Manuel Blanco Romasanta
Encyclopedia
Manuel Blanco Romasanta is Spain
’s first documented serial killer. In 1853 Romasanta admitted to thirteen murders, claiming he was not responsible as he was suffering from a curse that turned him into a wolf. Although this defense was rejected at trial, Queen Isabella II
commuted his death sentence to allow doctors to investigate the claim as an example of clinical Lycanthropy
. Romasanta has become part of Spanish folklore as the Werewolf of Allariz or less commonly as the Tallow Man, so named for the rendering of his victims fat to make high quality soap.
and, according to various accounts, was of small stature, being between 1.37m (4'6") and 1.49m (4'11") in height. Following the death of his wife in 1833, Romasanta became a travelling salesman, initially in Esgos
, then eventually throughout Galicia and Portugal
. Romasanta was also known to act as a guide for travellers crossing the mountains to Castile
, Asturias
and Cantabria
which gave him further opportunities for trade.
In 1844, Romasanta was charged with the murder of Vicente Fernández, the constable of León
. Fernández had been found dead after attempting to collect a debt of 600 reales
that Romasanta owed to a supplier in Ponferrada
for the purchase of merchandise. For failing to appear, he was judged guilty by default and sentenced in absentia
to 10 years imprisonment.
, Romasanta lived in the small village of Rebordechao, in the district of Vilar de Barrio
for at least a year. Although he worked as a cordmaker and helped with the harvest, he also became friendly with the women of the village and worked variously as a cook and as a weaver
making yarn on a spinning wheel
, leading the men of the village to consider him effeminate.
Over the following years, several women and children who had hired Romasanta as a guide disappeared. The disappearances were not immediately noticed as Romasanta delivered letters to their families advising that they had arrived at their destinations and were settling in. However, suspicion was aroused when it was noticed that he was selling their clothing locally and rumours spread that he was selling soap made from human fat. In 1852, a complaint was finally lodged in the city of Escalona
alleging that Romasanta deceived women and children into travelling with him, that he then killed them and that he removed their fat which he then sold. He was arrested in September of 1852, in Nombela
, in the province of Toledo
, and brought to trial in Allariz
, in the province of Ourense.
Romasanta became the subject of a historical judgment: Cause Nº 1778 The Wolfman volume 36 of the courts of Allariz. The litigation, based on a claim of Lycanthropy, has never been repeated in the history of Spanish law.
, the report accused Romasanta of inventing his affliction. While noting that Lycanthropy can be determined from a "visceral examination" and craneoscopia
, the doctors found no causes or motives for his behaviour.
Romasanta admitted 13 murders explaining that he had been cursed and had committed them after transforming into a wolf.
The court acquitted Romasanta of four of the murders he had confessed to after forensic evidence indicated that these victims had died in real wolf attacks. He was found guilty of the other nine, the remains of which exibited signs of butchering. On April 6, 1853 Romasanta was sentenced to death by garrotte with 1000 Real compensation to be paid for each victim.
The court case had lasted seven months and the transcript covered more than two thousand pages which were bound in five volumes titled "Licantropia".
The case was sent for ratification to the Territorial Court in A Coruña
which, after considering the case for seven months, reduced the sentence to life imprisonment. The prosecution appealed against the reduction and a new hearing was set for March 1854, which upheld the original verdict from the court in Allariz: death by garrotte.
living in London
had been following the "Werewolf of Allariz" case through the reporting in French newspapers. Phillips wrote to José de Castro y Orozco
, the Spanish Minister of Justice, stating that Romasanta was suffering from a monomania
known as lycanthropy
and was not responsible for his actions. He claimed that he had successfully treated the condition through hypnosis and asked that the execution be postphoned so he could study the case. The Minister of Justice wrote to Queen Isabella II
who personally commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment by Royal Order of May 13, 1854 and Romasanta was transferred to a prison in Celanova
.
