Dr. Jekyll and the Wolfman is a Spanish horror film that is sixth in a series of twelve films about a nobleman werewolf. I have not seen the other films and was slightly worried that it would affect my enjoyment. The movie felt very stand-alone. So, I shouldn’t have worried. As a matter of fact, I’d say there’s probably no continuity between them, though I don’t know for sure. While traveling, a beautiful woman, Justine, is attacked by some locals intending to rape her but the Count steps in, killing the men in a fashion that shows he has super-human strength. Justine stays with him and witnesses that during the full moon, he transforms into a werewolf. The relatives of the dead locals want revenge and to rob the wealthy Count. The robbery goes awry with the Count taking out more of the hooligans. The ringleader decides to rally the entire town against the nobleman, claiming witchcraft. In one scene, the mob leader who hangs out at the pub reveals that he beheaded an old lady and the other villagers are strangely comfortable with that. Attacking Daninsky once again, the instigator is killed, and the Count and Justine flee the estate.

Count Daninsky arrives in England with Justine so that he can find a cure for his lycanthropy. A Dr. Jekyll has a promising serum. At this point, the plot breaks down. The serum converts Daninsky into Mr. Hyde, because Jekyll thought the notoriously unstable alter ego would be easier to deal with than a werewolf. It makes no sense. Jekyll’s assistant betrays him (literally and figuratively stabbing him in the back) because she thinks she can control Hyde. After he proves that she cannot stop him, Hyde goes out on the down to find women to torture. A man who is an unreasonable animal and a werewolf (ba-dum-tiss) goes on a killing spree. One of the strangest scenes is Mr. Hyde transforming into Count Daninsky and then into a werewolf in the middle of a disco.

To his credit, Paul Naschy plays the Count, the Wolfman, and Mr. Hyde as very different characters. Each one of them has a different flavor to the performance. His acting is good, and I see why he was able to reprise his role so often. Also, the yellowish contacts that Naschy wears for Hyde look pretty cool, giving him an unnatural look.

I watched the movie with an English dub and the subtitles on just in-case. Note that the subtitles are for the Spanish language track and not a hearing-impaired enhancement of the English track. As far as the picture quality, the film looks good. The set design reminds me of the Hammer horror films but the movie utilizes many different locals giving the movie a sense of a bigger budget.

An audio commentary by the podcasters, Naschycast. They are clearly obsessed with Paul Naschy and his werewolf films. They have a lot of knowledge about this specific actor and film series. They crack jokes while explaining what makes the film good. Without spoiling who, it turns out one of the supporting actors was a prince who worked under a pseudonym. There are not any additional special features, which surprised me for a Mondo Macabro release.

The release is a campy, fun watch. I enjoyed the versatility of the leading man, even though I think Mr. Hyde is already a kind of werewolf story, man versus his uncontrollable animal side. So, combining the two into the same character makes little sense. The script would have been more interesting to have Hyde fight a werewolf. Never-the-less, it is a good release. I just wish there was more to the disc (the limited edition does include lobby cards and a booklet).