Werewolf Triple Bill – Part II

Posted on February 18, 2025February 18, 2025 by fenrisfil

The full moon is up again here at Screen-Wolf, so it’s time for another werewolf triple bill. I think I’ve finally washed the bad taste of “Wolf Man” (2025) out of my mouth, so this will be the last one for now. Here are three more reviews of this difficult to pull off sub-genre of horror. Tonight I present you with “Bad Moon” from 1996, “Wolf Cop” from 2014 and “The Wolf of Snow Hollow” from 2020. One thing these all have in common is they are all from writer/directors (In the case of Snow Hollow also the star). So these are very much one man’s vision, yet each vision is radically different. I love the posters for all three of these by the way. It’s always nice to not have to share generic giant head posters. Anyway, let’s take a bite out of these movies shall we?

The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020)

“The Wolf of Snow Hollow” is from actor/writer/director Jim Cummings, who also stars in the movie. This black comedy horror is his second feature, after his acclaimed “Thunder Road” (2018) debut. He is supported by Riki Lindhome, Chloe East, Jimmy Tatro and Robert Forster (In his final performance). Cinematography is from Natalie Kingston and music is provided by Ben Lovett. The 2020 indie movie was made for a mere $2 million and clocks in at only 84 minutes. Cumming’s plays Jon Marshall, a Deputy Sheriff and struggling alcoholic with anger management issues and young daughter.

After a vacationer discovers the mangled body of his girlfriend at their rental house in Snow Hollow, the police begin a manhunt for her killer. Deputy Sheriff Marshall takes the lead. When a second victim is found with her head and arm torn off and wolf fur found at the scene the investigation takes a turn for the macabre. Marshall refuses to believe this can be a werewolf. He is hampered though by his struggle with alcoholism and his conflicts with those around him, including his daughter. No one seems to have faith in Marshall’s ability to solve this case, least of all himself.

Anger Management

This is one of those horror comedies that forgets to be either funny or scary. As a dark comedy, you expect this somewhat as usually the humour comes from quirky characters and odd situations. Here though it seems the comedy is meant to come from the incompetence of the police, and it just doesn’t land for me. Dark comedies are tricky though, as are werewolf movies, so they set themselves a difficult task here. The movie also falls prey to a lot of the cliches of more recent film making. None of the characters are likeable and the movie seems to be trying to present a message about toxic masculinity. It’s not preachy, but it is a bit too on the nose. Possibly the problem is the movie is a little too focused on it’s lead (and writer/director).

That said, the movie has some positives. The attacks are well filmed (For the budget). The cast is reasonable and the identity of the killer isn’t obvious. The only problem was the character wasn’t really involved in the plot much, so you had no reason to suspect them. Honestly I didn’t actually care who it was by the end. This tends to be a problem with “Guess the Werewolf” films. There is another twist in regards to the werewolf that was a bit more predictable, given the nature of the film. Ultimately the ending fell flat for me. The rest of the film I’d call solid, except for actively disliking the protagonist. Creatively that is fine, but it is harder to like a movie when you think the protagonist is a dick. Anyway, this is a solid 5/10. Not terrible, but not a recommendation.

Wolf Cop (2014)

“Wolf Cop” is a low budget Canadian horror comedy from writer/director Lowell Dean. Staring Leo Fafard and Amy Matysio. It is very much a Saskatchewan production, shot entirely in Regina, Saskatchewan, largely featuring natives of the area and with a soundtrack from “Shooting Guns”, an instrumental Metal band from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The production budget of $1 million was granted through a canadian film contest. The concept won through social media engagements and fan votes against nearly 100 rivals.

