Werewolf Hunter: The Legend of Romasanta (2004) : Reviewed by BRYAN SCHUESSLER
The film was directed by Paco Plaza, most notable for directing the Spanish horror film [REC] (Quarantine is the American remake) and is now working on its sequel. (On a side note, I got nauseous during [REC], as I did during Cloverfield and hope this documentary/news footage of cinema verite is soon over!)
I had very low expectations going into this movie, and I was pleasantly surprised. The Werewolf Hunter is a film based upon the true-story exploits of Manuel Blanco Romasanta, a traveling vendor who goes from village to village, killing along the way and using the fat from his victims to make bars of soap. Barbara played by actress Elsa Pataky (stars in Dario Argento’s upcoming film Giallo that is slated for a 2009 release), is one of the women he “shacks up” with finds out his dark secret and helps authorities to turn him in. She is a very beautiful actress and is in a very steamy love scene. Worth the viewing of this film alone! Romasanta confessed to the killing of 13 people during his trial in Allaríz in 1852 and pleaded that he was a werewolf and avoided the death penalty. The film gets a little bit too romantically gothic and artsy-fartsy for me but has some wonderful scenes of cinematography and murders that are very artistic. Julian Sands plays Romasanta and did a decent job. The last movies that I saw him in were Warlock and Arachnophobia (can’t say that I am a fan of his!).
Now, there were some parts of the film that I will have to comment on. The following may contain some spoilers involving penis. First of all, any amount of cinematography in a film involving flopping penis, bobbing to and fro in the wind, is much more than i will ever need to see- this film fulfilled that quota for me for life. This scene involved a “not so much in shape” man running naked through the woods after, I am assuming, he had gone through a transformation into or out of a werewolf and giving me my penis scenery for the millenium. All in all, it was a nicely filmed movie, made the most of its budget, and had a period-piece feel to it. Although period-piece films are not my favorite types of films- this one was not too bad. It had a number scenes of sexuality involving Sands and his women/victims and if I blinked I would think someone had popped in a soft-core porno into the dvd player on me!
The whole lycanthropy angle may have been true to history, but i dont think it was a very prominent part of this film and having added it just made the film more confusing then it needed to be. It could have just been another Jack the ripper-type tale. I was mislead by the title and was expecting a traditional “werewolf” movie”, but was happy with what I got none-the-less. I recommend it, but some viewers may want to skip the bobbing wiener scene. As for some of the steamy love scenes, some may want to rewind and watch in slow-mo. Everyone has their own little thing.
