Howl of the Devil (1988): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1988, Howl of the Devil is a horror film directed by Paul Naschy, running about 97 minutes.

What it’s about. Hector Doriani (Paul Naschy) is a stage and screen actor who feels himself living in the shadow of his dead twin brother, Alex Doriani, once a famous star of horror movies. Alex’s young son, Adrian, now lives with Hector in an isolated mansion in the countryside. To keep alive the memory of his father, the boy imagines himself visited by the spirit of the dead man, incarnated in a series of classic horror characters from the past. Eric, Alex’s former butler, now also works for Hector. His main role is to locate and bring to the mansion a series of women who are paid large sums of money by Hector to take part in various sadistic sex games. To complicate matters even further, the games always seem to end with the women getting slaughtered in various gruesome ways by a black gloved, masked killer. Also on hand is horror diva Caroline Munro, as Hector’s housekeeper and cook, who is being pursued by a local priest with whom she once had a much-regretted affair.

Who’s in it. Howl of the Devil stars Paul Naschy as Hector Doriani / Alex Doriani / Frankenstein's Monster / Mr. Hyde / Phantom of the Opera / Waldemar Daninsky the Werewolf / Quasimodo / The Devil, Caroline Munro as Carmen, Howard Vernon as Eric and Fernando Hilbeck as Father Damián, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 5.3/10, Howl of the Devil has proved divisive with audiences.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Howl of the Devil page.

If you liked it. Fans of Howl of the Devil tend to enjoy Psycho, The Silence of the Lambs, The Shining and Alien.