The movie follows “Lou Garou” (Fafard), an alcoholic cop in the small town of Woodhaven. Lou is mocked and disrespected by most of the locals, especially the criminals. He spends most of his time sleeping or at a local bar (Even when on duty). After investigating a report of devil worshipers he stumbles upon the murder of a local politician and is knocked out. He awakens later with no memory and a pentagram carved into his stomach. That isn’t the only change as his facial hair is now rapidly growing and his senses are heightened. That is just the start of it as eventually Lou finds himself turning into a Wolf Man. Not a feral beast though, but one that is still very much Lou – A alcoholic and a cop. As he looks into what happens he begins to discover a vast conspiracy.

It’s the Fuzz

If the name was not a give away, this is very much on the “Fun B-Movie” side of horror films. It is fully aware of what it is, but doesn’t go so overboard. They avoid falling into the trap of trying too hard to be bad. The movie actually starts out somewhat like The Wolf of Snow Hollow, with a small town, a washed up alcoholic cop as the lead, a more competent female deputy and a Sheriff that is largely uninvolved for most of the movie. That’s where the similarities end though. The comedy in this movie is obvious, the gore over the top and the identity of the Werewolf… well, it’s in the title of the film! The film offers few surprises but generally delivers exactly what you would hope for.

Unsurprisingly they have gone for more of a “Wolf Man” werewolf instead of something more wolf-like or monstrous. That approach is usually chosen to allow a little bit more humanity in the character. This is the case here, however it’s not for sympathy but rather to allow Wolf Cop to deliver the occasional one liner and to use his gun. Yes, this film features a werewolf that shoots people. It’s also the rare situation of a werewolf that is basically good, even in monster form. The movie still provides monstrous villains however. Despite the comparatively straight forward make up job of the “Wolf” form they actually do put effort into a unique and impressive and quite funny transformation. This is a fun movie that is much better than it probably had any right to be. Shockingly, I’m giving it a solid 6/10.

Bad Moon (1996)

“Bad Moon” comes from writer/director Eric Red. Eric is best known as a writer and penned the horror classics “The Hitcher” (1986) and “Near Dark” (1987). This is another Canadian movie, this time from Morgan Creek Productions and with a significantly higher budget (Especially with inflation) of $7 million. It is based on the novel “Thor” by Wayne Smith. The movie stars Mariel Hemingway, with support from Michael Paré and Mason Gamble. All reasonable mid tier actors that never quite made it to the big time. Paré is all over genre entertainment and usually safe casting, so no surprise to see him here. Cinematography comes from Jan Kiesser and the score is provided by Daniel Licht (Who is most famous for scoring the TV series “Dexter”).

During an expedition to Nepal, photographer Ted Harrison (Paré) and his girlfriend are attacked by a werewolf. Paré survives but as a result now carries the curse. He returns home and hides away in his remote lakeside cabin to try and find a way to cure his condition or live with it. After reaching out to his remaining family, his sister “Janet” (Hemingway) and her son “Brett” (Gamble) he agrees to move his trailer to the back of their house and stay with them. While he struggles with his condition in secret, the families dog “Thor”, suspects the truth and instinctively wants to protect his family from the danger.

Man’s Beast Friend

Of this round of reviews “Bad Moon” is undoubtedly the most traditional werewolf story. We know who the werewolf is from the start and he transforms into the standard “Howling” style beast. The creature actually looks pretty good, better than I expected. But then, back in 1996 there were a lot physical effects masters around and no drive to use CGI (For this kind of film anyway). Although we see a bit of the tragedy of the cursed lycanthrope, the focus is more on his sister and nephew. It’s not really their story either though and that is the real twist with this movie. The lead of this movie is the families’ dog “Thor”. It’s a novel approach that isn’t without issues, but it did make this werewolf movie stand out from the pack.

The plot itself is stripped down and straightforward, but it didn’t really need to do anything more complicated. The characters are likable enough and have a little depth, mostly from the conflicted nature of dealing with a loved family member turning into a monster. The tragic aspect of the story could have had a little more to it. Ted flips at some point from a sympathetic character to an outright villain and the change is a little jarring. Part of the reason for this is that he isn’t the focal character. Janet fairs a little better and you do feel her internal conflict in the situation. Thor though is the star, but even this could have been explored a little more thoroughly. The truth is this straight forward movie does just enough to make it work. Not outstanding, but just about worthy of a 6/10.

