(1970)
Dir - Hugo Fregonese/Tulio Demicheli
Overall: MEH
What could fairly be described as Paul Naschy's all time silliest movie, Los Monstruos del Terror, (Dracula vs. Frankenstein, Reincarnator, Assignment Terror), must have been a euphoric experience for the actor who got to write and star in a Spanish version of all of his favorite Universal monster mash-ups. While Naschy plays his trusty werewolf Waldemar Daninsky for the third, (though second to be released), time, he is joined by one of the lamest Draculas, a mummy, and a Frankenstein monster and also gets to personally duke it out with the latter of the two. Naschy's part is comparatively small as is the budget which was originally to include more sci-fi elements as well as a golem. This leaves most of the running time to none other than Michael Rennie, (Klaatu from The Day the Earth Stood Still), playing Dr. Odo Warnoff who was sent to earth with several other of his alien cohorts. The story is beyond laughable and involves an alien takeover by means of first using a bunch of pretty girls because human men are dumb, (or something), and then resurrecting as many classic movie monsters as they can to make clones of, (or something), to repopulate the Earth, (or something). The fact that the cast takes it all rather seriously is actually kind of a bummer since the plot is so absurd that everyone going full schlock would have probably helped. When characters are not standing around and being boring, it is agreeably fun, but boy is it stupid.
(1973)
Dir - José Luis Merino
Overall: GOOD
In typical Euro-horror fashion, The Hanging Woman got released under enough titles to ensure proper confusion, including La orgía de los muertos, (Orgy of the Dead, not to be further confused with the embarassingly stupid, Ed Wood scripted "film" of the same name), as well as Beyond the Living Dead, Return of the Zombies, and Terror of the Living Dead. Paul Naschy for this one is reduced to a supporting yet equally memorable role as a cemetery caretaker with a low IQ. The main story is ripe with silly plot holes, laughably written characters, and even a Saw-worthy twist montage at the end that is better than one would expect. Director José Luis Merino, (who also co-scripted the movie with Enrico Colombo), keeps the pace quite brisk and wonderfully stages enough actually spooky visuals and set pieces throughout to qualify it as successfully macabre and eerie. Enhancing some of the strangeness, the "hero" is a preposterous jackass who is quick to violence and shouting. In the span of about twelve hours, he goes from boning his uncle's widow, (who is also a witch), to making a servant girl cry by having her undress in front of him, to proclaiming that he intends to propose to the latter since now they are in love. Creepy zombies, black magic, and graveyards though so, yay!
(1976)
Dir - Juan Fortuny
Overall: MEH
Essentially a rather poor, contemporary gangster film with a mad scientist scheme rather haphazardly thrown in, Crimson, (Las Ratas no Duermen de Noche, Rats Don't Sleep at Night), is as unmemorable as any of Paul Naschy's non-supernatural horror movies ever got. The actor is wasted throughout, only given a very little bit to do within the last several minutes. Before that, he is left unconscious in various locations while criminals and ladies from rival gangs fuss over him and each other. There are other nods to some of James Cagney's well-renowned gangster films, (White Heat particularly comes to mind), and one cannot help but think of Quintin Tarantino possibly making something interesting out of the plot here where a handful of goofy, somewhat morbid details occur and pretty much all the bad guys end up dead, (spoilers). Director Juan Fortuny, (in his only time working with Naschy), cannot muster enough laughs or any suspense out of the proceedings though as everyone plays it too stiff and dull, plus the back and forth plot just lumbers along to its inevitable conclusion. For the Naschy completest, there are two dubbed versions with the French one offering up a minimal amount of extra nudity, but otherwise you get the same idea with the English dub as well.
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