User Reviews

The review that follows contains what might be considered to be spoilers. Though the identity of the killer is not kept secret by the filmmakers, some viewers might want it to be something of a surprise.

A killer is at large in northern Spain in 1851. Beginning in 1847, he has murdered and mutilated more than a dozen people, mostly women and children. The police manage to cover up most of the killings out of a desire to prevent public panic.

The killer is a traveling vendor, Manuel Blanco Romasanta (Sands). He uses his superior interpersonal skills and his understanding of human nature to insinuate himself into the lives of prospective victims. Some are killed almost immediately while others unknowingly live within his clutches for weeks. Romasanta is thoroughly insane. Believing himself to be a werewolf, some of his assaults superficially appear to be wolf attacks. The authorities even go so far as to place a bounty on wolves even though they know the culprit is all-too-human. A break in the case comes in the form of young Barbára Garcia (Pataky). She strikes up a relationship with Romasanta only to soon realize he is responsible for the disappearances (and probable murders) of her sister and niece. Barbára's sense of vengeance helps move the police onto a course that might apprehend the monstrous Romasanta.

The film is very well crafted, featuring excellent costumes, props, and shooting locations. It is definitely not what many viewers might expect. Though it is superficially a werewolf film, it is really a serial killer film in the tradition of Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Se7en (1995). Viewers expecting an action-packed horror film will be disappointed. The filmmakers focus on drama, character development, and mystery. The crimes are gruesome and there are elements of horror, but the result is really more of a crime mystery. The performances are good and the cadaver effects are convincing.

The film's slow pacing is perhaps its weakest point. Many viewers will not find this to be a problem, but others will find it to be dull. Overall, I recommend this for mystery lovers. Those looking for something like The Howling (1981) or An American Werewolf in London (1981) should probably look elsewhere.

Supernatural tales that are "based on a true story" tend to bother me. Basically because "based on a true story" actually means it's based on a screenwriter's idea that's based on Chinese whispers that are based on speculative initial reports that are based on superstition. Someone's house creaks and a century later I'm watching balls like An American Haunting. But I was keen to see Romasanta anyway for 2 big reasons. One: It's based on a true story of a werewolf that killed 13 people and we all know that, unlike ghosts, werewolves are real. Two: It's directed by Paco Plaza and I just love movies made by Mexican shopping centres.

To be honest, this one didn't really hold my attention at all so I'll be brief. It's very nicely shot with some lush scenery and a good sense of time and place. There's not a whole lot of blood which is surprising considering it's a period piece **badum-tish**, but there are some good gruesome aftermath shots of corpses shown in various states of post-slaughter rest. One of these moments even shows some dead 15 year old boobs, so any depraved perverts reading should check it out for that part alone. Also includes a few bits of violence toward children and animals which is always welcome on my TV.

Now to the things I didn't like. I don't generally mind when actors play the role of a character not of their own country. I like Sean Connery in The Untouchables, even though he sounds less Irish than I do. But British actors playing Spaniards? Julian Sands is a decent actor, but you know what he isn't? He isn't Senor Manuel Blanco Romasanta and he never will be. Hearing someone who's as quintessentially English as the Queen (the parts of her that aren't French or German anyway) repeatedly referred to as "Senor" is just silly.

Also, I was kind of in the mood for werewolves and the werewolf parts are brief. Really it's just the story of some douchebag murderer. So I suppose the film's title is accurate, as long as the subscript 'The Werewolf Hunt' was intended as Cockney rhyming slang...

In 1852, in Galicia, Spain, the traveling vendor Manuel Blanco Romasanta is tried for the murder of at least fifteen persons. He claims to be the ninth son of a family and therefore a werewolf, and Queen Isabel II changes his death sentence to life. Once in prison, he dies for unknown cause.