Werewolf Triple Bill

Posted on January 30, 2025January 30, 2025 by fenrisfil

Rather than doing a regular review roundup for January, I’m going to take a bit of a swerve. Continuing the trend from my previously posted reviews, I’m reviewing three werewolf movies. So, if you follow this blog (Or my social media posts), you know I didn’t like the new “Wolf Man” (2025) movie. That’s an understatement. But it has driven me to find an actually good werewolf movie or two from the many that have slipped me by over the years. I’ve said before there are only five werewolf movies I think are truly great. There’s a handful more that are pretty good, but most of these movies are not worth bothering with. Perhaps sometime I’ll do a top ten.

I’ve always been keen on the werewolf as a horror character. Wolves actually have a lot in common with humans. Nature has only ever created two persistence hunters, the wolf is one and humans are the other. They are the ultimate feral mirror of ourselves. But beyond that the transformation from man to wolf provides the opportunity for all kinds of metaphor. Last but not least they always provide a challenge for effects and filming. As a result, these movies are often more about what you don’t see. They tend to have a very old school horror vibe to them. So for this round up I’m looking at “Wer” (2013), “Late Phases” (2014) and “Werewolves Within” (2021).

Werewolves Within (2021)

I’m going to start of with my least favourite. “Werewolves Within” is from director Josh Ruben and writer Mishna Wolff. Wolff is clearly a fan of the genre as she is also behind the series “Wolf Like Me”. Ruben has made one previous feature film, the horror “Scare Me” (2020). This horror comedy stars Sam Richardson and Milana Vayntrub and is an adaptation of the computer game of the same name. That game is basically a variation of the Werewolf social deduction game, itself a version of the game “Mafia”. Right off the bat you can tell the focus of this isn’t really the werewolves. It’s also worth noting, that set up somewhat similar to the movie “Cry Wolf” (2005), another film that bares a striking resemblance to “Mafia”.

“Finn Wheeler” (Richardson), is a Forest ranger assigned to cover Beaverfield, a small town where the residents are divided over a pipeline. The town is populated by a bunch of colourful and somewhat bizarre characters, the sanest of which appears to be the post woman “Cecily Moore” (Vayntrub). On his first night there all the generators are taken out by what appears to be a powerful animal and one of the residents are killed. This starts a long game of insinuations and conflict between the residents. It becomes apparent one or more of them are actually werewolves and the clock is ticking to find out who.

I Accuse You!

One of the standard types of horror comedies is basically a form of fatal slapstick. That is everyone ends up killing everyone else, often by accident. This is one of those. This obviously fits with the video game. I’ve never played it, but these games always work by eliminating who you think is the werewolf (or Mafia member) and the goal of the actual werewolf is to misdirect the other players to eliminate each other. This is exactly what is happening here. The trouble is, since this is an adaptation of the game, you know this going in. It makes the set up all a bit too obvious. It also means by necessity, you don’t actually see the Werewolf until the final moments of the movie.

The biggest problem the film has though is that it is not especially funny. It’s more “Quirky” than laugh out loud funny. That gives the film some charm, but I need a bit more to my horror comedies. That aside, the movie is perhaps most similar to “The Beast Must Die” (1974). Both movies turn the werewolf story into a bit of a murder mystery, with the colourful cast constantly pointing the finger at each other. The difference is I didn’t predict the werewolf was in the first act of that movie. Ultimately, this is almost a good movie, but just fails to really stand out in any way. It is a very average horror comedy. 5/10

Late Phases/Night of the Wolf (2014)

Mostly this movie is referred to as “Late Phases”, but it is also known as “Night of the Wolf” and that appears to be it’s official release title in the US and UK. No doubt that caused a lot of confusion with the marketing. Late Phases is a better fit for the film’s plot, but it doesn’t really say “Werewolf” loudly enough, so I can see why it was changed. Anyway, this is a movie from Spanish filmmaker Adrian Garcia Bogliano and his first in English. It is written by Eric Stolze, with cinematography from Ernesto Herrera and music from Wojciech Golczewski. The film stars Nick Damici as blind retired Vietnam war veteran “Ambrose McKinley”.

