Rare Flix: The Beast and the Magic Sword (1983)

Werewolves and Samurais- rare do the two meet.  In this case, they do so in The Beast and the Magic Sword, a 1983 Film that is part of Paul Naschy's Werewolf Series.  Granted- this is the 10th one in the (unofficial) Series.  Why do this one now?  Well, it has a Werewolf (Naschy) and Samurais in it!  Why wouldn't I do it?  This one apparently never got a proper US Release and was never dubbed into English.  As such, my copy is in its Native Spanish (Castilian).  Well, it is the Native Spanish for *some of the Actors* at least.  This is a rare Film that happens to be Subtitled AND Dubbed, since the Japanese Actors are just dubbed into Spanish.  Of course, Naschy's Character shouldn't really be speaking Spanish either right- Waldemar Daninsky isn't exactly a Spanish name, right?  So, to summarize, I'm watching the Film in Spanish with Characters that shouldn't be speaking it AND it is translated back into English (mostly accurately) as Subtitles.  The Plot involves a re-summarizing of the Daninsky Family Curse and then a jaunt over to Japan to find a cure.  No, they don't explain why all of the Japanese people are speaking Spanish- thanks for asking.  With the Film's first U.S. Release coming in about a month, we might as well get a preview here now...

The Film moves around a bit in time and location, so try to keep up...

In the 10th Century, a Witch curses Waldemar's ancestor for personal reasons.  The curse is enacted by stabbing the pregnant Wife with a werewolf jaw, serving as a precursor that silly stuff from 1995's Werewolf.

After that, some pretentious writing appears to bring us to the Present...of the 16th Century.

This connects to the previous Films, even though they change Eras and he dies in all of the Films.  Continuity is more of a suggestion than anything else.

Now with that relative, trouble is brewing in Vague Area of Europe.  He can't find help for his curse without clearly-bigoted, religious zealots trying to kill him and those around him.

Time to go where a Christian can feel safe in the near future- Japan!

We now get to the weirdest parts of the set-up:

1) The time jump.  We learn that many attacks from obviously-a-Werewolf have occurred.  We know that they happen once a Month, so...um, how long have you been there not finding the guy who's name you were given.

2) Despite them trying to roughly nail down a real Time Period- by making Oda Nobunaga the Emperor- here, everyone just speaks Spanish.

I know I said it before, but it bears repeating.

The Film turns into a series of random Scenes at this point, but with a loose structure to hold it together (mostly).

First Scene- Waldemar killing people as a Werewolf.  These are all kinds of random, from battles in the Woods to indoor fights to, well, one I won't SPOIL yet.

Next Scene: this guy- the one they were told to find- offering to help them.  He drops in and out of the Movie at random & has his own Sub-Plot for some reason.

Final Scene: Random fighting!

The set-ups for this include Ninjas at an Onsen (below), guys in the Woods and Fight with Villagers that is just pointless Dream Sequence.

They look and feel nice, but really add nothing to the Story.

The final detour involves Waldemar seeking the help from a Witch, who turns out to be evil.  Pause for gasping.

He eventually escapes and kills her, but only after the blind girl who promised to look after in Act 1 is killed.

Oh yeah, he also FIGHTS A TIGER!!!!

Despite introducing the idea that the Samurai Doctor can fix his brain, it is immediately dropped.

Instead, he tries to kill him with a Silver Katana.  Waldemar dies when the Doctor's Sister- who's he suddenly in love with- deals the final blow, ending his curse...until the next 2 Films.  The End.

A weird mix of crazy and silly.  The Film has Samurais, Ninjas, a Witch, a Tiger and a Werewolf.  It somehow tries to mix into real history too, which is kind of hilarious.  Granted, the story of Nobunaga has been mixed into Video Games where he's been an actual demon, a shotgun wielding fighter or a...Pokémon Master?  It's weird.  This whole thing is just odd.  I like how it starts to have a story and then just keeps stopping for random fight scenes.  It's like 'I want to tell this story, but...I know the audience is too dumb, so here's a sword fight.'  They really didn't trust me...I mean, them to care about the story, did they?  Speaking of the story, our Hero arrives with the two ladies.  One- as mentioned- dies a dramatic death at the hands of the Witch.  The other accidentally activates a rope trap and is killed with some arrows.  Why?  Well, we have to rush to the Third Act and set Waldemar up with the Doctor's Sister, of course!  I'm sure that this is the full version, so it is less of a 'Footage Missing' situation and just weird writing.  One Scene of her 'feeling bad for him' and they are just in love when they next meet...for like the 2nd time!  The good definitely outweighs the bad here as it is more goofy fun than annoying/difficult to endure.  Again- Paul Naschy fights a Tiger!  How can you not love the insanity here?  Oh and I'm sure you were wondering about this Tiger.  Yes, it apparently is the same one from The Jungle Book (which was written more than 300 years after this is set)...

Next time, I cover another obscure Film.  This time, it is the most notable Film by one of the TWO Italian Directors I 'know' on Facebook.  Stay tuned...