Prof-Hieronymos-Grost
The Spanish countryside is being plagued by a series of gruesome killings, which gives rise to the legend of The Werewolf of Allariz. Local officials decide to pay for all wolves in the area to be culled, but this doesn't stop the killings. Barbara (Elsa Pataky) a beautiful young girl, begins to suspect her sister's lover. Romasanta (Julian Sands) might be the culprit, only problem is there is a raging sexual chemistry between them, but after her sister and niece disappear, Barbara decides she must act. Romasanta comes clean before a court, that he is in fact a wolf who takes the guise of a man to seduce his victims, is he a wolf or just a psychotic killer? Romasanta is a beautifully filmed period drama, that explores more the myth of the killings than lycantrophy. Those expecting wolf men will be disappointed, but those who like a good story and terrors that are for the most part only alluded to, will enjoy this one. In that regard its very much in the vein of Pacte de Loups. Sands is cleverly cast, his lupine looks adding to the myth, Pataky also provides some nice eye candy.
Tim Hayes
Werewolf Hunter is an elegant Gothic horror film that hearkens back to the days of Hammer, but with the production capabilities of today. The film is not an action packed mixture of violence and CGI transformations like many werewolf films of today have degenerated into but an actual leisurely paced film that takes the time to develop its characters. At no time during the film is the viewer ever told that yes this is real or no it is not. It is up to the viewer to make their own decision. The film deals with the true story of Manuel Blanco Romasanta, a man arrested in 1851 for the murder of more than 13 people in rural Spain. He became known as the Werewolf Of Allariz because his defense against these charges was that he could not control his animal urges since he was in fact a werewolf. Some liberties are taken with the case. One character in the film, Antonio, was never actually proved to have existed since he was never found. Also, the ending merely provides a possible explanation since the truth of the matter is unknown to anyone. Paco Plaza has crafted a truly special film that is unfortunately hampered with a dreadful direct to video title but you should get past that and give this one a shot.
MightyTiny
An interesting story, with good acting, well told. Good direction, visually appealing, atmospheric.However, scientifically, and/or historically literate viewers will find one nagging, glaring blunder; at one point in this story, which is supposed to be set in the mid 19th century, there is a reference to a person being controlled "by his genes". Come on! The term "gene" wasn't even proposed until half a century later, and additionally, around mid 19th century the mechanism of inheritance was entirely unknown; Mendel's work lay undiscovered until early 20th century, and even Mendel didn't use the word "gene" (so it couldn't have been a case of some exceptionally insightful scientist having discovered the term in some ).That sort of a slip may not seem much, but for someone aware of this history, it does brake the illusion of an authentic world in which the events are set, making it harder to enjoy the movie. I'm surprised that anybody reviewing the script didn't pick up on it... but then again, the state of scientific literacy among filmmakers is often abysmal. In a movie set in a historical period, accuracy should be more of a priority though, I think.The story proceeds almost languidly, punctuated by moments of violence and terror; perhaps too slow for most horror fans to appreciate, and those who do appreciate the subtlety are likely to be bothered by the "gene" mishap. The score is beautiful, and lighting is used to good effect; the combination makes for a visually and auditorily pleasing experience.Perhaps because of how the movie is portrayed as a werewolf movie, the people who might best enjoy it, aren't likely to see it, and the people expecting a traditional supernatural horror movie might feel a bit let down.In conclusion, Romasanta is a movie not as good as it could have been, and somewhat misleadingly advertised on the cover, but well worth seeing nonetheless. I was torn between 7 or 8 stars, and decided to be generous. :)
Joe Davis
I'm a sucker for werewolf movies and when I saw the DVD cover of Werewolf Hunter; that and its' title had me picking it up ASAP! I read the back and knew then that it wasn't a straight up werewolf movie but it still sounded interesting so I got it.The movie is based on true events of a serial killer named Romasanta. He was caught tried for killing 15 people in 1852. He claimed to have hunted them down as a wolf (werewolf) and had hunted many times with a man called Anonia who was also a werewolf. Blah, blah, blah, he was sentence to life instead of death and died in captivity.Now the movie takes a different approach to the the above events but most of the characters are there... Romasanta and Anonia. I was afraid the movie would try to trick you into thinking he was really a werewolf or leave you with questions but it didn't. It took you through a nice recreation of the original events with some decent added story.If you like horror thrillers...not a bad rent!
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