Ambrose has just moved into a quiet retirement community on the edge of a forest. Despite his disability he is fiercely independent and has a shaky relationship with his son. On his first night in his new home he is attacked by some kind of beast and is only saved by his dog (Who is mortally wounded during the attack). Ambrose quickly realizes he has been attacked by a werewolf and that when the next full moon arrives he will likely be killed. He isn’t going to go down easily and spends the time until the next full moon preparing and investigating. This brings him into conflict with the other residents of the village and his own son.

Old Dogs, New Tricks

This is a fairly unique werewolf movie. It plays the mystery angle to some extent, but is more focused on it’s non-wolf protagonist. Nick Damici really does hold this film together as the grumpy vet, determined to go out fighting. The film goes with a the traditional version of the monster with a design straight out of The Howling. In practice they aren’t the best looking versions I’ve seen but I do have to give them points for a very good transformation scene. Don’t expect to see a lot of them though. They appear at the start and end of the film, but the vast majority of it is in that period in between full moons. That’s not a big negative for this film though as it gives the film time to focus on Ambrose and see what makes him tick.

Obviously a werewolf movie already requires some suspension of disbelief. This movie asks us to go a little bit further in believing that this blind veteran can fight back against them. It turns out, it’s not as much of an ask as you would think! The movie does well with it’s budget and it doesn’t mess about with the plot. The bookended werewolf scenes and the direct drive and ticking clock of the rest of the movie means it doesn’t drag. Overall, while it’s not going to break the long standing record of only five great werewolf movies, this is pretty close. A good low budget werewolf movie, just about worthy of a 6.5/10.

Wer (2013)

“Wer” comes to us from writer/director William Brent Bell in his third feature and second horror film. I’m not familiar with his work but the film “Boy” (2016) seems to have been his most successful. Alejandro Martínez provides cinematography and Brett Detar, the music. The film stars A.J. Cook with support from Simon Quarterman, Vik Sahay and Sebastian Roché. All solid TV actors that occasionally pop up in lower budget movies. I have to admit it is hard to take Vik Sahay seriously after watching him in “Chuck”, but he does a good job so that is on me.

After a horrific attack in France on a family of holidaying Americans, the authorities arrest local man Talan Gwynek (Brian Scott O’Connor). There is more than a little controversy here though since all the physical evidence suggested a vicious animal attack far beyond what a human could do. Because of this expatriate lawyer “Katherine Moore” (Cook) volunteers to take the case of his defence. Assisting her are investigator “Eric Sarin” (Sahay) and animal expert “Gavin Flemyng” (Quarterman). Fairly early on she starts to suspect this is a fit up being done by a corrupt police captain “Klaus Pistor” (Roché). However, there is definitely something strange about Gwynek….

Of Wolf And Man

This is a very rare breed of werewolf movie in that it tries to take a realistic approach to the curse. As a result the make up style is a lot closer to the original Wolf Man than the more modern “Howling” style monster or werewolves that actually turn into wolves. Here the werewolf is a human suffering a rare disease that can be both inherited and passed on through infected blood. Those infected become notably hairier on a permanent basis, but most of the time are harmless. That changes on the full moon where they gain superhuman strength and become violently feral. This movie achieves everything “Wolf Man” (2025) set out to do in re-imagining the classic version of the monster. That it achieved it twelve years prior, just goes to show how little Leigh Whannell actually brought to the table.

