Movie Review: Werewolf Woman

You can basically understand this movie if you imagine Cat People as an Italian exploitation flick from the 70s. I was totally shocked by this movie because I didn't know what to expect. I read a 1-paragraph blurb on the plain jacket the movie came in as part of a 50-movie pack of bad SF. It was a late-night, I don't want to go to bed so I'll throw something in, movie. Rated R, so I expected some gore, maybe a little nudity, but then the first scene comes and even before the credits the heroine, Daniella, is dancing around naked, full frontal view, by firelight. And much of the first half of the movie she would wear the same costume.

But shortly afterwards, she turns into the she-wolf, a striking bit of makeup. Shaggy, hairy body with a black snout more reminiscent of a Koala than wolf. Also, she seems to have developed tubular deformity of the breasts, and her nipples are suddenly two inches long and completely rigid. Anyway, she's foaming at the mouth and bloodthirsty, so she kills a peasant man involved in the expected werewolf hunt.

However, this is just the nightmare of the protagonist, a woman in modern Italy, who, since her rape, has been haunted by the story that one of her ancestors was a werewolf. Now she despises men, except for her father, with whom she lives in solitude on their ancient estate. Until her sister visits with her husband. Now with a man in the house, Daniella is haunted, restless, and, hearing the sounds of her sister and brother-in-law making love, she gets up to investigate. Surprisingly, she watches the lovemaking and is enticed by it, and, somewhat graphically, masturbates while the couple finishes.

It was at this point that the movie could have been really interesting. In addition to being kind of hot, with a scene reminiscent of one in the first (and only) Emanuelle move I ever saw, the paradox of Daniella trying to resolve the conflict between her sexual desire and the self-hatred and man-hatred inspired by her rape, could have made for an interesting psychological study. And when she seduces then murders her brother-in-law, it is an act completely of her own choosing in which she maintains a certain amount of agency. But from this point on, the movie degrades into typical exploitation-type stuff and gets a little disappointing as Daniella wanders from being under threat of one man's power to the next. All in all, the violence is pretty moderate, with really fake bright red viscous blood, although there is one rape scene that is a little discomforting, and the sex is softcore, although very suggestive.

The ending is good in that it maintains an interesting parallel with the beginning, and humorous in that it contains two conflicting statements. First, it claims to be a true story with the names changed, then it says that any similarity to persons living or dead is completely coincidental. So which is it? All in all, the movie was good to have on in the background while I did other things, and might be fun to watch in a group, but don't plan on sitting down and giving it your undivided attention. If you happen to find yourself in possession of this movie (as I did) it's worth sitting through at least the lesbian scene in the hospital (which may be interesting if we imagine the over-sexualized other patient as an embodiment of female sexuality that Daniella manipulates to escape), then maybe skip to the very end to see how it compares to the beginning. You'll miss the rape scene and the boring picaresque turn of the mid-narrative, but get all the essential content.