First of all, I would like to tell that I am not writing a spoiler: most of this information is on the box of the Brazilian DVD and in many reviews. I believe the lack of mystery with the lead character, i.e., the viewer knows who is the killer before watching the film, is the greatest flaw in this screenplay. The story is great, recalling "La Pacte des Loups"; the cinematography and effects are wonderful; and Julian Sands and Elsa Pataky have excellent performances and chemistry, with the story centered in their romance first, and in the rage of Bárbara for Romasanta later. However, I have never heard about this Romasanta, and the writer used fictional and historical events to write this story, with elements of horror and romance. I believe he could have kept the mystery about Romasanta, disclosing his crimes only in the end. Anyway, this movie is original and very attractive and really worth watching. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Romasanta – A Casa da Besta" ("Romasanta – The House of the Beast")

Romasanta: The Werewolf Hunt is set in the Galicia region of Spain during 1851 & starts as fear sweeps through the area as several dead, mutilated bodies have turned up recently. The locals suspect Wolves in the forest & a mass hunt to kill as many as they can find begins, meanwhile Maria Pereira (Maru Valdivielso) leaves the area with her fiancé Manuel Romasanta (Julian Sands) & her young daughter Teresa (Luna McGill) but once they are alone in the forest Romasanta kills both of them & then travels back to seduce Maria's sister Bárbara (Elsa Pataky). While Romasanta is sleeping Bárbara finds evidence that he murdered her sister & niece & manages to lead the police to him but when put on trial Romasanta says that he had no choice but to kill his countless victims as he is a Werewolf. A British Professor (David Gant) takes an interest in the case & tries to scientifically prove that Romasanta is indeed a Werewolf & can be cured of his curse...

This British & Spanish co-production was directed by Paco Plaza & certainly wasn't what I expected but unfortunately not in a good way, you see while Romasanta: The Werewolf Hunt tries to be different it forgets to be any good with it. Apparently based on a true story which happened in Spain, in 1851 & involving a serial killer named Romasanta who claimed he was a Werewolf in court when captured this could have been a great little film but I found the script very ponderous, slightly confusing at times & I also found it difficult to care about anyone or anything. The film feels disjointed, parts feel missing or edited wrongly & Romasanta: The Werewolf Hunt is very slow going with very little action or incident. Sure there's plenty of dull human drama & high emotion played out but like I said I never cared about anyone & I never got involved in the story. Ay a little over 90 minutes long Romasanta: The Werewolf Hunt could have done with a good ten minutes cut out & a few more moments of horror rather than dull drama. Romasanta: The Werewolf Hunt isn't terrible & if you can get into the story & care for the people involved then I could see you enjoying this but I didn't, I couldn't & so I never.

On thing that Romasanta: The Werewolf Hunt has going for it is that it's incredibly well made & a visually very nice film, the period locations, sets, costumes & detail is superb & that's the main reason I gave it four stars out of ten & not less. Forget about any real gore or violence, there are some graphic shots of dead mutilated bodies but nothing else. There's a Werewolf transformation scene that unusually has the actual Wolf creature turn into a human rather than the other way around. Apparently the obscure Spanish film The Ancines Woods (1970) is also based on the story of Manuel Romasanta.

Obviously filmed on location in Spain this looks very slick with great photography that captures the period very well, a lack of quick fire editing & shaky hand-held camcorder shots is most welcome. The acting is alright, the performances are better than usual for a low budget horror film but the main name in the cast British born actor Julian Sands.

Romasanta: The Werewolf Hunt doesn't seem to know what it wants to be, a historic period piece, a horror film, a drama or a murder mystery & ends up somewhere between them all without ever satisfying in any aspect. I just didn't like it despite it's high production values & attempt at doing something original & slightly different.

A wolf becomes man to seduce and kill female victims in Allariz. Romasanta(Julian Sands)goes on record in front of a jury of his peers and the court proclaiming himself a werewolf. Almost all of Romasanta's conquests were not of anything remotely human until he falls in love with Bárbara(Elsa Pataky, a stunning beauty), the sister of his wife and mute child. When Romasanta kills his wife, María(Maru Valdivielso)and mute child Teresa(Luna McGill), Bárbara seeks him out after being seduced herself by him. Joining forces with DA Bastida(Bary Piquer)they are on the hunt to find him before more and more lives are taken by the wolf. With help by Antonio(John Sharian), someone bitten and controlled by Romasanta, they might just be able to find him. Professor Philips(David Grant is a persuasive doctor who proclaims that Romasanta is not responsible for the killer impulses the wolf brings out.

