Werewolf Woman

Last updated
Werewolf Woman
La-lupa-mannara-italian-movie-poster-md.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Rino Di Silvestro
Screenplay byRino Di Silvestro [1]
Story byRino Di Silvestro [1]
Produced byDiego Alchimede [1]
Starring
CinematographyMario Capriotti [1]
Edited byAngelo Curi [1]
Music by Coriolano Gori [1]
Production
company
Dialchi Film [1]
Distributed byAgorà
Release date
  • 18 March 1976 (1976-03-18)(Italy)
Running time
100 minutes [1]
CountryItaly [1]
Box office ₤389.164 million

Werewolf Woman (Italian : La lupa mannara), also known as The Legend of the Wolf Woman, is a 1976 Italian horror film directed by Rino Di Silvestro. [2] [3]

Contents

Plot

When Daniella Neseri was a child, she was raped. The trauma from this has stunted her emotional growth and sexuality, so much so that she cannot have normal romantic relationships with men. One day she discovers that one of her female ancestors was killed for purportedly being a werewolf and that she strongly resembles this woman. This causes her to have nightmares where she transforms into a werewolf and is chased by angry villagers. Eventually, this delusion surfaces in her daily life, and as a result, she murders her sister Elena's lover after watching the two make love. Daniella hides the murder by throwing the body over a cliff, meant to give the impression that he was attacked by a dog and accidentally fell.

Daniella is discovered unresponsive near the cliff and is institutionalized. Her family and physicians believe that she merely discovered the body, and the shock was too much for her. Her personality flickers between calm and violent, and eventually, Daniella manages to escape the institution after murdering a fellow patient who made sexual advances to her. While on the run, she murders a man who tried to rape her, and she is found by Luca, a handsome stuntman living in a movie set for Western films. Meanwhile, both detectives and her family are searching for her, as they now believe that she is responsible for all of the murders that have happened thus far.

Daniella falls in love with Luca due to his care and gentleness, even managing to overcome her urge to murder. Believing herself cured of her mental illness, Daniella spends a happy month with Luca and is able to have a seemingly stable sexual relationship with him. This ends after another person living in the same movie set breaks into Luca's home with two of his friends and take turns violently raping Daniella. They also murder Luca when he returns home, shattering what is left of Daniella's sanity. She follows them to their homes and jobs, murdering them out of revenge. The police discover her living in the forest where her ancestor was killed, fully believing herself to be a werewolf. She is captured and institutionalized, where she dies. Her father also commits suicide, leaving her sister as the only living Neseri.

Cast

Production

Filming for Werewolf Woman began in September 1975 in Rome. [1] [4] Initially, the film was known as La licantropa. [4] Director Di Silvestro emphasized in interview that he was trying to make a "serious" film about lycanthropy. [4] Di Silvestro also claimed the film to be the first focused on a werewolf woman, which is untrue as the theme had been explored as early as The Werewolf in 1913. [4]

Annik Borel was cast as the werewolf, Daniella Neseri. [5] Di Silvestro recalled seeing hundred of photos from international agents and when seeing Borel he realized "something was exploding within her, in her psychic and cultural background" [5] Di Silvestro stated he gave her several screen tests which he described as "almost devastating" before casting her. [5]

Release

Werewolf Woman was distributed theatrically in Italy by Agorà on 18 March 1976. [1] The film grossed a total of 389,164,094 Italian lire domestically. [1]

The film was distributed abroad in the United States, Canada and Australia. [5] The director believed his films had an "international feel about them–they were understandable even without dialogue or music, just by watching the images" [5] The film was released in the United States in June 1977 where it was distributed by Dimension Pictures. [1] It has been released in the United States as Daughter of a Werewolf, Naked Werewolf Woman, She-Wolf and Terror of the She Wolf. [1] It was released in Australia as Legend of the Wolf Woman. [1]

Reception

Italian film historian and critic Roberto Curti described the film's reception in Italy as being "predictably ridiculed by critics". [5] Tom Milne of the Monthly Film Bulletin reviewed a 98-minute dubbed version of the film in 1980. [6] Milne described the film as a "random concoction of horror, exploitation, policier and psychological trash-bucket incredibly stilted in all departments." [6] Milne specifically noted the romance in the film, finding it "all soft-focus, rompings on the beach, which heralds the 'cure' for lycanthropy".

