Dr Jekyll vs The Wolfman (1972)

Reading the title, you won't be surprised to find that this isn't a lost Laurence Olivier classic. Instead it's a Spanish horror starring ther great Paul Naschy. Naschy was A Spanish version of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing rolled into one. While nevber achieving their exaulted position, he did carve a particular niche for himself making 70 plus films from the late 60's onwards. In particular, he made 14 (at the current count) films about tortured lycanthrope Waldemar Daninsky. Mirroring his career, the series is of varying quality but always watchable. A quick rundown of the plot should tell you what you're up against: A newly married couple travel from London to Spain to visit the village where the groom was born. They are attacked at a cemetery and the groom is killed but as the girl is attacked, Waldemar Daninsky comes to her aid. She eventually finds out that his mentioned 'illness' is lycanthropy. After a showdown with the villagers she takes Daninsky to London to meet her friend, the grandson of Dr Jekyll. Jekyll reckons he can cure him by injecting him with his grandfather's serum, thus turning Daninsky into Mr Hyde. His idea that the totally evil will do inner battle with the wolf man when the moon is up, beat him, and then Jekyll will inject him again with his antidote that he has handily invented. Jekyll's assistant, jealous of his love for the widow, who loves Daninsky, sabotages things and Mr Hyde is set loose into the swinging London scene around Soho. But Jekyll shows Justine (the widow) what she must do to stop the whole thing and kill Daninsky, thus relieving him of his illness. She does and they die in each other's arms.

Daninsky being dead never stopped him returning in more sequels and he was still terrorising people in 2004's Tomb Of The Werewolf. Not to all tastes, this is a hugely enjoyable slice of hokum that entertains on many levels.