The prison and it's records no longer exist but it is believed that Romasanta died within months of arriving. Locals say it was from illness but there is a rumour that he died after being shot by a guard who wanted to see him transform.
and Carl Jung
. The wolfman trial occurred at the beginning of the golden age of hypnotism.
inside his mouth while a werewolf will not. A person will become a werewolf by shedding his clothes and leaving his home at midnight each Friday. He will then visit seven villages, clothing himself in a skin at each one. He can be forced to return to his human form by making him bleed or by burning one the skins he wears. Becoming a werewolf can be prevented by having one of his brothers sponsor the child for his Baptism
and Confirmation. If none of the werewolfs brothers is elligible to be a sponsor (he must be over 16 and have taken confirmation) then baptizing the child with the name of "Bieito" will also prevent the transformation.
With the cultural movement associated with the Age of Enlightenment
lycanthropy became accepted as a real medical condition. Various causes of the condition were put forward such as, Syphilis
, Rabies
, Porphyria
, Epilepsy
and belladonna
poisoning. By the middle of the 19th century psychiatric diagnoses of clinical Lycanthropy
became the norm with psychopathological
explanations for lycanthropy.
According to the census of 1860, the province of Ourense was predominantly a rural agricultural province. There were no psychiatric hospitals until the opening of the Conxo asylum
in 1885 and the insane from Galicia were sent to a hospital in Valladolid
. There were no psychiatric doctors at all in Galicia and the only doctors involved in the "werewolf of Allariz" case were the doctors of the town of Allariz.
.
("The Forest Wolf") is a 1968 Spanish drama film produced and directed by Pedro Olea and starring José Luis López Vázquez
. The film is based on the novel El bosque de Ancines (Ancines Forest) by Carlos Martínez-Barbeito which was in turn based on the Werewolf of Allariz court case.
Romasanta
is a 2004 Spanish-English horror-movie produced by Fantastic Factory
, directed by Paco Plaza
and starring Julian Sands
, Elsa Pataky
and John Sharian
. The film is based on a script by Alfredo Conde who is a descendant of one of the doctors involved the original Werewolf of Allariz court case. Conde went on to write the fictional novel The Uncertain Memoirs of a Galician Wolfman: Romasanta.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
’s first documented serial killer. In 1853 Romasanta admitted to thirteen murders, claiming he was not responsible as he was suffering from a curse that turned him into a wolf. Although this defense was rejected at trial, Queen Isabella II
Isabella II of Spain
Isabella II was the only female monarch of Spain in modern times. She came to the throne as an infant, but her succession was disputed by the Carlists, who refused to recognise a female sovereign, leading to the Carlist Wars. After a troubled reign, she was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of...
commuted his death sentence to allow doctors to investigate the claim as an example of clinical Lycanthropy
Clinical lycanthropy
Clinical lycanthropy is defined as a rare psychiatric syndrome that involves a delusion that the affected person can transform or has transformed into a non-human animal or that he or she is an animal. Its name is connected to the mythical condition of lycanthropy, a supernatural affliction in...
. Romasanta has become part of Spanish folklore as the Werewolf of Allariz or less commonly as the Tallow Man, so named for the rendering of his victims fat to make high quality soap.
Background
Born in Regueiro, Orense province, on 18 November, 1809, Manuel Blanco Romasanta was originally named Manuela as it was intially though that he was female. He was raised as a girl until the age of six when a doctor discovered his true sex. Because he could read and write, very rare for the time, it is believed his family was relatively wealthy. As a grown man he worked as a tailorTailor
A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...
and, according to various accounts, was of small stature, being between 1.37m (4'6") and 1.49m (4'11") in height. Following the death of his wife in 1833, Romasanta became a travelling salesman, initially in Esgos
Esgos
Esgos is a municipality in Ourense in the Galicia region of north-west Spain....
, then eventually throughout Galicia and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. Romasanta was also known to act as a guide for travellers crossing the mountains to Castile
Castile and León
Castile and León is an autonomous community in north-western Spain. It was so constituted in 1983 and it comprises the historical regions of León and Old Castile...
