Night of the Werewolf appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie gave us a slightly dated but largely positive presentation.
Sharpness usually looked good, as only a few minor instances of softness impacted the picture. Most of the flick delivered nice clarity and accuracy.
No signs of jagged edges or moiré effects materialized, and I also detected no edge haloes. As for print flaws, I noted a smattering of small specks but nothing notable.
Colors remained subdued, with a mild brown impression. Though not dazzling, the hues looked reasonably well-depicted. Blacks came across as fairly dark, and shadows were decent, thought shots in a tomb could seem a little dense. In the end, this wound up as a more than competent transfer.
Unfortunately, the film’s DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack lacked clarity. In addition to poor looping, speech appeared rough and sibilant.
Music showed little range and tended to sound a bit muddy. Like the dialogue, effects usually sounded harsh and slightly distorted. Even for its age, this turned into a problematic mix.
In addition to this original Castillian track, the Blu-ray provided a dubbed English version. It lacked the Spanish mix’s roughness but it suffered from a dull, flat quality instead.
The English rendition also brought us pretty weak voice acting. The combination of iffy audio quality and awkward performances made the English dub a bad choice – even with its flaws, I preferred the Spanish track.
The set’s extras open with an audio commentary from film historians Rod Barnett and Troy Guinn. Both sit together for a running, screen-specific look at cast and performances, story and characters, the movie’s place in Paul Naschy’s career, effects and music, sets and locations, and influences.
This was my third Guinn/Barnett commentary, and it matched up well with the other two. All three deliver good facts about the movie as well as insights about connected domains. Barnett and Guinn exhibit enthusiasm but they lack the annoying gushing tone one might expect of fans, so this offers a strong chat.
Two Deleted Scenes run a total of two minutes, 35 seconds. Both offer conversations between two supporting semi-comedic characters. We see enough of them in the final cut so these additions add little.
A Spanish Credit Sequence runs three minutes, 57 seconds. It’s identical to the opening/closing in the version found elsewhere on the disc except – surprise! – it lists the credits in Spanish.
In addition to two trailers, we get a still gallery. Its running montage lasts seven minutes, 50 seconds and includes 106 shots that mix publicity elements and shots from the production. It becomes a good collection.
The package concludes with a booklet. It provides production notes for Eyes and four other Paul Naschy movies. The booklet finishes the set in a positive manner.
Although I enjoyed my prior experiences with the films of Paul Naschy, Night of the Werewolf left me cold. Too slow and without much drama, the movie failed to turn into an effective horror experience. The Blu-ray offered mostly good picture along with flawed audio and some useful bonus materials. Night ends up as a subpar werewolf tale.
Note that Night of the Werewolf can be purchased only as part of a five-disc “Paul Naschy Collection”. The set also includes Vengeance of the Zombies, Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll, Human Beasts and Horror Rises from the Tomb.