The plot around the beast is a bit more of a mixed bag. The individual parts all work well enough, but the film shifts gears dramatically for the final act. Once the secret is out, the rest of those plot elements don’t seem especially important. This works fine first time through, but I can’t help but feel the early acts will lead to the film dragging somewhat in repeat viewing. I also have to say, I’m not a big fan of werewolves that don’t resemble wolves in any way. While this may be the best version of that I have come across, it’s not what I am after. I guess you could call it a “Lycanthropy” movie instead of a “Werewolf” movie. Anyway, that gripe aside, the movie is pretty good and worth a strong 6/10.

Final Howl

Werewolf movies are difficult to pull off and few have ever really found the formula. So when I am able to score one of these films at a six or higher out of ten I call that a win. Indeed if I do put together my top ten, “Wer” and “Late Phases” may well make my list. I want to note too that the gap between those movies was narrow. They are both worth checking out, if you are a fan of the sub-genre. Late Phases edged ahead because it felt 100% like a werewolf movie and still managed to find something new to say. As for Werewolves Within, it’s not really much of a werewolf movie. It is though reasonably fun and certainly better than “Cry Wolf” was. All three are better than “The Beast Within” (2024) and way better than “Wolf Man” (2025). Anyway, stay tuned as I may have more werewolves for you soon.

Head to Head: Wolf Man (2025) & The Beast Within (2024)

Posted on January 23, 2025January 23, 2025 by fenrisfil

Today I have a Werewolf double bill for you, checking out the just released “Wolf Man” from Universal/Blumhouse and “The Beast Within”, an independent release, directed by Alexander J. Farrell, from last year. I’m going to put these two wolves head to head. These movies are pretty similar so it makes sense to make a comparison. Wolf Man though has the backing of two of the biggest players in the horror field in Universal and Blumhouse and is of course part of Universals ambition to make use of the classic Universal Monsters they are associated with. A while back they wanted to establish a shared universe for these characters, but a real clanger of a “Mummy” movie cause a rapid re-think. That rethink has seen director Leigh Wahnell tackle “The Invisible Man” and now “Wolf Man”.

Really, the whole Universal Monsters thing is a fools errand for the studio. Almost none of those monsters are IP’s owned by Universal and are almost all public domain, or generic enough (I.E. Werewolves & Mummy’s), that anyone could make a movie. This is a similar situation to a lot of Disney’s classic line up. What the studios actually own is their own take on the products, some of which will be under copyright but all thick with trademarks. But if that is the case, what is the benefit of doing entirely new and modern takes on these products? Perhaps an attempt to try and claim the public perception of ownership? Certainly the shared universe plan made some sense (Especially given the Universal Monsters were the first shared universe). Anyway, let’s dig in.

Two Wolves Inside You

The plot for both movies is similar. Both feature a small family of husband and wife and one daughter. In both it is the families’ patriarch that is the wolf of the story. There are a few key differences though. In Wolf Man, the male lead “Blake” (Christopher Abbott) doesn’t start off as a “Wolf Face” and instead is infected. Meanwhile in The Beast Within, “Noah” (Kit Harington) is implied to always have been the monster. Both films end up with the wife and daughter desperately battling for survival against their father/husband at a remote location. The Beast Within tells the entire story from the point of view of the daughter “Willow” (Caoilinn Springall). In Wolf Man, the daughter “Ginger” (Matilda Firth) is the focus but the film is from a more neutral perspective. The name of course is a reference to “Ginger Snaps” (2000), a much better movie.

The other main difference is in the look of the character. Both productions opted for a 100% practical effects, which I definitely approve of. The Beast Within went with a traditional Werewolf design, but Wolf Man went in a very different direction. The idea seems to be to modernize the look of the “The Wolf Man” (1941), but in practice there is little resemblance. Really the beast looks more like some kind of sasquatch. The transformation is also very slow, so you don’t see much of the full transformed monster. The Beast within saves the Werewolf’s appearance until near the conclusion too and both films work a very, very slow build up.

