Review #1279: The Werewolf.
Cast:
Steven Ritch (Duncan Marsh), Don Megowan (Sheriff Jack Haines), Joyce Holden (Amy Standish), Eleanore Tanin (Helen Marsh), Kim Charney (Chris Marsh), Harry Lauter (Deputy Ben Clovey), Larry J. Blake (Hank Durgis), Ken Christy (Dr. Jonas Gilchrist), James Gavin (Mack Fanning), S. John Launer (Dr. Emery Forrest), and George Lynn (Dr. Morgan Chambers) Directed by Fred F. Sears (#255 - The Giant Claw, #265 - Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, and #671 - The Night the World Exploded)
Review:
The film was certainly helmed by a few pros when it comes to making quick films for entertainment. This is the fourth film I've covered of Sears that was produced by Sam Katzman, who had produced films from 1934 to 1972 that ranged from a variety of genres such as adventure, jukebox musicals, and horror (Robert E. Kent, writer for the film, also wrote for some of Katzman's films), primarily done on the cheap. In a decade where science fiction could certainly mingle with horror on occasion, it shouldn't be surprising that this film tries to mix the two together (after all, this was released as a double bill with Earth vs. the Flying Saucers), with the cause of the lycanthropy this time around being irradiated wolf serum than anything supernatural. Also, he doesn't merely transform in the night-time only, he just turns into a wolf if he is under emotional stress. In any case, this turns out to a be a passably okay movie that does fine with entertainment if one does not have high expectations or just wants to have some sort of horror for the night, unless one could watch something like The Wolf Man (1941), of course. It doesn't have too much in terms of compelling drama, which clearly tries to shake things up with the wolfman actually having a wife and son - for which they share just one scene together. Of the group of actors here, Ritch is likely the highlight, and he proves just fine in showing some anguish, mostly because the rest seem a bit too stock to really make an impact. It moves at a careful pace for 79 minutes while being occasionally hokey, but at least the film looks like it wants to move frights forward. Honestly, if you take out the werewolf part, this could just be a fugitive film, complete without weirdo scientists who like to give people serums and do coverups. Imagine thinking the best way to survive an apocalypse is to give people radiated serum - was their second idea to give them super hemlock? At least the film doesn't skimp out on giving us a shot of the wolf in action (which isn't just only for the dark), which looks okay. It just seems that the wolf should really just be seen in the night, as opposed to a big fur man being seen out in the daylight. The fact that the climax shoots shots of the wolf in day-for-night doesn't really help, either. Naturally, in a film with a weird setup to get a werewolf, of course the creature is taken down by a bunch of bullets by a posse. I'm almost surprised he didn't just faint from exhaustion or something else. Sometimes you really need something weird to make it go. Ultimately, this is a pretty average movie, not quite a winner for my eyes, but it does enough on the horror angle to at least make it seem a worthy curiosity.
Overall, I give it 6 out of 10 stars.