Handsome production and great photography help the flick which doesn't produce the goods in werewolf transformations, instead opting for being a historical document on a serial killer stating on record he is a werewolf who can not help but kill when the beast comes out to play. The acting is adequate and there are a few brief moments of violence, but many viewers wanting a full-fledged creature feature with gory attacks will be disappointed, perhaps even bored. But, the film is well made and visually sumptuous. Just don't expect blood and guts.

The story of Romasanta is interesting because it is based on true historical events. The movie interpretion however doesn't quite capture the excitement of the Wolfman killings.

Pacing of the story is poorly synchronized: everything happens way too slow in the first half of the movie. And suddenly all the way from the capture of Romasanta the pace quickens considerably and the movie is over before my curiosity on the Romasanta character is completely satisfied: Who was he? Why did he do these things? This movie doesn't answer or even ask these questions well enough. Quite contrary, just when I became intrigued by Romasanta, he is swept away and the movie ends. To be truthful, I think in the end it gives quite a neutral and rather dull view on Manuel Romasanta. But on defensive side I must say that the cinematography, settings and props look all wonderful.

Short summary: Romasanta is magnificently set movie with pure Gothic feeling, but it unfortunately lacks somewhat in the script and pacing. You can watch it once or twice without any serious pain, but the lost possibilities do bother me. If I weren't so curious about the real Romasanta, this movie might have seen even worse in my eyes. This could have been truly great historical werewolf/horror movie. Now it manages to be only barely average.

I'm a little bit disappointed in the results considering the raw potential of the plot. Oh well, nice try.

The misleadingly titled Romasanta: The Werewolf Hunt is a disappointing pile of slow, plodding period serial killer rubbish. There are no real werewolves, only that which goes on within the title character's head, and because it's based on true events the movie is incredibly dry and uninventive in the story department. Add to this the fact that it's punctuated with moments of unnecessary tasteless violence, and you have a fairly unsatisfying product.

I can't really understand why Romasanta's gone down so well with people. Yes, I admit it is at times atmospheric, and the actors are very good in it, but the honest truth is despite this, it's dull, boring and at times deeply unpleasant. I really could have lived without seeing a deaf child caught in a bear trap, then systematically have her eyes gouged out. Even in a GOOD movie, such a scene would force me to seriously question what the director was attempting to accomplish, but in a movie so ineffectual as this it just seems pointless, tasteless and sensational.

Still, as I have stated, I could have stomached the violence given my history of watching a lot of violent movies, were the movie in any way enthralling, but Romasanta is like cinematic wallpaper. With the exception of Romasanta's horrific acts, which you never see him caught in the act of anyway, Romasanta really left me with the impression that nothing happened. Romasanta isn't at all sympathetic as a character, given that he kills and robs indiscriminately with immense cruelty throughout the entire film, so his pleas that he is insane toward the end of the movie, obviously supposed to be an emotional high point pass without event or interest, and without this the movie is robbed of any sense of climax.

To be honest, I expected very little from Romasanta, but I did expect a werewolf, which it didn't produce, and I expected a plot with high and low points and obvious progression, which it didn't produce either. If you have to see this RENT it, don't buy it, and I'd recommend you don't waste your time either way anyhow.

I'm a sucker for werewolf movies and when I saw the DVD cover of Werewolf Hunter; that and its' title had me picking it up ASAP! I read the back and knew then that it wasn't a straight up werewolf movie but it still sounded interesting so I got it.

