WERWOLF
OF LONDON (1935)/SHE-WOLF OF LONDON (1946)Directors: Stuart Walker, Jean Yarbrough
Universal
WERWOLF
OF LONDON (1935)/SHE-WOLF OF LONDON (1946)For the uninitiated: Don't be confused by the catchphrase "Wolf Man Double Feature" with this edition in Universal's Classic Monster series; these are not sequels to the Lon Chaney picture, but two of the studio's "other" werewolf movies -- the first being decent, while the second...well, more on that later...
WEREWOLF OF LONDON stars Henry Hull as Wilfred Glendon, a grouchy botanist who searches the mountains of Tibet for samples of a very rare moon flower called the Mariphasa lupino lumino. He manages to secure the flower, but at the cost of being attacked and bitten on the arm by a savage creature prowling the same area.
Back at his lab, Glendon is visited by the mysterious Dr. Yogami (Warner Oland) who is eager to catch a glimpse of the Mariphasa which Wilfred keeps locked up and blooming under artificial moonlight. Yogami tries to explain that he was also in Tibet at the same time as Glendon, also trying to obtain the elusive flower. He goes on to insist that Wilfred is the unfortunate victim of "Werewolfery," and that the Mariphasa is the only known antidote for the malady. When Glendon asks how he could have inherited such a curse, Yogami confides, "From the bite of another werewolf," as he places his hand on the botanist's wounded arm. Without the flower, both men are doomed, Yogami laments. Sure enough, at the next full moon, Glendon grows hair and fangs and scurries around London for victims. Only the one man who can possess the Mariphasa lupino lumino will be saved from his torment.
WEREWOLF OF LONDON is forever destined to come up short in the shadow of the superior THE WOLF MAN, made six years later. But as the first major werewolf movie, and certainly the first sound one, it's not a film without some merit. The character of Wilfred Glendon comes off as grumpy and mostly unlikable, destroying some of the opportunity for sympathy, but the simplistic and devilish look of the wolf makeup is very effective in an understated sort of way. Valerie Hobson plays Hull's young wife, but she proves herself to be the least of Universal's leading ladies (though she's a little better here than she had been in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN). The most interesting of all turns out to be Warner (Charlie Chan) Oland's Dr. Yogami.
Zoom ahead eleven years and you get what this reviewer would say is Universal's lowest ebb -- SHE-WOLF OF LONDON. It features a very young June Lockhart (TV mom on LASSIE and LOST IN SPACE) as a frightened heir to what she thinks is "The Allenby Curse," an ancient jinx cast upon her family by wolves, it seems. When local residents are murdered, she believes she is responsible. Sixty-one very long and uninvolving minutes later, we discover that there is no curse and there is no werewolf either. To make matters even worse, we've known all along who the real culprit is without any attempt to make us think about it. Even some dreary fog scenes at night don't help, and neither does a brief appearance by Martin Kosleck -- who's wasted anyway. Yes, the less said about SHE-WOLF OF LONDON, the better.
The DVD quality this time out is still very good, and though WEREWOLF OF LONDON is marred by occasional nicks, specks, and scratches it looks sharp and better than it has before. SHE-WOLF OF LONDON benefits from being the later film, and it looks naturally more vibrant, yet retains the odd blemish now and again. The mono 2.0 sound is full, clear and adequate though WEREWOLF OF LONDON might reveal a "pop" now and then.
As I've said for all these new Universal releases, having two films on one disc is a bonus in itself, but we also get theatrical trailers for the films to enjoy, as well as competent Production Notes and Cast/Filmmaker Bios by Tom Weaver. And although I've been forgetting to mention this in some of the other Universal reviews, this disc -- as with all the others -- has the option of subtitles as well. As with each and every DVD in this collection, you need to hit the TITLE button on your remote control after you've viewed one film to see the main menu for the second feature.
Thanks to Universal for releasing so many old horror films from their library in one shot; and although I don't care for SHE-WOLF, at least it's out of the way and well represented as the companion piece to WEREWOLF OF LONDON. I hope they employ similar tactics for ALL the major and lesser-known entries in their Classic Library, and perhaps even some that have never even appeared on VHS! (Joe Lozowsky)