Werewolves For Modern Audiences

Perhaps disappointingly, the themes for both movies are exactly what you’d expect in the current year. That is, both basically tackle “Toxic Masculinity”. The difference though is that Beast Within is far more clear cut. That is really about how families stay with an abusive man and make excuses for them. That is a genuine problem, so while it is obvious, I can’t complain about it. Also portraying that from the young girls perspective opens up a lot of creative avenues. Ones we’ve seen a few times before, in better films. It’s not a bad take though, and I appreciate the attempt, even if it is at times clumsily implemented.

Wolf Man however tackles a far more debatable version of “Toxic Masculinity”, suggesting that masculinity in general is a problem and that one may inherit this toxic behaviour from your father. I don’t want to use the “W” word here, but lets just say it reminded me a bit of a certain Gillette advert. The thing is the behaviour the movie paints as negative is entirely protective in nature. The leading man’s father shouts at his son for wandering off alone in a forest full of bears and that he knows has at least one Werewolf in. This is portrayed as an abuse of some kind. Later Blake shouts at his daughter for tight rope walking on a concrete barrier by a main road. The movie suggests he learned this bad behaviour from his father and similarly…. well, there’s an obvious plot twist down the road.

Style And Atmosphere

As far as atmosphere goes, I find myself favouring Beast Within. It’s notably cheaper, but it is creatively put together and provides a constant atmosphere of tension. Wolf Man relies on the a lot of jump scares, but does have some moments of good cinematography. The music wasn’t especially notable in either case. All the actors are reasonable in both movies, perhaps a little stronger in Wolf Man. However, the dialogue is better in Beast Within. Honestly a lot of the dialogue in Leigh Wahnell’s movie felt clunky and forced.

Special effects is a trickier one to rate in a head to head. The design for Wolf Man is not very good, but it is well executed. The slow transformation provides a lot of interesting moments, making this movie a bit of a body horror. While Beast Within punches above it’s budget, the final act provides a good few shorts of the monster that don’t look particularly realistic. The design though is solid. You don’t see the werewolf until very late in the movie, but there are a few good dream sequences featuring transformation effects. I’m favouring the underdog (Pun intended) again here.

Werewolf Vs Wolf Man

So in conclusion… Well, I don’t recommend either of these movies really. But let’s tackle them one at a time. If you like slow burn horror with an unreliable narrator then you may enjoy The Beast Within. But it’s not something worth going out of your way for but personally I enjoyed elements of it and didn’t feel like I wasted my time watching it. It is however not really what most people want from a werewolf movie. That it the metaphor is so obvious doesn’t help it either. It’s not particularly clever, even with the use of the child’s perspective and there is no fun here at all. It is passably average so I give The Beast Within – 5/10.

I have to be honest here and tell you that Wolf Man was a very disappointing movie for me. Leigh Wahnell made a very good low budget movie with “Upgrade” (2018) and provided a solid if somewhat obvious take on “The Invisible Man” in 2020. Here however, he’s made an absolute clanger. Clunk dialogue, bad creature design, slow to the point of boring and a frankly cringe subtext. Indeed given that Invisible Man was also basically about toxic masculinity, I’m starting to wonder if Wahnell actually has more than one idea in his head. That also means currently the entire new body of Universal classic monster movies is about modern identity politics. Lame and disappointing. I give Wolf Man – 3.5/10.

Werewolf of London (1935)

Posted on October 20, 2024October 20, 2024 by fenrisfil

No October Review Challenge can be complete without at least one classic Universal monster movie. This time around I’m bringing you the first feature length werewolf movie “Werewolf of London”. While “The Wolf Man” (1941) was far more iconic, and added silver bullets to the lore, it is this movie that really defined the movie version of the werewolf. Specifically the impact of the full moon and the idea of a bite transmitting the affliction. These may not have been invented for the movie, but they became the standard because of it. Almost every werewolf movie that followed would use that lore (Most ancient werewolf tales featured neither of these tropes). Ironically, when a movie like “The Company of Wolves” (1984) goes for a more authentic take on the creatures, it feels like a novelty.

