Offscreen Notes
Paul Naschy: RIP
Paul Naschy, born Jacinto Molina on 6 September 1934, Madrid, Spain, died on November 30, 2009. Naschy was by far Spain’s most iconic horror figure, and his death means that only a scant few remain of his ilk in Spain (notably Jesus Franco). Naschy was a huge fan of Universal horror and fashioned his career around the classic monster figures of that studio (Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolfman, Zombies, etc.). The figure most representative of Naschy’s mystique was the wolfman, which he portrayed (as Waldemar Daninsky) no less than thirteen times. As an actor and then director and screenwriter, Naschy was instrumental in producing works that would be so strongly identified with ‘eurohorror’. In many respects, Naschy is synonymous with all the idiosyncratic qualities that fans of cult cinema and the eurohorror have come to love: perverse mixture of sexuality and horror; brass, daring musical scores that are not afraid of veering from traditional score templates; emphasis on stylish visuals and elaborate set-pieces over plot; touches of surrealistic violence; and (especially for Naschy during the Franco era in Spain) subtle yet subversive social (gender) and political overtones. November 30, 2009 marks a sad day in the history of European horror, but thankfully Naschy has left behind a lasting legacy that will certainly grow in critical esteem over the years. Watch this moving tribute (uploaded in 2006) entitled The Molina Fantasy to get a sense of Naschy’s unique persona.