In a retrospective review, Curti described the film as an "over-the-top sexploitation potboiler" and that the film was "not technically poor as those by some of his peers" and Di Silvestro's work as naive and with heavy-handed symbolism with too many close-ups, zooms and camera angles resulting in the film looking "unintentionally ridiculous" [4] [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Werewolf fiction</span> Fantasy genre

Werewolf fiction denotes the portrayal of werewolves and other shapeshifting therianthropes, in the media of literature, drama, film, games and music. Werewolf literature includes folklore, legend, saga, fairy tales, Gothic and horror fiction, fantasy fiction and poetry. Such stories may be supernatural, symbolic or allegorical. A classic cinematic example of the theme is The Wolf Man (1941) which in later films joins with the Frankenstein Monster and Count Dracula as one of the three famous icons of modern day horror. However, werewolf fiction is an exceptionally diverse genre, with ancient folkloric roots and manifold modern re-interpretations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamberto Bava</span> Italian film director

Lamberto Bava is an Italian film director. Born in Rome, Bava began working as an assistant director for his director father Mario Bava. Lamberto co-directed the 1979 television film La Venere d'Ille with his father and in 1980 directed his first solo feature film Macabre.

<i>Blood and Black Lace</i> 1964 film by Mario Bava

Blood and Black Lace is a 1964 giallo film directed by Mario Bava and starring Eva Bartok and Cameron Mitchell. The story concerns the brutal murders of a Roman fashion house's models, committed by a masked killer in a desperate attempt to obtain a scandal-revealing diary.

Ernesto Gastaldi is an Italian screenwriter. Film historian and critic Tim Lucas described Gastaldi as the first Italian screenwriter to specialize in horror and thriller films. Gastaldi worked within several popular genres including pepla, Western and spy films.

<i>The Girl Who Knew Too Much</i> (1963 film) 1963 Italian film

The Girl Who Knew Too Much is a 1963 Italian giallo film. Directed by Italian filmmaker Mario Bava, the film stars John Saxon as Dr. Marcello Bassi and Letícia Román as Nora Davis. The plot revolves around a young woman named Nora, who travels to Rome and witnesses a murder. The police and Dr. Bassi don't believe her, since a corpse can't be found. Several more murders follow, tied to a decade-long string of killings of victims chosen in alphabetical order.

<i>Black Sunday</i> (1960 film) 1960 film

Black Sunday is a 1960 Italian gothic horror film directed by Mario Bava in his official directorial debut, and starring Barbara Steele, John Richardson, Andrea Checchi, Ivo Garrani, Arturo Dominici and Enrico Oliveri. Loosely based on Nikolai Gogol's short story "Viy", the film takes place in Moldavia and tells the story of a witch who is put to death by her brother, only to return two centuries later to seek revenge upon his descendants.

<i>The House by the Cemetery</i> 1981 Italian horror film directed by Lucio Fulci

The House by the Cemetery is a 1981 Italian horror film directed by Lucio Fulci. The film stars Catriona MacColl, Paolo Malco, Ania Pieroni, Giovanni Frezza, Silvia Collatina and Dagmar Lassander. Its plot revolves around a series of murders committed by a ghoulish and demonic serial killer taking place in a New England home that happens to be hiding a gruesome secret within its basement walls.

<i>Blood for Dracula</i> 1974 film directed by Paul Morrissey

Blood for Dracula is a 1974 horror film written and directed by Paul Morrissey, and starring Udo Kier, Joe Dallesandro, Maxime McKendry, Stefania Casini, Arno Juerging and Vittorio de Sica. Upon its initial 1974 release in West Germany and the United States, Blood for Dracula was released as Andy Warhol's Dracula.

