WEREWOLF WOMAN (1976)
aka La lupa mannara, Legend of the Wolfwoman
Article 4877 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 7-20-2015
Directed by Rino Di Silvestro
Featuring Annik Borel, Howard Ross, Dagmar Lassander
Country: Italy
What it is: Sleazy psycho killer movie

A woman with a traumatic history becomes convinced she is a werewolf and begins tearing the throats out of her victims.

This movie was directed by Rino Di Silvestro, a film-maker who made a career out of very sleazy and sometimes offensive exploitation fare. This movie is no exception. The opening scene does feature a woman who has turned into a werewolf, but it’s only a dream sequence; the main character never undergoes a transformation of that sort. The movie is largely a compendium of scenes involving murder, rape, sex and nudity punctuated by scenes of police talking about the investigation and doctors spouting pseudo-psychiatric babble. It’s the type of movie where when a nice guy appears on the scene, you know it’s only setting you up for more brutality and nastiness down the road. Fans of exploitation might have some use for this one; as for me, movies that seem to appeal to the lowest-common denominator as this one does are more likely to depress me. Reportedly, it’s a favorite of Quentin Tarantino’s.