The movie is based on true events of a serial killer named Romasanta. He was caught tried for killing 15 people in 1852. He claimed to have hunted them down as a wolf (werewolf) and had hunted many times with a man called Anonia who was also a werewolf. Blah, blah, blah, he was sentence to life instead of death and died in captivity.

Now the movie takes a different approach to the the above events but most of the characters are there... Romasanta and Anonia. I was afraid the movie would try to trick you into thinking he was really a werewolf or leave you with questions but it didn't. It took you through a nice recreation of the original events with some decent added story.

If you like horror thrillers...not a bad rent!

It is a decent movie, based on a still popular and true story, very well known in northern Spain nowadays. Manuel Blanco Romasanta actually existed. Romasanta was a short man, somehow effeminate, able to get on well with women due to his harmless appearance. He was not a Casanova, but the guy that women would go with to a dark place without suspicion because he looked not dangerous. He had a feline cunning, and was able to deceive many women into travel with him. His method was always the same: Romasanta always approached widows, abandoned wives and young girls looking for a change and betterment in life. He offered women from the most depressed mountain villages of Galicia a better life in the big cities of the north, where they could find better jobs and good suitors for marriage. Then, while traveling with him in the mountains, he assaulted and murdered the women with a surprisingly strong frenzy and brutality. He also skinned the women and took their fat in order to make soap that he sold in some villages of the Spanish/Portuguese border, and made an assorted collection of jewels, rings, pendants, etc, stolen from their victims. He was convicted by 15-17 murders, but the final death toll could have been higher, as he roamed free for years killing at will and with impunity. When he was caught by the police, he told the judges and court that he was the victim of a curse, and that he couldn't help transform himself into a wolf and kill. Nobody believed him and he was sentenced to death. However, a certain French "Professor" called Monsieur Philipps(nowadays would be considered a total quack and nut-job) sent a letter to the Queen of Spain explaining that Lycanthropy was a mind disease, and the Queen commuted Romasanta's death sentence for a life sentence without possibility of parole. Galicia is a small region of northern Spain, located in the northwest, and bordering with Portugal in the South. It is a very interesting area, the "Spanish Transylvania" if you want. There is a very rich folklore, and Lycanthropy has been diagnosed to several people in the area by doctors, as some people believe they are wolves or behave in a canine or lupine way. The movie is OK, but missed a lot of potential. If this story were filmed with a big budget, better screenplay and were given a different approach, we could be talking now of a masterpiece, as all the ingredients are there: only true story of lycanthropy recorded in an European legal system, mysterious land with dark forests and primitive medieval cities, etc. It all has a taste of authenticity. All in all, pretty decent movie, but not a masterpiece. Pity, because it could have been. Lots of missed potential in this movie.

~Spoiler~

Brian Yuzna's Filmax production company produces hit or miss movies. Romasanta is one of his hits. Paco Plaza is at the reins and he's leading Julian Sands and Elsa Pataky in a romantic fairy tale that is inspired by true events. The story is quite intriguing. Manuel Blanco Romasanta was a traveling vendor in Spain of 1852 who confessed to the murders of 15 people. He used their body fat to create soap that he sold in various towns. He avoided the death penalty by proclaiming he suffered from a rare disease: Lycanthropy. That's correct, he claimed he was a werewolf. Was he really a so-called wolf man? Or just an insane killer of women? Paco never firmly pushes for one or the other. Even though there are some spectacular wolf attacks and even a reverse transformation (a real highlight), it may all be in the deranged mind of Romasanta. Besides the underrated Sands and the gorgeous Pataky, the other cast members are quite good here. John Sharian (a dead ringer for Brando), Gary Piquer, and David Gant were all perfectly cast. Unfortunately for the film, it was dumped on DVD here in the states. It was also given a title change and the worst and most craptastic cover artwork of all time. Lion's Gate has a knack for hiding low budget dreck in a slick package. It seems they wanted to see if they could do the opposite; disguise a classy, Gothic drama as "Werewolf Hunter." So if you see the title, and are expecting something "in the tradition of The Howling" you will be sorely disappointed.