There are some things you never expect to say, either out loud or in print, one of them is: Julian Sands gives an excellent performance. Yet there is no denying it, Sands is good, very good in fact. Werewolves are often depicted as cinema’s most sympathetic monsters, not so here. Romasanta is a sexual predator, seducing lonely women before murdering them and, as a gruesome sideline, using their body fat to make soap. Sands shifts (pardon the pun) from charming seducer to murderous psychotic in the blink of an eye and he’s never less than convincing.
The real scene-stealing performance however, comes from Elsa Pataky. Apart from being incredibly beautiful, she’s also a damn fine actress. She starts the film as a lovesick young woman infatuated with Romasanta but when she discovers his secret she sets out on the werewolf hunt of the title, determined to see him brought to justice for killing her sisters. She’s definitely a star of the future and commands attention whenever she’s onscreen. As for the nude bath scene…
Producer Brian Yuzna’s Spanish sojourn has produced far more misses than hits. Romasanta represents, along with Stuart Gordon’s Dagon, the peak of his output in that country and one of the best films he’s ever put his name to. Combining both the serial killer and werewolf genres this is a visually stunning historical horror from director Francisco Plaza. It’s a film that deserves to be better known, so seek it out and spread the word.
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