One of the last films directed by Naschy and one of his more personal ones, but that doesn't mean that its one of his best. The movie tries to be an homage to the Universal Monsters, with Naschy transforming into a lot of them (and also into his famous creation Waldemar Daninsky),but the movie is quite cringey and even a pure embarrassment at some points (the preachy wooden dialogues, the performance of his son Sergio Molina, the expected making out with naked youngsters by a 54 Naschy...). It's little more than a curiosity in his filmography.

On paper, Howl of the Devil looks like it would be a real treat for monster movie fans, with Euro-horror legend Paul Naschy playing loads of different roles, including Frankenstein's monster, The Phantom of the Opera, Quasimodo, My. Hyde and even his own classic character, wolfman Waldemar Daninsky. Throw in several attractive young women willing to bare all for their art, Euro-horror icons Howard Vernon and Caroline Munro, and some bright red gore, and an entertainingly trashy time is surely guaranteed. Except it isn't: the plot for the film is very weak and frustratingly repetitive for the most part, at least until the ending which makes no sense whatsoever. And Munro keeps her clothes on, which is just a tad disappointing.

Naschy stars as Hector Doriani, a failed stage actor whose brother Alex (also Naschy),a horror movie star, supposedly committed suicide. Hector spends his days trying to seduce his gorgeous home-keeper Carmen (Munro),with little success, and bedding pretty waifs and strays picked up by his manservant Eric (Vernon),a necrophiliac who holds seances with his previous master, Alex. Meanwhile, Hector's young nephew Adrian (Sergio Molina) holds conversations with imaginary friends - a range of classic monsters, all played by Naschy - and a mysterious killer slices up Hector's conquests once he has sent them packing. It's sex, murder, monster, repeat, which - as fun as that sounds - actually gets really boring. The monsters are particularly dull, not doing any proper monstery stuff, just chinwagging with the kid.

Check out this film for the gratuitous nudity from the lovely ladies, the gore (the juicy highlight being the evisceration of a female robber),and the totally insane ending, which features a zombie that makes Eric explode, before revealing Adrian to be the Anti-Christ, but don't be surprised if you find yourself struggling to keep your eyelids open.

3/10. Dedicated to the memory of those who made the Universal horror classics so memorable, this is has none of the style or atmosphere of those movies.

Despite being 54 years old and already surviving one heart attack, Paul Naschy took on the heavy burden of playing multiple monsters in this film, as he appears as Frankenstein's Monster, Mr. Hyde, Phantom of the Opera, Quasimodo, The Devil and the humans Hector and Alex Doriani. Oh yes - and Waldemar Daninsky, El Hombre Lobo!

For a long time, this movie was never officially released. Before the death of one of its producers, it was to have a lavish budget. It's better than Naschy usually got, which gives him ample time to get into makeup and play multiple roles. It also got better talent, including Howard Vernon (Dr. Orloff!) and Caroline Munro (Starcrash).

Mostly, Naschy plays Hector, a horror actor devoted to living a carnal life that he compares to de Sade, Gilles de Rais, Vlad Tepes and Jack the Ripper. Each night, Vernon brings him a new prostitute and he dresses up in complicated horror makeup. As you do.

Meanwhile, he's raising his brother's son Alex (or Adrian, depending on the translation, played by Naschy's son Sergio Molina) ever since his sibling killed himself. He may have been helped by the fact that his wife was cheating on him with his own brother. And since he overdosed on heroin, Alex is with Hector, yet lost in his own world of monsters, which is where we get to see Daninsky.

Oh and meanwhile again, there's a priest in love with a servant girl (Munro) who left him in the past. He pays a homeless man to spy on her and bring him back under penalty of her death. And while all that's going on, a giallo-style killer is offing people on the grounds of Hector's estate. And beyond all that - so much is happening! - Alex is trying to bring his father back from the dead.

Imagine Godzilla's Revenge about Universal Monsters but with the budget and insanity of a Naschy movie and you'll see why I loved this so much.

The end of this movie - I don't want to give anything away - somehow has an actor known for Jess Franco movies getting treated like a Lucio Fulci character in an ending that somehow makes this an Omen ripoff by way of The Beyond's running to nowhere conclusion. It is truly the Dagwood sandwich of sleazy horror scum and I - pun intended - wolfed down every bite.