The Red Circle

There are few who are aware of the work of Paul Naschy, and even fewer who have seen and enjoy it. It’s a small tragedy that the only man to play The Wolf Man, Dracula, The Mummy, A Hunchback, and Frankenstein’s Monster will go off to his eternity without a large percentage of film goers and lovers even knowing his name. The man is a hero to all of those who want to make movies about the things they love, and make them their own way. Although Paul Naschy is most famous for his portrayal of the Werewolf count Waldemar Daninsky, that character only appeared in twelve of his almost one hundred movies. Nearly all of them horror films, and nearly all of those featuring the diminutive director as one of the genre’s defining characters.

The character of Waldemar Daninsky also accomplished something that few other werewolves were able to claim: pathos. The werewold, by definition, is a tragic figure. He kills out of compulsion, and he only kills the ones he loves. Never does the person trapped in this curse make it out okay in the end. But, even the sad sack Larry Talbot that Lon Chaney, Jr. played in the original The Wolf Man didn’t have the self sacrificing nature that Waldemar has in his films. He is a truly noble and caring man that is plagued with the curse of the werewolf. Larry Talbot knows that he needs to die, and attempts suicide. But Waldemar’s fate is always different. He must, and can only, be killed by the bullet of someone who loves him. Not only must Waldemar die, he must put a lover in the terrible spot of saving lives or destroying the man she loves. Just another feather in Naschy’s storytelling cap.

Waldemar Daninsky in his rarest form. He will be missed.

No one made horror films like Paul Naschy. Cheap, dirty, filled to the brim with blood and breasts. Sure, that may sound like an infinite number of 70′s schlock horror films – but none of them had the artistry of Naschy’s compositions. A true budget Bava, Paul Naschy found a way to make the nude female form unexploitative. He filled the screen with color, and made the most out of the re-used sets and effects he was given. These films never broke new ground in cinematic terms. There was always someone out there who did it bigger, better, and more beautiful than Naschy. But, he was able to do something a lot of filmmakers cant; work continuously. There was never a break in Paul Naschy’s work schedule. He would write and direct movie after movie, all of them better than they should have been. He directed 14 films in total, all of them under his birth name Jacinto Molina.  It’s no secret that he never made a classically great movie. He just made the stuff he liked. And he gave them some of the best names in horror history.

Night of the Howling Beast. Lycantropus: The Moonlight Murders. Rats Don’t Sleep At Night. A Dragonfly For Each Corpse. All The Screams of Silence. The Werewolf Vs. Vampire Woman.The first one is a movie that sees a werewolf fighting a Yeti, as well as lesbian vampires. I’ll let that sink in. A werewolf fights a Yeti. And then he fights lesbian vampires. Old Jacinto knew what he was doing. The last movie on that list, The Werewolf Vs. Vampire Woman may also have the best ad campaign in the history of movies. The original theatrical poster looks like this:

Perfection.

There is a film whose tagline is “See it with someone you hate.“ It exists, and the man responsible is Paul Naschy. This, alone, would be worth his name being mentioned for the rest of recorded history. I hope to one day have that poster proudly hanging on the wall of my house.

Few filmmakers had the tenacity and talent of Paul Naschy. The man made the movies he wanted to make, and made them how he wanted to make them up until the end of his life. Hehad contributed voice work to feature films all the way up until this year, and had played Count Waldemar Daninsky as recently as 2003. The man never let up. He was determined to dress up as the most famous monsters of all time and make out with the most beautiful naked women that Spain had to offer. Paul Naschy had a dream, and god damn did he live it. The man deserves his legacy. He had a movie put out on Blu-ray disc before Hitchcock and Kurosawa. He had a character last the test of time. He got to make out with insanely hot women while dressed as a monster. Paul Naschy is a legend, and he is gone. One can only hope that there will be someone out there willing to tread the same path as Paul Naschy / Jacinto Molina / Waldemar Daninsky. Far too few are willing to see their vision out to the brutal finish, and for all his accomplishments, this man deserves a spot in the future Red Circle Hall of Fame.

To Paul Naschy, you wonderful, weird man. You made cinema in a way no one else ever has. Your legacy lives on through the people that knew your work, however small that group may be. May millions of people know your face, even if its the one that only comes out when the moon is full.

Rest in Peace, Paul Naschy. It’s time you took a break.
Tom Nix // 12.02.09

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