The Werewolf

source: The Werewolf

The 1956 The Werewolf is not, despite its title, a horror film. Or not primarily anyway. It's got science fiction elements (nothing supernatural here); and its western setting makes it feel like a contemporary western. Also worth mentioning is that the fate of the central character is deeply tragic; all the more so for being brought upon by forces outside himself, which he cannot control. As with two earlier, better known werewolf pictures, the 1935 Werewolf Of London and The Wolf Man, made five years afterwards, the man who turns into a wolf is a decent human being who must cope with a terrible predicament for which he is not responsible. In The Werewolf the main character is a hunted man fairly early on; and the nature of his monstrous transformations is such as to make seeking help from others not a wise course of action. What makes this film so excellent is the wondrous serendipity of old Hollywood: good actors, a decent script and first rate, albeit spartan production values. This is a dark, shadowy film, and yet much if not most of it takes places outdoors, in the mountains of California. That it was filmed on location makes it feel more real than most films with similar themes. Director Fred Sears makes the most of what he was given to work with. This is a first rate movie; and, due to the care and talent that went into making it, a classy change of pace for those fond of old films and aren't bothered by the absence of color. The routine, by the numbers nature of its story line, plus the lack of much in the way of character development, keep it from becoming a true classic of its kind. Near the end, as the title character, in full monster mode, is trapped by hunters firing upon him from a bridge, the film becomes emotional, even moving.

This film scared the pants off me as a kid (which I loved!) and when I finally found it again and watched it as an adult I was pleasantly surprised to find that I still enjoy it. And parts of it, namely the cave sequence and the fight in the dark alley, still give me the creeps. I found this werewolf much scarier than Chaney Jr.'s version. Steven Ritch's portrayal has a wildness and rawness to it that gives his lycanthrope that extra edge. Watch how he drools as he sinks his fangs into that hunk of bait in the woods, for instance. Oh, there are a few flaws... and I find the scene at the doctors' lab very long, talky and dull... but all in all I'd recommend this to any classic horror film buff. Well done. Hard to believe something of actual quality was produced by the same man responsible for "The Giant Claw"!

Steven Ritch plays a stranger who arrives in the small California town of Mountaincrest, with no memory of who he is or how he got there. He also has the unfortunate tendency to sprout hair, claws, and fangs at any old time, and the townsfolk attempt to catch Ritch in his wolfish form. Then two doctors (S. John Launer, George Lynn) follow Ritch there, knowing full well that they're the ones who put him in his predicament, and try to cover up their actions. "The Werewolf" is a well acted, modest production that gets great mileage out of its Big Bear Lake locations, as well as fine atmosphere. It also puts a fresh spin on the standard werewolf story, taking it into the Atomic Age and giving us a lycanthrope born of not myth and legend but of scientific meddling. Of course, like many a good werewolf story, it's also a tragedy, with a main character who does earn our sympathies. People like Dr. Gilcrist (Ken Christy) and his niece Amy Standish (Joyce Holden) work at convincing the law, represented by Don Megowan as the sheriff and Harry Lauter as his deputy, to please try to take Ritch alive, if possible, knowing that he is a basically good man who cannot control what is happening to him. The werewolf makeup by Clay Campbell is decent, the stock music appropriated serves its purpose, and there is some very crisp black & white photography by Edward Linden. The performances are fine, with Megowan as a sturdy, jut jawed (if not that expressive) hero; Eleanore Tanin and Kim Charney are appealing as Ritchs' distraught wife and son. Good entertainment, with a striking finale done in long shot at a dam. Seven out of 10.

Yeah, sure, this has been done and done, the dialog is trite, and many of the plot elements are contrived, I'll admit to that, but in 1956, this was still some pretty fresh stuff. Edgy and hard, this attempts to cash in on Universal's immense success with The Wolfman. Everyone seems to think that the current Hollywood trends are just that - current, but Hollywood has scarcely changed its tactics at all since the beginning. Even the 1930's Universal horrors were remakes of silent films, and Hollywood has done remakes, sequels, reboots, and revisionist films since the beginning. Sometimes they are actually superior to their originals and sometimes they need not bother being mentioned. This one falls somewhere in the middle in that it is nowhere near as good as the original and nothing as bad as some of the 1970's and 1980's attempts. This isn't Friday/Saturday night quality (more "rainy Sunday afternoon" fare), but it IS worth a watch. It rates a 7.8/10 on the B&W scale. It rates a 5.6/10 on the movie scale from... the Fiend :.

