An evil witch brings back to life the infamous Elizabeth Bathory (Julia Saly), who was executed several hundred years previously for murdering young women and bathing in their blood.This film was written by, directed by, and starring Paul Naschy. In the United States, the film was released theatrically and on VHS as "The Craving" in 1985, and more recently on DVD and Blu-ray as "Night of the Werewolf".It is interesting how often Elizabeth Bathory has been portrayed in various horror films. This may be the only film in which she co-stars alongside a werewolf, however. And not just any werewolf, but one of the most famous wolves of all.

Though they probably can't be described as 'good' films as such, I love the 'Hombre Lobo' films with Spanish Horror legend Paul Naschy, of whom I am a big fan. Naschy, who has penned many of his films himself, has so far played Werewolf Waldemar Daninsky in thirteen films (between 1968 and 2004) and I sure hope that he will reprise the role in the future. "El Retorno Del Hombre-Lobo" aka. "Night of the Werewolf" (1981) is certainly one of the better entries to the series, which can be attributed to a creepy atmosphere, a fast pace, a cool score and the presence of two Horror-favorites: Waldemar Daninsky (of course), and Countess Elisabeth Bathory. The 16th century Hungarian Countess was sentenced as a sadistic serial murderer of girls in real-life, and has since been the villainess of dozens of Horror films including three of the Waldemar Daninsky films ("La Noche De Walpurgis" of 1971, "El Retorno De Walpurgis" of 1973 and this one).This film also begins with the sentencing of Countess Bathory who has been tried for sorcery, devil-worshiping, murder and vampirism. The countess is sentenced to lifelong imprisonment, her servants are to be executed. Her henchman Waldemar Daninsky, whom she has bewitched into becoming a werewolf, has an iron mask nailed on his face and a dagger stabbed into his heart. Centuries later, three beautiful female University students travel to the Carpathian mountains to awake the Blood-Countess from the dead at her final resting place. Needless to say that Waldemar Daninsky has already been brought back to life by careless grave-robbers...The storyline is more or less similar in all Waldemar Daninsky films, but it is always presented a little different and, at least in my humble opinion, with highly entertaining results. Naschy is awesome as always in this film, the female cast is yummy (though there is little nudity) and the style of the film is really cool. Julia Saly, who also was in a few other Naschy films including "Latidos De Panico" ("Panic Beats", 1983), as well as in "La Noche De Las Gaviotas" (1975, the Fourth and Last of the "Blind Dead" films), fits very well in the role of the evil countess. The cinematography is nicely done and the castle setting in the Carpathian mountains is creepy. The score is very good (though it sometimes seems a little out of place for a Gothic Horror film like this), at some points it was clearly inspired by the Harmonica-theme in Sergio Leone'S masterpiece "Once Upon a Time in the West". Overall, this is yet another creepy and vastly entertaining Waldemar Daninsky film. Paul Naschy simply has to be worshiped. May he live to 150 years and make at least thirteen more Hombre-Lobo films!

Night of the Werewolf (1981) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Countess Elizabeth Bathory (Julia Saly) and her servant Waldemar Daninsky (Paul Naschy) are put to death because of their connections to Satan. Flash-forward several hundred years and a grave robber pulls out the silver cross from Daninsky's heart, which brings him back to life as a werewolf. Soon the Countess also returns to life and before long they are battling.NIGHT OF THE WEREWOLF was the eighth (or seventh, depending on how you look at it) time that Naschy played his most famous role and it's also the first time he directed himself in the part. This here was released in America as THE CRAVING and it's a remake of Naschy's WEREWOLF SHADOW, which played in America as THE WEREWOLF VS THE VAMPIRE WOMAN. For the most part there are a lot of good things here but at the same time there's no question that this falls well short of the original film as well as several others in the series.What I enjoyed the most about this film is obviously the werewolf. I thought the transformation scenes were good enough considering the budget they were working on and there's no question that the look of the werewolf is excellent. There are some really great an striking shots of the werewolf including one of the final ones with a ton of gore spewing out of its mouth. As you probably know, Naschy was an expert at playing Daninsky by this time and he turns in another fine performance. Saly is also very good in her role and there are plenty of beautiful women throughout.With all of that said, there are certainly some flaws in the film including some of the direction. I never really thought that Naschy built up a very strong atmosphere. I'd also argue that the love story thrown in is rather stupid and at times laughable and especially how Naschy and the woman don't know each other one minute and in the next scene they're madly in love! None of the dialogue scenes are all that captivating either but what keeps you glued to the film is the werewolf and thankfully that there is strong enough to recommend the movie.

Ah, the first Daninsky movie of the eighties ... here I refer to Midnight Video's version entitled "Night of the Werewolf", which is pretty good quality but has annoying non-removable subtitles.When a movie opens with a bunch of satanists being sentenced to gruesome deaths including buried alive, tortured, hanged, beheaded, and so forth ... you know you must be in for good, clean B-movie horror. The chief witch in question of course swears a terrible revenge (haven't we already been here in Molina's "Curse of the Devil"?), and among the condemned is the werewolf Waldemar Daninsky himself, sporting a rather stylish beard. He gets off comparatively lightly, being made to wear an iron mask and having a silver dagger driven through his heart. Centuries later, an evil witch finds a medallion in order to resurrect the ancient chief witch, and as fate would have it a couple of grave-robbers remove the dagger of Daninsky's heart at exactly the same moment. Time for a "Werewolf vs the Vampire Woman" rematch ...Jacinto Molina opted to direct this one himself, as well as the two other Daninsky movies made in the eighties. This means he has more control over the project than ever before, and contrary to what some say, I think he's actually a very good director. Probably the best ever to direct a Daninsky movie, anyway, and obviously he can capture his own artistic vision like nobody else could. This is probably why it feels more conventional and competent than most movies in the series. The sets are great, the special effects are good for it's time and the whole movie has a fantastic atmosphere to it. There is more gratuitous nudity and gore than in most Daninsky movies, and I'm surprised it hasn't been a bigger hit with fans of the genre. There are certainly enough werewolves, witches, vampires, zombies and horrible sacrifices to keep them entertained! Maybe I'm going overboard with the praise, but if you've seen the earlier Daninsky movies, you'll know that in most ways this is pretty damn good comparatively. The dubbing is actually pretty good (although dubbing is always a crime, of course), and they've tried to make the dialogue as hip as possible. Man, I just love the eighties mentality. The soundtrack is also very cool. Okay, okay, so the storyline is pretty much the same predictable stuff all over again. And once again it has no real consistency with the previous movies. But that's why we love it! Obviously it's not an easy movie to watch, it's arguably slow and there's some particularly dark stuff going on even for a Daninsky movie. Daninsky himself is something of an anti-hero, saving maidens in distress but also allowing his wolf side to run around slaughtering innocents. The vampires are very creepy and unearthly, as Molina has always been good at knowing how to portray them."El Retorno del Hombre-Lobo", "The Craving", "Night of the Werewolf" ... call it what you like, this is my favourite Daninsky movie yet. It's "The Werewolf vs the Vampire Woman" as it should have been, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.