, Asturias
Asturias
The Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community of the Kingdom of Spain, coextensive with the former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages...
and Cantabria
Cantabria
Cantabria is a Spanish historical region and autonomous community with Santander as its capital city. It is bordered on the east by the Basque Autonomous Community , on the south by Castile and León , on the west by the Principality of Asturias, and on the north by the Cantabrian Sea.Cantabria...
which gave him further opportunities for trade.
In 1844, Romasanta was charged with the murder of Vicente Fernández, the constable of León
León, Spain
León is the capital of the province of León in the autonomous community of Castile and León, situated in the northwest of Spain. Its city population of 136,985 makes it the largest municipality in the province, accounting for more than one quarter of the province's population...
. Fernández had been found dead after attempting to collect a debt of 600 reales
Spanish real
The real was a unit of currency in Spain for several centuries after the mid-14th century, but changed in value relative to other units introduced...
that Romasanta owed to a supplier in Ponferrada
Ponferrada
Ponferrada is a city in the province of León, Castile and León, Spain. It lies on the Sil River, a tributary of the river Miño, in the El Bierzo valley, completely surrounded by mountains. It is the last major town along the French route of the Way of St. James before it reaches its destination...
for the purchase of merchandise. For failing to appear, he was judged guilty by default and sentenced in absentia
In absentia
In absentia is Latin for "in the absence". In legal use, it usually means a trial at which the defendant is not physically present. The phrase is not ordinarily a mere observation, but suggests recognition of violation to a defendant's right to be present in court proceedings in a criminal trial.In...
to 10 years imprisonment.
Galicia murders and arrest
Fleeing from the threat of imprisonment and with a false passport in the name of Antonio Gómez, a native of Nogueira in PortugalPortugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, Romasanta lived in the small village of Rebordechao, in the district of Vilar de Barrio
Vilar de Barrio
Vilar de Barrio is a municipality in Ourense in the Galicia region of north-west Spain. It is located in the very centre of the province....
for at least a year. Although he worked as a cordmaker and helped with the harvest, he also became friendly with the women of the village and worked variously as a cook and as a weaver
Weaver
The Ploceidae, or weavers, are small passerine birds related to the finches.These are seed-eating birds with rounded conical bills, most of which are from Sub-Saharan Africa, with fewer species in tropical Asia. A few species have been introduced outside their native range. The weaver group is...
making yarn on a spinning wheel
Spinning wheel
A spinning wheel is a device for spinning thread or yarn from natural or synthetic fibers. Spinning wheels appeared in Asia, probably in the 11th century, and very gradually replaced hand spinning with spindle and distaff...
, leading the men of the village to consider him effeminate.
Over the following years, several women and children who had hired Romasanta as a guide disappeared. The disappearances were not immediately noticed as Romasanta delivered letters to their families advising that they had arrived at their destinations and were settling in. However, suspicion was aroused when it was noticed that he was selling their clothing locally and rumours spread that he was selling soap made from human fat. In 1852, a complaint was finally lodged in the city of Escalona
Escalona
Escalona is a municipality located in the north part of the province of Toledo, which in turn is part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, Spain...
alleging that Romasanta deceived women and children into travelling with him, that he then killed them and that he removed their fat which he then sold. He was arrested in September of 1852, in Nombela
Nombela
Nombela is a municipality located in the province of Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2006 census , the municipality has a population of 981 inhabitants....
, in the province of Toledo
Toledo (province)
Toledo is a province of central Spain, in the western part of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha. It is bordered by the provinces of Madrid, Cuenca, Ciudad Real, Badajoz, Cáceres, and Ávila....
, and brought to trial in Allariz
Allariz
The town of Allariz is in the province of Ourense, Autonomous Community of Galicia, Spain. It occupies the center of the western half of the province, connecting with the towns of Taboadela, Paderne, Sandiás, Vilar de Santos, Rairiz de Veiga, Xunqueira de Ambía, A Merca and A Bola...
, in the province of Ourense.
Romasanta became the subject of a historical judgment: Cause Nº 1778 The Wolfman volume 36 of the courts of Allariz. The litigation, based on a claim of Lycanthropy, has never been repeated in the history of Spanish law.
