El Retorno de Walpurgis
El Retorno de Walpurgis (The Return of Walpurgis, also known as Curse of the Devil and The Black Harvest of Countess Dracula) is a 1973 Mexican-Spanish horror film that is the seventh in a series about the werewolf Count Waldemar Daninsky, played by Paul Naschy. This film ignored the events in all of the earlier films and began a whole new origin for el Hombre Lobo.
| El Retorno de Walpurgis | |
|---|---|
 Poster with the alternate title: Curse of the Devil | |
| Directed by | Carlos Aured |
| Produced by | Luís Gómez Ramiro Meléndez |
| Written by | Jacinto Molina |
| Starring | Jacinto Molina Fabiola Falcón Maritza Olivares |
| Music by | Antón García Abril |
| Cinematography | Francisco Sánchez |
| Edited by | Maruja Soriano |
| Distributed by | Goldstone Film Enterprises (USA, theatrical) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 84 minutes (USA, uncut) |
| Country | Spain Mexico |
| Language | Spanish |
The film was followed by a sequel in 1975 called La Maldicion de la Bestia.
Plot
When the wealthy Count Waldemar Daninsky kills a wolf on his grounds, it transforms into a Gypsy upon death, and he finds himself cursed by a vengeful Gypsy witch, who is angry about him killing one of her band. The witch orders a young, beautiful Gypsy girl to seduce Daninsky and then, while he is sleeping, bite him with the skull of a wolf which she smuggles into the Count's mansion. When she presses the skull's fangs into his skin, Waldemar becomes a werewolf (without a doubt, this is the most original of all of Waldemar's various "origins" in the series).
The film also mentions an ancient curse that was placed on Waldemar's ancestor (a Grand Inquisitor) hundreds of years ago by a medieval sorceress named Countess Bathory. Apparently, his ancestor had Bathory burned at the stake, but not before she managed to curse his entire family line. "Now", in 1900, the Daninsky curse has struck Waldemar, who is transformed into a monster by the bite of the Gypsy's wolf skull. The Countess Bathory is later revived from the dead to combat el Hombre Lobo in the grand finale.
Cast
- Paul Naschy as Count Waldemar Daninsky/el Hombre Lobo
- Fabiola Falcón as Kinga Wilowa
- Maritza Olivares as Maria Wilowa
- Mariano Vidal Molina as Roulka
- José Manuel Martín as Bela
Release
The film was released theatrically in its native Spain in 1973, and in the United States by the Goldstone Film Enterprises in 1976. It was released on VHS as The Black Harvest of Countess Dracula and Curse of the Devil.
The film was released on DVD by Anchor Bay Entertainment in 2002 as Curse of the Devil. It was subsequently re-released in a special edition in 2008 by Deimos Entertainment, a subdivision of BCI Eclipse, under the same title.