bkoganbing This Spanish-German production with a French setting looks like it was rivaling some of the gorier British Hammer films of the time. In terms of blood and breasts it succeeded.Gaby Fuchs a researcher into the occult and her friend Barbara Capell are on a mission. It's to find the grave of a woman killed in the 14th century who was reputed to be a witch who through her experimenting with the black arts became a vampire.They do find her and pulling the cross/stake from her skeletal remains and a cut from one of the women which drips blood into the skeletal mouth is all that's needed to loose this evil on the 20th century. Seeking some aid they go to the ancient castle of Paul Naschy, but he's got some issues of his own. Like he's a werewolf and you know what a full moon means to those folks.The Werewolf Vs. The Vampire Woman makes some nice use of some ancient medieval ruins. On the other hand it's nothing we haven't seen before. Where is Lawrence Talbot when you need him.

Leofwine_draca A classic slice of Spanish exploitation, this is Euro Horror at its finest. It runs like a Hammer film and contains many of the usual Gothic traditions - crucifixes, atmosphere, ruined graveyards, vampires, witches, werewolves, manacles, and deserted castles. The film is even set in an unspecified European locale (Northern France is mentioned, but this doesn't look much like France to me), so beloved of the Hammer studio. However, as this is a Spanish exploitation film and the Europeans were always less prudish than their British counterparts, there are the added touches of nudity (whenever women fight their tops get torn off, unsurprisingly) and more gore than we would usually expect from a fantasy piece about classic monsters like this. The gore is really icing on the cake though as the film is strong enough to stand up without it.Highlights include the scene where Naschy kills his vampire sister and the final sequence where the witch dissolves into a maggot-covered skeleton. In the former, we watch as Naschy nonchalantly hammers a stake (with a huge mallet!) into his sister's chest, watching blood erupt from the wound, and then hacks her head off with an axe - all portrayed in a jaw-droppingly matter-of-fact way! The latter death scene is highly reminiscent of the influential Hammer Dracula deaths, once again a wax model being used to make it look like the corpse is decaying. A wonderfully over the top moment in a brilliant film.This was my first exposure to Naschy's films and I have to say that I am greatly impressed. It would have been easy to let the gore run riot (no harm in that) and while the film isn't restrained, it also succeeds in building the type of atmosphere favoured by classic horror films from the decades before it. As a matter of interest, two of the classic monsters of the horror film are involved, and zombies and even the devil (well, his shadow anyway) turn up in bit parts. Naschy has said that he's fond of the Universal monster bashes of the 1940s, where one monster was teamed against another, and the evidence is clear here. The violent werewolf scenes are pretty good, although Naschy looks slightly comedic he is still excellent value for money. The only problem would be the poor quality of the makeup, which admittedly looks rather bad. The evil witch is intimidating and evokes Barbara Steele in her black robes and veil. Add to that the subplot of vampirism and you have a film well worth watching.The locations are nice, the atmosphere is brilliant, the acting, although affected by dubbing, is nonetheless more than adequate with Naschy particularly excelling himself in his role. Never since the days Lon Chaney Jr. played Lawrence Talbot have we had such a well-portrayed and charismatic character consumed by his werewolf hunger and forced to kill in a series of films. Naschy certainly knows his stuff and he makes for a very memorable leading hero in his leather jacket. There are a couple of surprisingly touching romantic interludes between Naschy and Fuchs, achieved via a bit of tinkling piano music. The rest of the female cast is either required to strip or look spooky! Another guy, a policeman, looks like the spitting image of Gregory Peck.Okay, the film itself is not particularly well made, down to the lack of budget more than anything else, but there are some nice bits of editing (the repeat flashes from Naschy to the full moon and back again are rather good) and it could have been a lot worse. The only problem comes when one piece of footage is accidentally repeated twice, making things truly weird. Watch out for an excellent scene where a girl is attacked by a decayed monk in the ruined castle. Could this be one of the undead Templars from TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD making a guest appearance? It sure looks like it! The film has all you could ever want from a horror film: violence, gore, action, suspense, atmosphere, romance, and characters you feel for. The only hurdle would be the obvious cultural barrier and the fact that you have to ignore that it's poorly dubbed. If you can get over that, this is an excellent slice of horror from a much-maligned age. This film has certainly led to a desire within me (not unlike the craving of a bloodthirsty vampire) to see more of Naschy's yarns, and on recent second viewing it was just as good again.

Michael_Elliott The Werewolf versus the Vampire Woman (1971) ** 1/2 (out of 4)A couple beautiful women go looking for the tomb of Countess Wandesa (Patty Shepard) who was believed to have been a vampire. They happen to end up staying with werewolf Waldemar Daninsky (Paul Naschy) and sure enough one of the women (Gaby Fuchs) falls for him while the other falls victim to the Countess when she returns to life. The uncut version of this, under the title WEREWOLF SHADOW, features a few extended scenes involving one of the women's boyfriends but I've always found this to be the lesser version. The American one features bad dubbing but overall I've always found it to be more entertaining. There are several reasons why this here was the best Daninsky picture up to this point. One is that there was a bigger budget, which at least allowed the make-up of the werewolf to look terrific. The biggest reason this picture turned out so much better is that director Leon Klimovsky managed to bring some terrific atmosphere to the picture. The Gothic feel of this picture is without question the highlight because the director really makes you feel and sense an evil presence throughout the picture. This is especially true during the scenes involving the werewolf as well as those were the Countess is brought back to life. The screenplay itself is a few notches better thanks in large part to there being some interesting characters but also because it manages to move at a better pace. The werewolf, the vampire woman and the two female characters are all much more interesting than anything in the previous two movies. With that said, there are still some flaws here including the slow pacing. Still, no matter which version you watch, this here remains an entertaining monster mash.

Ben Larson There were 13 films in which Paul Naschy played Waldemar Daninsky, who was turned into a werewolf. This film is fourth in the series.Known as Werewolf Shadow or Shadow of the Werewolf, as well as the original title, La noche de Walpurgis. It is a Gothic horror. Very slow moving with plenty of creepy music.Those used to copious amounts of nudity and gore in the series will be disappointed with this entry.The final battle between the wolfman (Naschy) and the vampire woman, Countess Wandesa Dárvula de Nadasdy (Patty Shepard) was quick and anti- climatic, but they are both gone for good.