Victims
List of named victims.- Manuela Garcia, age 47, and her daughter Petra, 15, killed in the Sierra de San Mamede while traveling to SantanderSantander, CantabriaThe port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 .-History:...
. - Benita Garcia Blanco, aged 34, and her son Francisco, 10, killed in Corgo de Boi while traveling to Rua cantabras.
- Antonia land, 37 years old, and her daughter Peregrina, killed while traveling to Ourense.
- Josefa Garcia and her son Jose Pazos, 21 years old.
- María Dolores, 12 years old.
Doctors report
In October 1852, Allariz doctors presented the court with a report on Romasanta. Based heavily on PhrenologyPhrenology
Phrenology is a pseudoscience primarily focused on measurements of the human skull, based on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific functions or modules...
, the report accused Romasanta of inventing his affliction. While noting that Lycanthropy can be determined from a "visceral examination" and craneoscopia
Cranioscopy
Cranioscopy is a term created by Franz Joseph Gall , a German neuroanatomist and physiologist who was a pioneer in the study of the localization of mental functions in the brain, to name his technique to infer brain localization of function on the basis of the external anatomy of the skull or...
, the doctors found no causes or motives for his behaviour.
"His inclination to vice is voluntary and not forced. The subject is not insane, dim-witted or monomaniacal, nor were these [conditions] achieved while incarcerated. On the contrary, he [Romasanta] instead turns out to be a pervert, an accomplished criminal capable of anything, cool and collected and without goodness but [acts] with free will, freedom and knowledge."
Trial
When Romasanta was brought to trial, Galicia was in the middle of one of the worst famines of several that had plagued Galicia throughout the nineteenth century. The famine led to mass migrations and a noticable increase in insanity.Romasanta admitted 13 murders explaining that he had been cursed and had committed them after transforming into a wolf.
"The first time I transformed, was in the mountains of Couso. I came across two ferocious-looking wolves. I suddenly fell to the floor, and began to feel convulsions, I rolled over three times, and a few seconds later I myself was a wolf. I was out marauding with the other two for five days, until I returned to my own body, the one you see before you today, Your Honour. The other two wolves came with me, who I thought were also wolves, changed into human form. They were from Valencia. One was called Antonio and the other Don Genaro. They too were cursed... we attacked and ate a number of people because we were hungry." — Manuel Blanco Romasanta
The court acquitted Romasanta of four of the murders he had confessed to after forensic evidence indicated that these victims had died in real wolf attacks. He was found guilty of the other nine, the remains of which exibited signs of butchering. On April 6, 1853 Romasanta was sentenced to death by garrotte with 1000 Real compensation to be paid for each victim.
The court case had lasted seven months and the transcript covered more than two thousand pages which were bound in five volumes titled "Licantropia".
The case was sent for ratification to the Territorial Court in A Coruña
A Coruña
A Coruña or La Coruña is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. It is the second-largest city in the autonomous community and seventeenth overall in the country...
which, after considering the case for seven months, reduced the sentence to life imprisonment. The prosecution appealed against the reduction and a new hearing was set for March 1854, which upheld the original verdict from the court in Allariz: death by garrotte.
Commutation by Royal Decree
"Mr. Phillips", a French hypnotistHypnosis
Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...
living in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
had been following the "Werewolf of Allariz" case through the reporting in French newspapers. Phillips wrote to José de Castro y Orozco
José de Castro y Orozco
José de Castro y Orozco was a Spanish politician, poet and playwright whose literary work is associated with the Romantic movement....