<i>La Noche de Walpurgis</i> 1971 Spanish film

La Noche de Walpurgis /Walpurgis Night, is a 1970 Spanish/German horror film starring Paul Naschy, the fifth in his series about the werewolf Waldemar Daninsky. This film was directed by León Klimovsky and written by Paul Naschy, and is generally regarded to have kickstarted the Spanish horror film boom of the 1970s. This was Naschy's all-time most financially successful film. It was also the first of 8 films that he would make with director Leon Klimovsky at the helm.

<i>The Werewolf</i> (1913 film) 1913 film

The Werewolf is a 1913 silent film short directed by Henry MacRae. The film is about a Navajo woman becoming a timberwolf.

<i>Monster Dog</i> 1986 film

Monster Dog is a 1986 Spanish horror film directed by Claudio Fragasso and starring Alice Cooper and Victoria Vera. Cooper plays a rock star who returns to his hometown, which has been plagued by wild dog attacks.

<i>Witchery</i> (film) 1989 film

Witchery is a 1989 Italian horror film directed by Fabrizio Laurenti and starring David Hasselhoff, Catherine Hickland, Hildegard Knef, Linda Blair, and Annie Ross.

<i>Death Smiles on a Murderer</i> 1973 film

Death Smiles on a Murderer is a 1973 Italian horror film directed by Joe D'Amato and starring Ewa Aulin, Klaus Kinski and Luciano Rossi.

<i>Kill, Baby, Kill</i> 1966 film directed by Mario Bava

Kill, Baby, Kill is a 1966 Italian gothic horror film directed by Mario Bava and starring Giacomo Rossi Stuart and Erika Blanc. Written by Bava, Romano Migliorini, and Roberto Natale, the film focuses on a small Carpathian village in the early 1900s that is being terrorized by the ghost of a murderous young girl.

<i>Sette note in nero</i> 1977 film directed by Lucio Fulci

Sette note in nero is a 1977 Italian giallo film directed by Lucio Fulci and co-written by him with Roberto Gianviti and Dardano Sacchetti. Sette note in nero stars Jennifer O'Neill, Gianni Garko, Marc Porel, and Ida Galli. The film involves a woman who begins experiencing psychic visions that lead her to discover a murder; her husband is charged with the killing. The psychic must embark on an investigation with a paranormal researcher to clear her husband's name of the crime.

<i>Tragic Ceremony</i> 1972 film

Tragic Ceremony is a 1972 horror film directed by Riccardo Freda and starring Camille Keaton, Tony Isbert, and Máximo Valverde. Its plot follows a group of young people who find themselves haunted in the hours after witnessing a black mass while lodging at a remote estate during a rainstorm.

<i>Spasmo</i> 1974 Italian film

Spasmo is a 1974 Italian giallo film directed by Umberto Lenzi and starring Robert Hoffmann and Suzy Kendall.

<i>Formula for a Murder</i> 1985 film

Formula for a Murder is a 1985 Italian giallo film co-written and directed by Alberto De Martino.

<i>Midnight Killer</i> 1986 film

Midnight Killer is a 1986 Italian giallo film starring Valeria D'Obici and Leonardo Treviglio, and directed by Lamberto Bava.

<i>Blood Delirium</i> Film

Blood Delirium is a direct-to-video Italian horror film directed by Sergio Bergonzelli. The film involves the painter Saint Simon who loses his sanity after the death of his wife. Along with his butler Hermann, they meet a young pianist named Sybille who resembles his dead wife home to their castle. After Saint Simon discovers that blood from a murder victim re-inspires him artistically, he orders Hermann to seek out more women for him while Sybille is held captive in the castle.

References

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Curti 2017, p. 163.
  2. ↑ Roberto Chiti; Roberto Poppi; Enrico Lancia. Dizionario del cinema italiano: I film. Gremese, 1991. ISBN   8876059350.
  3. ↑ Marco Giusti (1999). Dizionario dei film italiani stracult. Sperling & Kupfer,1999. ISBN   8820029197.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Curti 2017, p. 164.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Curti 2017, p. 166.
  6. 1 2 Milne, Tom (November 1980). "Lupa mannara, La (Werewolf Woman)". Monthly Film Bulletin . Vol. 47, no. 562. British Film Institute. p. 216.
  7. ↑ Curti 2017, p. 165.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.