Cheese Magnet is proud to be a part of the Paul Naschy blogathon, the brainchild of the Vicar of VHS at Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Movies. Be sure to head over there to join the celebration of the father of Spanish horror.

I contacted prolific filmmaker Fred Olen Ray to ask him for a few words on working with Paul Naschy on Tomb of the Werewolf (2004), and Mr. Ray was kind enough to send along the following — including some great photos.

“Working with Paul Naschy was an exceptional experience that I will not soon forget. Not only were we shooting one of filmdom’s last surviving horror icons, not only were we making a new Waldemar Daninsky werewolf movie, we were also doing it all without the ability to speak directly to one another!”

“While Naschy’s wife and son spoke pretty good English, Señor Molina (Naschy) spoke not one word, beyond, perhaps, ‘Hello!'”

“Through an interpreter, we managed to get along famously. Señor Molina learned his lines phonetically and spoke them in English. He loved reviving his most famous role as the Wolfman and we were delighted to just be part of this experience. I only wish I had been able to speak at length with him about all of his great movies, but it was very difficult.”

“We later visited Naschy in Spain and he was a terrific host. A true gentleman and die-hard horror fan!”

A big thank you to Fred Olen Ray for sharing his memories of Naschy for the Paul Naschy Blogathon!