Outstanding production values (and some nice full frontal nudity throughout) help make Paul Naschy's THE RETURN OF WALPURGIS watchable. The direction, unfortunately, feels half-hearted and Naschy's habit of retelling his character's origin in every single outing doesn't help. Of course, the prologue here fills in some gaps in the history of his character's curse, but a simple flashback (in black and white, say, to differentiate it from the "current" action) would've saved a lot of time. While I would've preferred to have seen the confrontation between Naschy and the axe murderer the climax of the movie itself, it's just as well, I guess: Naschy simply seems to be going through the motions himself in this one; his "attacks" are half-hearted swipes that lack the true FURY OF THE WOLFMAN.

"El Retorno De Walpurgis" aka. "Curse Of The Devil" of 1973 is already the seventh film in which Spanish Horror/Exploitation legend Paul Naschy plays Werewolf Waldemar Daninski. These Waldemar Daninski films (many of them carry an "Hombre Lobo" title) are not exactly connected with each other (some of them play in the past, some in the present), but they all revolve around Waldemar Daninski, a usually kind-hearted man who is turned into a Werewolf by a curse. Unlike the title might make believe "El Retorno De Walpurgis" is not a direct sequel to the foregoing "La Noche De Walpurgis" (aka "The Werewolf Vs. Vampire Women") of 1971, the most famous of the Waldemar Daninski films. While "La Noche..." played in the present (1971), this film takes place in the past, presumably in the late 19th century. It is also not quite clear whether the Waldemar Daninski in this film is the same, or an ancestor of the other - he has quite the same traits of character, however.In medieval times knight Irenius Daninski (Paul Naschy) rid the world of a coven of devil-worshipers when he killed their leader in battle, and had his witch wife burned and their followers hanged. Before being burned at the stake however, the devil-worshiping lady put a curse on Daninski's family, vowing to be back for revenge... Several centuries later, the kind-hearted Waldemar Daninski (also Naschy) lives in the castle... More than its predecessors, "El Retorno De Walpurgis" gives a little background information about how the Daninsky-curse came to existence. The film is quite typical for a Naschy-flick. On the one hand the story is often extremely cheesy, but on the other hand it has moments of great style. As far as I am considered, a Naschy flick is always worth watching, as they mostly provide a great atmosphere, and practically always provide two elements that all my fellow Exploitation-enthusiasts should appreciate: Loads of sleaze and female nudity, as well as stylish (if sometimes cheesy) gory outbursts. And this is definitely the case with "El Retorno De Walpurgis". The film is filled with gore scenes, which are quite nicely done for a budget that was supposedly quite low, and all the female characters have exhibitionist tendencies, most memorably the stunningly beautiful Maritza Olivares and Fabiona Falcón. The fact that the werewolf-makeup is not exactly frightening does in no way lessen this film's cult-value. Low-budget Spanish Horror-exploitation from the 70s is a supremely entertaining kind of cinema, and Paul Naschy is its king. While this "Retorno De Walpurgis" may not be a must-see, it is definitely a highly entertaining film that my fellow Eurohorror buffs should enjoy! Paul Naschy Forever!

"Curse of the Devil" is one of the best entries in the series.**SPOILERS**During the Spanish Inquisition, Irineus Daninsky, (Jacinto Molina) leads a raid on a Satanic Cult's hideout and captures the entire group, sentencing them to death. Years later, his descendant Waldemar Daninsky, (Jacinto Molina) accidentally shoots an intruder on his land while fox hunting. While traveling on business, they run into Ilona, (Ines Morales) a member of the cult, and take her home to recuperate. Invoking their revenge, she carries out a curse by nicking his chest with a wolf's skull. While recovering, he meets with Lazlo Willowa, (Eduardo Calva) an engineer renting out a house nearby, and his daughters Kinga, (Fabiola Falcon) and Maria, (Maritza Olivares) and becomes friends with them. As a series of brutal murders occurs around town, he figures it's him and tries to fight off his killer urges around the family before they discover his secret.The Good News: There's a lot to like about this one. One of the film's greatest strengths lies in it's exploiting of the essential sleaze aspects, nudity and gore. There's a large amount of really nice looking women going unclothed periodically in this one, and there's full frontal nudity in this during many occasions. As there's several sex scenes and a mass orgy scene, there's really nothing in here that couldn't be spruced up with nudity. The other big factor, the gore, is nicely staged in here, and this might be the goriest entry in the series. There's a huge amount of throat-and-neck biting, a couple of face scratches, a few get their heads sliced open and one gets their head crushed with a large rock. In addition, there's also gore in here that wasn't committed by the werewolf, including some stabbings with a knife, a wolf's skull plunged deeply into a chest, a scythe stabbed into a chest, and one person set on fire. The gory aftermath of several victims killed off-screen but shown with horribly mangled and rotting faces and bodies is also included, giving this a real heaping of blood that's quite refreshing. What really helps out is the really large body count in this one, as not only do almost every main character gets knocked off, but a large amount of characters are introduced only to be killed off a few minutes later. It's great to see a film use a gimmick like that solely for the purpose of giving another body for the cause. The scenes are also pretty creepy at times, as the massacre at the actor's campsite being a great highlight. With the driving wind, spooky forest setting and low light, complimented with off-screen wolf howls and a mild jump during the initial attack bring out a lot of suspense in the scene. Also quite nice was the young couple killed off in their home, as the sudden appearance of the wolf by smashing through a window into the room bringing a great jump and the ensuing kills complimenting a great sequence. The film is also wonderfully atmospheric, with plenty of old-school Gothic tones and vibes present in the film, mostly in the sequences of the coven looking on over their curse. With the swirling fog and back-lit, flowing blouses atop a wooden hilltop, it creates a chilling atmosphere. The forest areas at night are wonderfully shot, and look spectacular. It also has to be complimented on it's nicely original and clever plot. The addition of a Satanic coven and their revenge thrust into a Gothic werewolf story is nicely integrated, being used for the cause of both of the need for vengeance and the revenge itself, and doesn't seem out-of-place at all. With a really impressive pace, especially in the last half when it really gets serious with it's blood-spraying and some really cheesy vibes inside, this is a really great entry.The Bad News: There's only a few things in here that don't really work. The most obvious is the werewolf effects. It's hard to believe that progress in werewolf transformations haven't changed much, as this has the same kind of scenes shot years before this one, and come across as dated before they started. The werewolf itself looks cheesy rather than terrifying, although the large fangs aren't that bad of a choice to use. Whatever the man in black was supposed to be, he comes off as quite hilarious when he shouldn't, and isn't really told what he really is to begin with. The only other problem is the fact that it has a feel that it's been done before. Despite the introduction of the cult, this plays out like most werewolf movies usually play out without much change, and to some, that can be a fatal blow right there. It's not that bad, though and is quite good.The Final Verdict: With all the elements needed for a great film found here in abundance, this is one of the best entries in the series. Fans of the others will have a lot to love here, as there's really nothing that would disappoint them in the slightest. Highly recommended, as well as to those with a passing interest in these kinds of movies.Rated UR/R: Full Nudity, Graphic Violence, several sex scenes and mild Language