, the Spanish Minister of Justice, stating that Romasanta was suffering from a monomania
Monomania
In 19th century psychiatry, monomania is a single pathological preoccupation in an otherwise sound mind. Emotional monomania is that in which the patient is obsessed with only one emotion or several related to it; intellectual monomania is that which is related to only one kind of delirious idea...
known as lycanthropy
Lycanthropy
Lycanthropy is the professed ability or power of a human being to undergo transformation into a werewolf, or to gain wolf-like characteristics. The term comes from Greek Lykànthropos : λύκος, lykos + άνθρωπος, ànthrōpos...
and was not responsible for his actions. He claimed that he had successfully treated the condition through hypnosis and asked that the execution be postphoned so he could study the case. The Minister of Justice wrote to Queen Isabella II
Isabella II of Spain
Isabella II was the only female monarch of Spain in modern times. She came to the throne as an infant, but her succession was disputed by the Carlists, who refused to recognise a female sovereign, leading to the Carlist Wars. After a troubled reign, she was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of...
who personally commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment by Royal Order of May 13, 1854 and Romasanta was transferred to a prison in Celanova
Celanova
Celanova is a village and municipality located in the province of Orense, Galicia, Northern Spain. Situated near the border with Portugal, the village is bordered by Ramirás, Cartelle, A Merca, A Bola, Verea and Quintela de Leirado....
.
The prison and it's records no longer exist but it is believed that Romasanta died within months of arriving. Locals say it was from illness but there is a rumour that he died after being shot by a guard who wanted to see him transform.
Mr. Phillips
Although there is no documentary evidence for the identity of Mr. Phillips, it is believed that he was the French physician Joseph-Pierre Durand de Gros who had been exiled to Britain and who later returned to France using the pseudonym, Dr. Phillips. Durand de Gros was a significant part of the movement that led to the incorporation and assimilation of braidismo (nervous hypnotism) in France and his works on the influence of the mind were later developed by Sigmund FreudSigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
and Carl Jung
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
. The wolfman trial occurred at the beginning of the golden age of hypnotism.
Lycanthropy in Galicia
Galician tradition holds that the seventh son of a family can be either normal or "lobishome" (a werewolf). If normal, the child will have the image of a cross or the wheel of Saint CatherineCatherine of Alexandria
Saint Catherine of Alexandria, also known as Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the pagan emperor Maxentius...
inside his mouth while a werewolf will not. A person will become a werewolf by shedding his clothes and leaving his home at midnight each Friday. He will then visit seven villages, clothing himself in a skin at each one. He can be forced to return to his human form by making him bleed or by burning one the skins he wears. Becoming a werewolf can be prevented by having one of his brothers sponsor the child for his Baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
and Confirmation. If none of the werewolfs brothers is elligible to be a sponsor (he must be over 16 and have taken confirmation) then baptizing the child with the name of "Bieito" will also prevent the transformation.
With the cultural movement associated with the Age of Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
lycanthropy became accepted as a real medical condition. Various causes of the condition were put forward such as, Syphilis
Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
, Rabies
Rabies
Rabies is a viral disease that causes acute encephalitis in warm-blooded animals. It is zoonotic , most commonly by a bite from an infected animal. For a human, rabies is almost invariably fatal if post-exposure prophylaxis is not administered prior to the onset of severe symptoms...
, Porphyria
Porphyria
Porphyrias are a group of inherited or acquired disorders of certain enzymes in the heme bio-synthetic pathway . They are broadly classified as acute porphyrias and cutaneous porphyrias, based on the site of the overproduction and accumulation of the porphyrins...
, Epilepsy
Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...
and belladonna
Belladonna
Belladonna, from the Italian expression "bella donna" meaning "beautiful lady", may refer to:-Plants:* Atropa belladonna or belladonna or deadly nightshade, a perennial herbaceous plant...
poisoning. By the middle of the 19th century psychiatric diagnoses of clinical Lycanthropy
Clinical lycanthropy
Clinical lycanthropy is defined as a rare psychiatric syndrome that involves a delusion that the affected person can transform or has transformed into a non-human animal or that he or she is an animal. Its name is connected to the mythical condition of lycanthropy, a supernatural affliction in...
became the norm with psychopathological
Psychopathology
Psychopathology is the study of mental illness, mental distress, and abnormal/maladaptive behavior. The term is most commonly used within psychiatry where pathology refers to disease processes...
explanations for lycanthropy.
