Werewolf Woman

A victim of childhood rape grows up into a woman who has delusions that she is a werewolf, just like one of her ancestors was. She kills men until she falls in love with a man. She is then raped again and goes on a second killing spree against her rapists.

• Annik Borel as Daniella Neseri
• Howard Ross as Luca Mondini
• Dagmar Lassander as Elena Neseri
• Tino Carraro as Count Neseri
• Andrea Scotti as Arrighi
• Frederick Stafford as Inspector Modica
• Felicita Fanny as Doctor in car
• Salvatore Billa as Rapist
• Pietro Torrisi as Rapist

Filming for Werewolf Woman began in September 1975 in Rome.[1][4] Initially, the film was known as La licantropa.[4] Director Di Silvestro emphasized in interview that he was trying to make a "serious" film about lycanthropy.[4] Di Silvestro also claimed the film to be the first focused on a werewolf woman, which is untrue as the theme had been explored as early as The Werewolf in 1913.[4]

Annik Borel was cast as the werewolf, Daniella Neseri.[5] Di Silvestro recalled seeing hundred of photos from international agents and when seeing Borel he realized "something was exploding within her, in her psychic and cultural background"[5] Di Silvestro stated he gave her several screen tests which he described as "almost devastating" before casting her.[5]

Werewolf Woman was distributed theatrically in Italy by Agorà on 18 March 1976.[1] The film grossed a total of 187,164,094 Italian lire domestically.[1]

The film was distributed abroad in the United States, Canada and Australia.[5] The director believed his films had an "international feel about them–they were understandable even without dialogue or music, just by watching the images"[5] The film was released in the United States in June 1977 where it was distributed by Dimension Pictures.[1] It has been released in the United States as Daughter of a Werewolf, Naked Werewolf Woman, She-Wolf and Terror of the She Wolf.[1] It was released in Australia as Legend of the Wolf Woman.[1]

Italian film historian and critic Roberto Curti described the films reception in Italy as being "predictably ridiculed by critics".[5] Tom Milne of the Monthly Film Bulletin reviewed a 98-minute dubbed version of the film in 1980.[6] Milne described the film as a "random concotion of horror, exploitation, policier and psychological trash-bucket incredibly stilted in all departments."[6] Milne specifically noted the romance in the film, finding it "all soft-focus, rompings on the bach, which heralds the 'cure' for lycanthropy".

In a retrospective review, Curti described the film as an "over-the-top sexploitation potbiler" and that the film was "not technically poor as those by some of his peers" and Di Silvestro's work as naive and with heavy-handed symbolism with an too many close-ups, zooms and camera angles resulting in the film looking "unintentionally ridiculous"[4][7]

• Werewolf Woman on IMDb