Residents of a mountain town are frightened out of their wits when a half-man/half-wolf goes on a rampage in their village (apparently they don't go to the movies much). Seems a car accident victim was taken in by two elderly doctors who performed a sneaky experiment on him in their laboratory--mad scientists in the modern age! Now, the werewolf--in a cheap suit and black Florsheims--is hungrily chasing down sheep in the snowy terrain and side-stepping the bear-traps. Routine B-movie, directed by Fred F. Sears (King of the Co-Features over at Columbia Studios), certainly looks good thanks to fine locations in Big Bear, CA and Edward Linden's crisp cinematography; however, the gaps of logic in the narrative and Sears' drowsy pacing make for an extremely long 80 minutes. Sears had a good ear for natural-sounding dialogue, and his cast (mostly unknowns, with the exception of curvy Joyce Holden as the doctor's assistant) is quite good. Still, this is the weepiest monster movie ever, with bleeding-heart characters who eventually (and humorously) turn in their liberal values for torches on their way up the mountain to kill the monster. Paging Maria Ouspenskaya! *1/2 from ****

In Mountaincrest, a stranger without memory arrives in a bar to have a drink. When he leaves the bar, a local tries to robber him but he turns into an animal and kills the attacker. Deputy Ben Clovey (Harry Lauter) hunts down the animal but is wounded by it. Sheriff Jack Haines (Don Megowan) organizes a party to find the beast. Meanwhile the nurse Amy Standish (Joyce Holden) and her father, the local doctor, receive a man called Duncan Marsh (Steven Ritch) that recalls that he had a car accident and two doctors have treated him. But he flees and Haines wants to hunt him down but Amy and her father wants to convince him to capture Duncan to see how they could treat him. When is wife Mrs. Helen Marsh (Eleanore Tanin) and her son Chris arrive in Mountaincrest, Sheriff Haines is convinced that shall capture the werewolf alive. But the doctors that conducted the experiment arrive in the town expecting to kill him. "The Werewolf (1956)" is a film with the genre more drama than horror. The sad saga of the family man Duncan Marsh is heart breaking. The plot is interesting and the transformation is excellent for a 1956 movie. The performance of Steven Ritch is also great. My vote is six. Title (Brazil): "O Lobisomem" ("The Werewolf")

This little B picture from 1956 grows on you, with repeated viewings. Steven Ritch is superb as the tormented Duncan Marsh, nice guy family man turned into a monster by two unscrupulous scientists. There's something strangely believable and compelling about his plight, as he tries to make sense of his confused memories, while being pursued by a posse, and wondering who he can trust. The supporting players are all fine in sympathetic roles, especially Joyce Holden as the nurse who does her best to help the lost and terrified Marsh. Eleanore Tanin is also very good as Marsh's wife, and Don Megowan plays a macho but caring lawman, who realizes the fugitive is a human being, as well as a monster. The eccentric, lovable doctor father of the Joyce Holden character is also very good, and the two crackpot scientists who callously used the hapless Marsh without his knowledge for their own allegedly positive ends are made believable, egocentric researchers, rather than over the top mad scientists. The natural settings, with real mountains, lakes, and small town streets have an incredibly powerful impact on the storyline, as we see the actor playing the miserable werewolf shivering in his bare feet in the snow, the morning after he wakes from one of his transformations. It's hard to pin down what it is that makes Steven Ritch so effective in the part, but we get a real sense of Duncan Marsh as an ordinary person traumatized by an outrageous series of events that would make anyone question his or her sanity. The scene when he is reunited with his wife and young son feels so genuine, it practically brings tears to my eyes, to watch him embrace first the boy and then his wife. It seems to somehow transcend acting and become heartbreakingly real. The film may drag a little and not offer a lot of startling action, but it is still well worth seeing. It ranks as one of the most unusual and fascinating werewolf movies I've ever seen, and should not be missed.

The Werewolf with Steven Ritch was one of the best "werewolf" films I have ever seen. Ritch played the lycanthrope as both sympathetic..yet animistic and the scene when the sheriff's come into his jail cell and "think he's sleeping" is a true classic. Don Megowan plays the Law officer who eventually stops the Werewolf..and here's a bit of trivia on him. He is one of the stunt men who plays "the Creature from the Black Lagoon"! The Werewolf is impossible to find anywhere (even on VHS)..which alone..qualifies it as a Classic! The only other Werewolf movie that is in the same league as this 1956 film is the more recent Ginger Snaps Back. If you are a fan of great werewolf films..not the hokey Wolfman with Lon Chaney..you will love both of these movies.

Lensed by the same director of the bigger budgeted Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers and meant to be a companion for the lower half of the bill The Werewolf surprised everybody by being a taut face value chiller with more character emphasis than usual for this type of subject. As other reviewers have stated the performances,locale,direction and lighting are much better should be for a story about kooky scientists turning a luckless schmoe into a hirsute mutant but it also has a film noir element that mixes in quite nicely amidst the western pines of Big Bear lake. Unlike some other viewers I didn't have a problem with the make up. It was meant to scare kids and it did. A year later you can see similarities in the design for Michael Landon's beastly side in I Was A Teenage Werewolf. After the late sixties this exhausted it's run on local Chiller theaters and became very hard to find until now. For a reasonable price you can get a gorgeous widescreen DVD transfer of The Werewolf along with other B movie faves The Giant Claw,Zombies Of Mora Tau and Creature With The Atom Brain. The name of the set is Icons Of Horror Sam Katzman. It comes with some great extras but one of them produced by the same Three Stooges dept. at Columbia has enough vile Asian stereotypes to make A Fu-Man-Chu movie look P.C. Take a trip back to matinée-ville with this and enjoy.