According to the census of 1860, the province of Ourense was predominantly a rural agricultural province. There were no psychiatric hospitals until the opening of the Conxo asylum
Psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals, are hospitals specializing in the treatment of serious mental disorders. Psychiatric hospitals vary widely in their size and grading. Some hospitals may specialise only in short-term or outpatient therapy for low-risk patients...
in 1885 and the insane from Galicia were sent to a hospital in Valladolid
Valladolid
Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales...
. There were no psychiatric doctors at all in Galicia and the only doctors involved in the "werewolf of Allariz" case were the doctors of the town of Allariz.
Sacamantecas
The story of "sinister" men with shoulder bags (Sacamantecas), who roamed the countryside murdering children for their fat was a story used to scare provincial children in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Human fat was believed to cure illness and was also thought to be a lubricant superior to animal fats. The myth became more widespread in Spain with the spread of railways. Romasanta was the first of several people charged for selling human fat in the 19th century.Modern conclusions
Since the early 1990s, the case has been the subject of many studies by psychiatrists who see the case as a missed opportunity to legitimize psychiatry in 19th century Spain. Psychiatry at the time was generally ignored with the public and judges determining if a defendant was suffering from a mental disorder. It is recognised that Romasanta was not psychotic but suffered from a personality disorder, likely Antisocial personality disorderAntisocial personality disorder
Antisocial personality disorder is described by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fourth edition , as an Axis II personality disorder characterized by "...a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood...
.
Popular culture
El bosque del loboEl bosque del lobo
El Bosque del Lobo is a 1971 Spanish drama film about a werewolf directed by Pedro Olea. It is based on a novel by Carlos Martínez-Barbeito.-Cast:*José Luis López Vázquez ... Benito Freire*Amparo Soler Leal ... Pacucha...
("The Forest Wolf") is a 1968 Spanish drama film produced and directed by Pedro Olea and starring José Luis López Vázquez
José Luis López Vázquez
José Luis López Vázquez de la Torre was a Spanish actor. -Career:López Vázquez was born in Madrid. He originally worked in theater as a costume designer, a scenic designer, and as an assistant director to Pío Ballesteros and Enrique Herreros. In 1946, he switched over to film, with a small role in...
. The film is based on the novel El bosque de Ancines (Ancines Forest) by Carlos Martínez-Barbeito which was in turn based on the Werewolf of Allariz court case.
Romasanta
Romasanta
Romasanta is a Spanish-English horror-movie produced by Fantastic Factory, directed by Paco Plaza and starring Julian Sands, Elsa Pataky and John Sharian...
is a 2004 Spanish-English horror-movie produced by Fantastic Factory
Fantastic Factory
- History :It was created by Julio Fernández and Brian Yuzna. Yuzna's goal for Fantastic Factory is produce "modestly budgeted genre films for the international market using genre talent from all around the world and to develop local talent." - Films produced under the Fantastic Factory label...
, directed by Paco Plaza
Paco Plaza
Paco Plaza is a Spanish film director best known for writing and directing REC and REC 2 with Jaume Balagueró. He then went on to direct the REC series prequel REC:Genesis by himself while Jaume Balagueró directed the sequel REC Apocalypse....
and starring Julian Sands
Julian Sands
Julian M. Sands is an English actor, known for his roles in the Best Picture nominee The Killing Fields, the cult film Warlock, A Room with a View, Arachnophobia, Vatel, the television series 24 and as Jor-El in the television series Smallville.-Career:Sands began his film career appearing in...
, Elsa Pataky
Elsa Pataky
Elsa Lafuente Pataky is a Spanish actress.-Personal life:Pataky was born in Madrid, Spain, the daughter of José Francisco Lafuente, a Spanish biochemist, and Cristina Pataky Medianu, a publicist of Hungarian and Romanian ancestry. Pataky attended the Universidad de San Pablo CEU and studied...
and John Sharian
John Sharian
John Sharian is an American actor whose film credits include The Machinist and Saving Private Ryan and whose television credits include CSI: Miami and Spooks.-Education:...
. The film is based on a script by Alfredo Conde who is a descendant of one of the doctors involved the original Werewolf of Allariz court case. Conde went on to write the fictional novel The Uncertain Memoirs of a Galician Wolfman: Romasanta.