Howl of the Devil

Director - Paul Naschy (The Beast and the Magic Sword, Panic Beats)

Starring - Paul Naschy, Caroline Munro (Slaughter High, Cute Little Buggers), and Howard Vernon (Jungle of Fear, Angel of Death)

Release Date - 1988

Genre - Horror

Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I've been fortunate enough to review numerous Paul Naschy films over the years.  I've really enjoyed most of them but there was a few, on occasion, that just wasn't that entertaining.  Paul Naschy really is in a league of his own when it comes to the genre and most of his work is historical.  When Mondo Macabro announced that they would be releasing Naschy's 1988 monster opus The Howl of the Devil I knew that I would have to see it.  I had heard so many genre fans talk about this one so it was a no brainer.  Lucky for me, my friends over at CAV were kind enough to send a copy my way.  Thanks guys!

     The film follows Hector (Naschy) who is a wealthy actor who has a fondness for picking up prostitutes and playing sex games with them.  He lives with his nephew and is very abusive to him.  To cope with the abuse, his nephew escapes into a fantasy world filled with various famous monsters who are all incarnations of Hector.  

     The Howl of the Devil reminds me a lot of the classic Naschy horror titles while taking a little bit of a different path.  Horror Rises from the Tomb was my introduction to Naschy and I was soon swept up in his sleazy and horrifying tales of monsters and beautiful women.  Howl of the Devil has some nudity but nowhere near the level I would expect from Naschy.  With that being said, we get way more than the typical monsters you would expect.  The acting in this one is exactly what you would expect from a Naschy film.  We have beautiful women screaming and yelling while Naschy delivers almost a dozen different performances.  Naschy, as you would expect, is the star of the show and refuses to let any shine brighter.  He does a tremendous job and so does his supporting cast.  The story for this one is not really something I would expect to come from Naschy as a director considering his career but here we have it.  The movie is obviously written to showcase Naschy's acting skills but it is pretty wild to see all these characters appear in one film.  With that being said, there is so many characters that they don't get as much screen time as I would have liked.  They appear in a rushed scene before we progress to the next act.  It's cool but not nearly as much time with them as I would have liked.  Also, some of the scenes do drag on while others are a bit rushed.  Very inconsistent pacing but nothing that takes away from the overall appeal of the film.  Finally, the film has some blood and fun death scenes but nothing too out there or memorable.  The kills works for the film with the bright red blood.  However, I was really impressed by the make-up effects for all the monsters we are given.  So much time and effort went into these make-up effects for what I would consider such a short amount of screen time.  Overall, Howl of the Devil is pure monster mayhem that truly deserves to be seen.  If this is a first time watch then this Mondo Macabro release is the only way I would recommend watching it.  This release is fantastic and does this film justice.