El Retorno de Walpurgis, or Curse of the Devil as it's more commonly known amongst English speaking audiences, starts in Medieval Europe where Irineus Daninsky (Jacinto Molina under his usual Paul Naschy pseudonym) has a sword fight with some evil spawn of Satan bloke & ends up decapitating him. That night the evil blokes wife Elizabeth Bathory (Maria Silva) & some Satan worshippers hold a sacrificial black mass but are rounded up by Daninsky & his men, as Elizabeth is burned alive at the stake she puts a curse on Daninsky & all future Daninsky's. Centuries later & Waldemar Daninsky (Jacinto Molina again) accidentally shoots a Bathory descendant which sets the curse in motion. A gypsy witch (Elsa Zabala) holds yet another black mass in which some strange guy dressed head to toe in black has his wicked way with various naked women, hey all this gratuitous nudity is an essential part of the story telling process. One of the women Ilona (Ines Morales) is discovered unconscious lying in the middle of the road by Daninsky & his servant Maurice (Fernando Sanchez Polack as Fernando S. Polack). They take her back to Daninsky's castle to nurse her back to health, Daninsky's maid Malitza (Ana Farra) is suspicious of her. One night Ilona pulls some sort of animal skull out & bites Daninsky's nipple with it. From that moment on Daninsky is cursed to turn into a Werewolf at every full moon & kill, things become even more complicated when he brutally kills Maria Wilowa (Maritza Olivares) the young sister of Kinga (Fabiola Falcon) the woman he has fallen in love with...Directed by Carlos Aured I thought El Retorno de Walpurgis was a very poor film, both technically & conceptually. The script by star Jacinto Molina is a mess, a dull boring mess as well. After a fairly good & exploitative opening few minutes it quickly goes downhill for the remainder of it's duration. The film feels extremely choppy, characters come & go far too readily, the gypsy, Ilona & the policeman to name but three. No one is given any sort of meaningful character development apart from Daninsky (talk about giving yourself all the best lines) & I found it almost impossible to care about anyone or anything. Even though El Retorno de Walpurgis only lasts for 80 odd minutes uncut it felt much longer & I actually started to go to sleep towards the end. The editing is very poor, the film cuts & moves all over the place & at one point a sequence is edited in such a way that it appeared to me that Daninsky wasn't the Werewolf when in fact he was. On the positive side El Retorno de Walpurgis is a handsome film throughout with nice production design, impressive detailed period sets & costumes. Don't expect much blood or gore despite what you read as it's not exactly going to make anyone lose any sleep. A few bites, a scythe through someones body, an impaling & a decapitated head at the start. The blood itself looks very fake, in fact it looks a lot like red paint. There is a fair amount of nudity as well but again it's nothing that's going to amaze or shock you. Forget about the great looking artwork on the DVD/video box as El Retorno de Walpurgis has to feature one of the weakest Werewolves in horror film history, he looks more like a teddy bear with fake perfectly white plastic fangs complete with cute little semi circle ears sticking out the top of his head, bless 'im. The acting seemed poor & the rubbishy English dub probably doesn't do it any favours. Overall I was very disappointed by El Retorno de Walpurgis, I usually really like these cheap Euro exploitation films but I didn't dig this one at all. Despite a good opening sequence & nice period production design there is nothing by which I can recommend El Retorno de Walpurgis as a piece of enjoyable entertainment. Probably one to avoid.