of variable quality. Mondo Macabro thanks Don Cunningham for his help in recreating this extended version."
With that being said, both versions looks wonderful, grain is nicely exposed and looks filmic, and while there are a few very minor frame specific blemishes that pop-up it is nothing to that will deter you from enjoying the flick. Colors are well-saturated, black levels are pleasing, and contrast is supportive. The longer cut is of similar quality with the exception of the aforementioned 16mm footage and analogue and digital video sources used to flesh it out the most complete version possible, and the quality of those scenes drops significantly, but are also quite brief.
Audio on the Spanish version comes by way of English-dub or Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with optional English subtitles, while the U.S. export version only offers Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with no subtitles options. The track is pretty flat sounding but clean, dialogue sounds fine, a bit of hiss on the Spanish track but only minor, and the score from Antón García Abril (Tombs of the Blind Dead) is atmospheric and quite good.
Mondo Macabro's Blu-ray is well-stocked with over three-hours of new and archival bonus content; we get a new Audio Commentary from the Naschy Cast, which is a must with any Nachy release, plus the 19-min archival Paul Naschy on Dr Jekyll from 2002; a 23-min Interview with Sergio Molina; the 31-min Jack Taylor, testigo del fantástico, directed by Diego López-Fernández from 2018; the 16-min Jack Taylor on Fantaterror; and the 31-min Filmmaker Victor Matellano on the career of director Leon Klimovsky. All of the extras save for the commentary are in Spanish with optional English subtitles. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided new badass sleeve of artwork by artist Justin Coffee.
Special Features:
- Paul Naschy on Dr Jekyll (18:40)
- Interview with Sergio Molina (2002) (22:43)
- Jack Taylor, testigo del fantástico, directed by Diego López-Fernández (31:16)
- Jack Taylor on Fantaterror (16:06)
- Filmmaker Victor Matellano on the career of director Leon Klimovsky (30:46)
- Jack Taylor on Fantaterror (16:06)
- Filmmaker Victor Matellano on the career of director Leon Klimovsky (30:46)
- Audio Commentary from the Naschy Cast
Screenshots from the Mondo Macabro Blu-ray:
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