Werewolf of London is directed by Stuart Walker and features creature effects by Jack Pierce (The Man behind the iconic look of Universal’s Frankenstein’s Monster). Henry Hull stars as “Wilfred Glendon”, a world-renowned botanist who has just returned from a journey to Tibet to get an incredibly rare plant. On his journey he was attacked and bitten by a strange creature. However he survive the attack and succeeded in bringing the plant back to England. It seems however that was a werewolf and the curse has now been passed on to Glendon. Only the flowers of this rare plant can help stave off his transformations. But the plant doesn’t seem to want to flower and he has a rival for it’s effects, the wolf that bit him in the first place!

Of Wolf And Man

The first thing to note here is a bit of trivia in regards to the werewolf design. Originally the werewolf was designed to be more “bear” like and then something closer to what was eventually done for The Wolf Man. Finally they arrived at the minimalist design we see in the movie. The reason for this was simply that the script called for characters to recognise who the werewolf was. Henry Hull felt the heavier makeup jobs would make this seem unrealistic. The end result provided werewolf fangs and ears but not a lot else. Probably the most notable feature is the widows peak, which was later copied for Eddie Munster (Likely for simplicity rather than favoring this movie over The Wolf Man).

Now, that said, the look actually does work for the context of the movie. Unlike in The Wolf Man, there isn’t the issue of a werewolf appearing as a full on wolf and then it’s victim only turning into a hairy humanoid. This is at least consistent. What is interesting too is the werewolf howl is actually a combination between the actors voice and a real timber wolf’s howl. This, honestly, didn’t work so well. This is why sound design and Foley is such an art in movies. Going down the obvious route rarely provides the results that works for the audience. Of course these effects from 90 years ago have aged and that does impact watching the film in 2024. Once you’ve seen movies like American Werewolf and The Howling it is hard to go back and watch these old school wolf men.

Universal Appeal

The film provides a short, simple story somewhat similar to the plot later used for The Wolf Man. The difference is this version is less mystical and features a treatment, if not a cure, for the affliction. So in a way it is more complex than the more famous film that would follow. The truth is however this is really just an excuse to get the werewolves into the story. The later films simplified that further by making the initial attack more random in nature. This film, like those that follow is really more about how the victim deals with the affliction. What made The Wolf Man work so well was that it really emphasized the tragedy of the situation. Glendon, by contrast isn’t particularly likable at the best of times. We see the tragedy, but we don’t really feel it.

Visually the movie has all the charms you’d expect from a universal horror. A good use of light and shadows and some nice looking sets. The film shows Glendon’s transformation in stages by having the actor walk behind the scenery. Thus hiding his face and as he emerges the next stage of the makeup becomes visible. This is likely done because of the limitations of effects in the thirties. Yet it actually aged surprisingly well, partially aided by the lighter make up job. What has aged a little is the music. In 1935, movie scores were still relatively new and while the music is not bad, it is somewhat intrusive and distracting in places. It’s notable, but it has at least aged better than the pre-Kong Universal horrors like Frankenstein and Dracula (Which featured very little music and none of it original).

Conclusion

This movie is an important part of horror movie history. It was the first feature length werewolf movie. It gave us the trope of turning to a wolf at the full moon and gaining the curse from being bitten. The minimalist approach to the make up influenced the werewolf make up in “Wolf” (1994) the TV series “Penny Dreadful” and of course for Eddie Munster. The basic plot (Botany aside) has been revisited in almost every werewolf movie that followed. However, compared to all of those other movies this film is lacking. A lot of the film feels comedic (Probably intentional) and the lead isn’t likable enough to really feel the tragedy of the situation. This movie is a starting point. An outline for werewolf stories to come, but without the detail filled in. As a result it more a curiosity than a recommendation. 5.5/10